Santa Anna Records<\/span><\/p> As Ella Langley<\/a> rehearsed for her CRS New Faces performance next door, Nance spoke with TOC about the uneven road he took to Nashville and the people who (perhaps surprisingly) supported him. There were five things we wanted to know, including what the deal was with his mustache.<\/p>\n Who are Your Influences?<\/strong><\/p>\n My grandma, she put me on to \u2026 Hank Sr., Hank Jr., Keith Whitley,<\/a> Conway Twitty, Elvis \u2014 the list goes on. I guess the newer influences would be Zach Bryan<\/a> and Tyler Childers<\/a>. Their songwriting capability is phenomenal.<\/p>\n Zach, one of his very first songs was the first one I ever learned on guitar. It\u2019s called \u201cGod Speed,<\/a>\u201d off of one of his earlier projects. I had a friend that passed away young and that was her song and so I learned it and I just kept going through those chord progressions. It kind of became second nature. I started writing to him.<\/p>\n You\u2019re a fourth generation farmer from Missouri with a song that went viral. What do older family members think about that? Was anyone skeptical?<\/strong><\/p>\n My grandpa just texted me this morning \u2026 he\u2019s super supportive. My family had their second thoughts on it from the beginning, and I committed to it. I was by myself and made my own decisions.<\/p>\n I dealt with that before music, too, with welding on the road, because no one has done that. I started doing music and signed my\u00a0distrobution deal, and I flew out to Nashville and they\u2019re like \u2018Oh, something\u2019s happening.\u2019 Then I dropped my very first single and it blew up on social media and they\u2019re like, \u201cWell, this is actually happening.\u201d<\/p>\n Why do you think \u201cKeep Me Sane\u201d went viral?<\/strong><\/p>\n I think the melody is appealing to hear. Also, what it talks about, the question of why do I feel this way. You\u2019re asking God, “Why am I going through this?” But in reality it\u2019s your fault and you\u2019re putting yourself through this stuff, which is something I\u2019ve done consistently through my life is I put myself in stupid situations that I probably shouldn\u2019t have.<\/p>\n If someone was only going to listen to one more song from Midwest Memoir<\/em>, which song would you suggest?<\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s called \u201cWays Away.\u201d The song tells a story about where I come from and my transition to living in Nashville. One of the lines is \u201cpraying that Cumberland River doesn\u2019t wash my Midwest ways away.<\/em>\u201d I think that tells the people that no matter what I\u2019m going through and what I accomplish, I always know where I came from.<\/p>\n Tell me the story of the mustache?<\/strong><\/p>\n I was a junior or senior in high school and I liked Tombstone<\/em>. I saw it and was like, \u201cI can do that.\u201d I\u2019ve got good mustache genes so I started it and started training it. I kept it and then I\u2019d cut it off, grow it back and cut it off.<\/p>\n Now it\u2019s something people remember.<\/p>\n Taste of Country has unveiled its\u00a0RISERS: 2026 Artists to Watch. The list highlights some of the most exciting up-and-coming talents in country music, including both men and women, traditionalists and pop-country artists \u2014 representing a true cross-section of contemporary country.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Gallery Credit: Sterling Whitaker<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n5 Great Questions With Tyler Nance<\/h3>\n
Taste of Country’s RISERS: 2026 Artists to Watch<\/h2>\n