Tyler Farr recently released his sophomore album Suffer In Peace to rave reviews which praised his unique vocals, the moody, brooding lyrics and (somewhat) risk-taking nature of the project to bring Farr to a unique spot within country music. It's a spot he's well aware of as an artist. He compares his music to Vern Gosdin's and says that while it is different from the legend known has "The Voice," Farr is also certain that songs he's recorded on Suffer in Peace could've been recorded by the legend. In our conversation, we talk about the selection of songs, the recording of some of them (like sophomore single "Withdrawls") and how to stand out in a sea of artists.
RoughStock: How did you go about the process of choosing the tracks for Suffer In Peace?
Tyler Farr: It’s always tough and the hardest thing for me to make an album. It’s hard to cut off the songs, you know as well as I do but the average fan may not know it, that we cut more than the songs that make the album and it’s hard to let them go. But as far as picking the songs, it’s a talent in itself. Kenny Chesney and Jason Aldean and Tim McGraw have been great at it. A lot of these guys who maybe didn’t write everything but have made their living off of recording great songs from the writers in Nashville.
For me, and I did write 3 of the songs on [“Suffer In Peace”], I’m not gonna record a song I can’t sell as a singer. I have to have lived it, I have to have felt it, I’ve had to had the emotion, or a place I have been or could be in. So it has to be real. It has to appeal to my voice. I am a big fan of Stylist, John Anderson and George Jones. I want people to know when the song comes on that it’s “Tyler Farr.” So it can be difficult picking songs that fit me.
RoughStock: Yeah, and if you didn’t, you could end up hating the song if it become a big ole hit…
Tyler Farr: An artist should never put your voice that you don’t wanna sing the rest of your life or can’t 100% put your stamp on.
RoughStock: People always try to cite Billy Ray Cyrus' “Achy Breaky Heart” as an example of when not to do this but he loved the song and wanted to record it, especially since his friend had written it and that he could relate to it…
Tyler Farr: I heard a bunch of “hits” that didn’t make the album but if they’re not you, it doesn’t matter because if they’re a hit and it doesn’t sound like you, you’re pretty much lying to the fanbase and they’ll see right through that.
RoughStock: Yeah, and every artist has stories about songs they passed over for that reason…
Tyler Farr: Yeah, Everyone wants hit songs but because you’re trying to make a career of longevity and you can’t just put out hit songs because that’s what’s hot right now. “A Guy Walks Into A Bar” is a song that wasn’t exactly what the popular trend was at the moment…Country music’s like a football team, if you have a team full of running backs, you’re gonna get killed, so everyone serves their own purpose. You have Florida Georgia Line and they do their own thing and they can dance like they do but I can’t do that. You have Luke Bryan who woos all the women, all these different pepople, Jason Aldean and Eric Church. They are all different people. I’m not going to try to be them. I can only be me and make up a little piece of country music.
RoughStock: How would you compare the album to the first one, Redneck Crazy?
Tyler Farr: I learned a lot from that one and I did the best I could on it at the time. Every song on there, I totally put my stamp on but you learn about yourself playing these shows across the country with Jason Aldean and Florida Georgia Line, this album (Suffer In Peace) showcases more of who I am. It was the goal of making it. You grow. I’m an artist, I’m a brand. And people need to see that brand, whether it’s your voice or your clothes — back in the day it was rhinestones and Neudie suits, these days it’s a signature ball cap or a cowboy hat or something like that. Mine happens to be my speaking and singing voice. I don’t smoke cigarettes but if you didn’t know me, you’d think I smoked a carton every morning I woke up…
RoughStock: Or drank a lot of whiskey…
Tyler Farr: Sometimes that may be the case but I try to pride myself on being different and not like everyone else.
RoughStock: Exactly. Because if you sounded like Luke or FGL, you might have the ability to have a couple of hits but you’d eventually go away because there’s only room for one of them…
Tyler Farr: Yeah. You grow, you change and learn and go “This is more me.” The album title says it all. “Suffer In Peace,” its one of my favorites on the album. It’s a very country song. It doesn’t sound like a Vern Gosdin song but it could’ve been a Vern Gosdin song. That’s what I like about “A Guy Walks Into A Bar” and “Suffer In Peace.” Because they could’ve sang them 20 years ago and they could’ve been hits then but I had to put my style on it and a little modern twist to it. Back in the day they played Shania Twain and they said it was ‘really pop’ but if you listen to it now…
RoughStock: It sounds very country…
Tyler Farr: So times change and you have to go with it but I try to keep my roots in my music and not “sell out” from those. Have interesting song lyrics, a strong hook, songs that tell a story like “Suffer In Peace.” Songs that have tension like that one, which is intriguing to me.
RoughStock: Exactly. Another one that has that feel is, but is totally different sound to it is “Withdrawls.”
Tyler Farr: Yeah, that’s a totally different style. It was a last minute song. It was one of the songs in my inbox because when people know you are going to cut a record, here comes a wave of songs, and I’m lucky enough to have people want me to cut their songs. This one I pulled up and saw the title and thought that was reason enough to listen to it, thought it sounded cool. A couple of the writers on “Withdrawls” were the writers who wrote “Redneck Crazy” and they’re great writers I thought there’s something awesome about this and that it sounded different and sounded great. The work tape was all piano with a drum loop. So when we went and produced it, I went “lets make it more FooFighters meets Country music…”
RoughStock: Yeah and I thought “pop radio might love this song…
Tyler Farr: Yeah, I instantly thought it could be my first crossover song…
RoughStock: And it’s not that it is a pop song in general but it has the same kind of unique essence to it as a song well-known songwriter/producer Max Martin writes…
Tyler Farr: It’s also not a song about a truck or a dog and it has a passion to it the everyone can relate to it, not just some guy named Billy Bob in Georgia.
RoughStock: Well, that’s one thing I’ve loved about some of the great pop songs of late. They have some strong lyrics and stories and the genre seemed to ‘flip’ with country music…
Tyler Farr: Yeah, and — while not a Miley Cyrus fan who watches her music videos — I sang the song “Wrecking Ball” on The Bobby Bones Show — but I don’t know a lot about the current pop music as I grew up listening to classic pop songs of the 1980s and but it has flipped a little bit if you listen to the lyrics to “Wrecking Ball,” it has some meat to it, if you look at he words. It could be a country song.
RoughStock: Yeah, and there are plenty of more examples…
Tyler Farr: A great song is a great song, no matter how you look at it. And that’s what I looked for on this album. To just make sure they fit me and my voice so when people hear them, they knew it was me. And the most “mainstream” song on the album is “Better In Boots.” But I can totally relate to what it says for me to sing it because no matter where you come from, if you go to a country music festival, every girl, whether they’re 40 years old or 15 years old, is showing up to shows in boots, cotton dresses and ready for a good time.
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