Artist Spotlight: Tyler Corbin
Meet the missionary musician from West Virginia.
Hi Pal,
Welcome to Artist/Band Spotlight. This is a newsletter where I have short introductory conversations with artists and bands on the Christian music scene.
Bio: My name is Tyler Corbin, and I am an independent Christian artist born and raised in Charleston, WV, now residing in Huntington, WV with my wife Cassidy. I am currently working part-time as a social worker and full-time as a collegiate missionary through NAMB (North American Mission Board). I started writing music about 6 years ago, touching on the sins I've wrestled with, the suffering I've seen or experienced, and the many things worth celebrating in life because of Christ. The more songs I write or release, the better you'll know me; and the better you know me, the more you'll see that I'm a broken man in desperate need of the Saviour that you will hear me singing about.
Q: Hi, can you talk to us about your inspiration and motivation for creating music?
My original motivation for writing music came from a place of not so much wanting to record or play it for people, but more so from needing a way to process and think through the things that God was teaching or showing me. If I’m learning things about Him, His Word, sin, or suffering either going on around me or in my own life, I wanted to be able to write it down in a way that I can look at it clearly laid out in front of me and see the ways in which God works.
Songwriting became that for me — it became a way that I could keep coming back to the songs I was writing and keep seeing those truths that I was learning, and the ways I've seen His faithfulness play out in my life. When I write songs about things I am still wrestling with and the way that I can have hope in that, I want to be able to see how far He's taking me and how far I've grown in that process. So, that's where my motivation was. I just want to remember the things that He is teaching or showing me — songwriting has been that for me.
I am motivated to release and put out music because I'm sure there are people that can relate to the content of my music. I'm writing about sin, suffering, things that are personal to me and about Scripture that every Christian can benefit from. I'm trying to write music that could hopefully make people not feel alone if they are wrestling with the same things or make them see things in a different way that they haven’t before.
Q: How would you describe your sound and your creative process?
With regards to how I would describe the sound of my music, I don't actually know, and I feel like I am still figuring and learning that as I go; I'm still early on in the process of putting my music out there. I really love a ton of different styles of music and genres. So, I'm just going to take the things that I love and throw them into my music and if all my songs sound super different from each other, which may probably happen, then that will be the case. I do hope my music is theologically sound, not that is exactly what the question is asking, but that's all I can say for now as I'm still trying to figure it out.
My creative process is this: I need to have something I'm really motivated or inspired by before I can start writing. I can't pick up a piece of paper and start writing something random; it has to be something that really pushes me to write. I start with the instrumental side of things; I know how to play the guitar mostly so that's what I start with and then move into writing the lyrics. The lyrics can take me any time from months to over a year, depending on how intentional I want to be with Him. The most important to me is the lyrics and I spend forever working on them. Once I've got the bones of the song, I take it to my friend Jayden, and he works really hard with me to take the bones and turn them into a full piece of art that we can share with everyone else.
Q: How has 2023 been for you so far musically and what can folks expect from you for the rest of the year?
2023 has been a huge year for me musically because it is the first year that I have actually ever put anything out. It's an exciting year and one that has tried to really push me out of my comfort zone.
For the rest of the year, I'd keep trying to put out some music; there are going to be collaborations with some people, and I am excited about them. I don’t know what may come this year outsides this, but I welcome any unexpected twists. I’m just super excited to keep releasing music and writing.
Here are some final thoughts from Tyler Corbin:
Thanks to Tyler Corbin for taking the time to meet us.
Listen to Tyler Corbin here:
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Connect with Tyler Corbin here:
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