SAN DIEGO (CBS 8) - Tyler Grant grew up in Jamul, so he's no stranger to the country. However, the style of country music that has earned him national recognition finds its roots in the hills of Kentucky.
"I grew up playing rock and roll music and reggae music in the beach clubs here in town, and it wasn't until after college that I really got into bluegrass and flatpicking. As Doc Watson said, flatpicking is when you play down and up with the plectrum to get an even tone," Tyler said.
In 2008, he won the National Flatpicking Championship, although Tyler's style is a bit of a hybrid.
"I'm a bluegrass musician, but I'm also a classical musician. I'm a rock and roll musician. I'm comfortable in all of those genres. What I'm doing new is kind of put it all together and create something new.
"I'm a musician, first and foremost. So I've always been in demand as a session player, sideman, and I'll always do some of that. But I need to build my own empire and work towards my own retirement and not someone else's," Tyler said.
So Tyler released a couple of solo CDs and has formed his own band called Grant's Farm. The Grant's Farm duo, featuring Tyler and Andy Thorn, will be in concert Saturday night at 7:30 p.m.
It will be a homecoming for the kid from Jamul who honed his skills in Nashville, and now lives in the foothills of the Rockies. Along the way, Tyler Grant has stayed true to his American roots.