Monty Guitar Tyler
San Antone
I wrote this song in 2018. I must have been stuck at a railroad crossing and it just sort of came to me. The song was originally going to be about Ohio. Don't ask me why because as far as I know I have never been to OHIO lol. It was a three syllable word and that's what I needed for the song. After I recorded it I got to thinking (a song is never finished....never ever!) and decided I wanted to change the name to San Antone. It worked out well I think.
When I was young I used to buy albums (yes, I am that old lol) and one thing I loved to do while listening to the music was to look at the info on the album cover. I loved reading about who wrote the song and where the album was recorded and any other info I could find. One thing I thought might be interesting is for the artist to describe the inspiration and motivation about writing each song. So here goes.........
Hang on
I wrote this song in or around 2007. When playing it live I would always dedicate the song to anyone who had ever been in love before and had it not quite work out the way you wanted. It is basically a boy is on the verge of losing his girl and decides that the best thing he can do is just Hang On.
Shadow of my Soul
I wrote this song around the same time as Hang On. I brought the song to the band and let them listen to it. We played and recorded it live at The Tavern in the Gruene in Gruene Texas. This was our first time to really play it and the guys tore it up. The song is about what it's like playing onstage. I get asked that a lot. It is a great feeling but I have a tendency to lose touch with the real world. I go into this very cool place and my sub-conscious seems to take over my playing and singing. Sometimes when I would snap back to reality it would shock me to see people sitting in the crowd looking at me. Crazy I know but that's where the song came from
I'm Leaving You
I think I'm Leaving You was the first song I wrote and performed in public with the MGT Band. We were playing a song by Robben Ford called Start it Up and it had two styles of music in one song. I really dug that so I thought I would try that idea. It combines calypso with a shuffle chorus and seems to work very well together. The crowd seemed to like this one immediately so it stayed in the rotation for years
Bottom of the Well
This song deals with depression. When you are in the clutches of depression people around you may not know what you are going through. Sometimes it is up to you to pull yourself up by the proverbial boot straps and push forward. At least that's my take on the process.
Blowing in the Breeze
This song is one of two collaborations on the CD. My buddy Kevin Lee had the idea for the melody of the verse and some guitar on the recording. My cousin Kayla Meade helped me write some of the lyrics. I like the feeling of this song both lyrically and musically. Sort of like sitting on the beach and watching the waves.
Can't Stay Another Day
This is one of those songs that just pops into my head from time to time. I can honestly say that there is always music playing in my mind. ALWAYS!!! I love blues and shuffles. There is something about shuffles that I feel down to my very core. Puts me in a good mood for sure.
Devil's Moon
I wrote this at 2:30 in the morning. One night I was having trouble sleeping and I decided instead of lying there and doing nothing that I would get up and go into my studio and try to be creative. The more I listen to this song the more it feels like an old me talking to a young me. The song just poured out.
Each and Every Day
This is another of those shuffle tunes that I love to write and play. I get a kick out of playing the organ on these types of songs. I am no keyboard player for sure but I love the whirly sound of the leslie speaker on the hammond organ.
No Conspiracy
No Conspiracy is my political statement to my conspiracy realist friends lol. This song evolved over many many years. The first verse came to me around 2005. The last verse came to me after 9/11.
So Low
So Low is an interesting tune. I wrote the music first. I didn’t have an idea for the song except for the title being So Low. My cousin (Casey Leigh) was in town and I asked if she would sing the phrase “So Low” and add harmonies. My wife (Pam Tyler) also added harmonies. I wrote the verses and chorus about a year later. I got to play the song live at Gruene Hall with Three Mile Stone. That was a very cool thing for me in that I got to play a song that I wrote with some of my favorite musicians in the oldest dancehall in Texas.
I Need to Know Why
I Need To Know Why is another collaboration with a friend/fan of the MGT Band (Cheryl Scheetz). She emailed me one day and said that she had a poem and wondered if I could put it to music. I hadn’t really tried that before and thought it would be a fun experience.This has turned out to be one of my favorite songs that I have done. It was one of my first attempts at singing harmony with myself. The music kept evolving almost daily. The words inspired the song to basically write itself. Thanks to Cheryl for the challenge and inspiration.
The Rain
The Rain was another collaboration with my buddy Kevin Lee. He and I put out a CD last year to raise money for a Honduran Mission. Kevin and I had both written songs about rain in a small town. His was about the good things that come with rain. Mine centered around the destruction that comes with rain. I wrote it right after hurricane Harvey and I think that is what influenced me lol. We went with Kevin's lyrics. I wrote the music and I always have a tendency to do crazy stuff in songs. I have to pull way back most of the time lol. I put an intro at the beginning of the song that somewhat represents a storm coming over the horizon. That's the best I can explain it lol.
