Tyler Nail

About

Tyler Nail is a Winston-Salem, NC songwriter and performer who describes himself as a Southern songwriter and Appalachian Americana artist. His songs tell stories that feel old as folklore yet honest and familiar. He usually plays alone with an acoustic guitar or fronts a small acoustic group, pacing the stage with a rough, loud Southern voice and two-finger Piedmont-style picking that carries rhythm and melody at once. He draws on nearly 300 songs of his own, so his sets swing between haunting reflections and fast, driving numbers. Performing since 2008, he has toured widely, placed music in film and TV, and released several LPs, EPs and singles, including Family in 2025. He built his early following in King, NC and the clubs of Winston-Salem, became the most decorated winner of the Winston-Salem Shuffle, put out his first full album, Winter to Winter, in 2011, and that same year produced a tribute to one of his heroes, "When I Go Away: A Tribute to Levon Helm."