Tyler Nail is a songwriter and performer from Winston-Salem, NC. He is a Southern Songwriter, an Appalachian Americana artist, and a proud product of North Carolina's creative music culture. His songs tell deep stories that feel as mysterious and old as folklore, yet soberingly relatable, familiar, and honest.
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Nail is often found performing solo with his acoustic guitar, or with a small acoustic band. He's a wiry figure with a dark, untamed beard. He paces around the stage with silent intensity like he can’t bear to stand still. His voice is rough, loud, and unmistakably Southern. His two-finger Piedmont-style guitar playing weaves intricate compositions that carry both rhythm and melody together. With a catalog of nearly 300 songs, his show shifts between heartfelt, haunting reflections and exciting, fast-paced power numbers. The thread that binds them is Nail's lyrical ability to tell stories that feel somewhat vintage, but still new and contemporary.
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Nail has been an artist and performer since 2008. He has toured heavily, had music featured in film and TV, and released multiple LPs, EPs, and singles, including his 2025 release, Family.
"North Carolina is a Mecca of troubadouring singer-songwriter brilliance...
Tyler Nail is undoubtedly a key player in the current chapter of this storied heritage."
-Aldora Britain Records
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Tyler Nail’s story began in Winston-Salem, North Carolina – a city built on the tobacco industry, now decorated with repurposed brick factories. He grew up in a little log cabin his grandfather built. His mother sang in the church choir. His father played drums. As a boy, Nail banged drum patterns on pots and pillows around the house. It was in this setting that Nail discovered a love for music. Throughout childhood, Nail would thumb through his father's CDs and his grandfather's records, studying songs of all genres - particularly lyrics.
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He entered into music performance as a singing drummer, gathering his friends into a hot backyard building to play rock songs. At sixteen, he got his first guitar and started writing original songs. From there, he began playing open mics and bars, learning his voice.
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He gained his first fans in a coffee shop in King, NC, and more in the clubs of Winston-Salem. He started playing in a local competition called the Winston-Salem Shuffle, where he became its most decorated winner. In 2011, he released his first full album, Winter to Winter. That same year, he produced When I Go Away: A Tribute to Levon Helm – a project that paid homage to one of Nail's musical heroes and strengthened his place in his local scene.
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Over the years, Nail released more albums, shared stages with Americana staples like The Hackensaw Boys, American Aquarium, and Jim Lauderdale, and toured the country with his band, The Tyler Nail Trio. In 2016, the trio disbanded and Nail took a break from touring. Nail stayed in North Carolina, releasing music quietly until 2019, when his double album Life Lessons marked a darker and louder chapter in his songwriting.
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The pandemic halted his return to touring, but didn't stop his output. In 2020, he released his haunting single, “I Don’t Wanna Die Alone,” which was followed by his DEVIL EP in 2021.
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In 2024, Nail left North Carolina, moving far from the Appalachian foothills to the little city of Providence, Rhode Island, seeking new inspiration and opportunity. He worked aggressively on music, sharing songs through Patreon and YouTube while expanding his creative team. During this time, he recorded Family, an album honoring his North Carolina roots, capturing the warmth and weight of home from afar, and honing in on a pure, guitar-driven Americana sound.
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Tyler Nail’s catalog boasts nearly 300 songs. The Southern recluse turned wanderer writes with wisdom and craftsmanship, earning accolades along the way: winner of "Best Country Artist" at the Forsyth Entertainment Awards (2018), semi-finalist in the International Songwriting Competition and American Songwriter Road-Ready Contest (2024), voted in the top 5 songwriters of the Piedmont Triad for multiple years, and nominated for best Americana artist in Providence by Motif Magazine (2025).
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Aside from music, Nail is a story explorer. He's hosted podcasts, written essays, founded publications, and worked as a freelance journalist, all of which have been driven by a deep love of storytelling. He's also an avid movie enthusiast. He is a student of story in every form. But most fundamentally, Tyler Nail is a Southern Songwriter and a true everyman musician.
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Nail's humble beginnings in his grandfather's log cabin seem to stay present in his music. His songs sound like the stories of a dreamy North Carolina cabin hidden in the dogwoods. Nail's story is one of deep roots, careful reflection, and unashamed honesty. He is a writer, an observer, and a heavy-hitting Americana artist. Much like his musical heroes, Nail is driven by the careful craftsmanship of his songs and the dream of sharing them with as many people as he can. Nail lives that dream out on the road, playing every small club, festival, stage, living room, and backyard that he can find.