Highlander Mountain House Salon Series with Tyler Ramsey & T. Hardy Morris

VENUE INFO

Our Salon Series happens in our Ruffed Grouse Tavern space at the Highlander Mountain House Hotel. Make dinner reservations before the show during service hours 5:30 pm - 8:00 pm if you choose, then enjoy an incredible music performance by Kendell Marvel. Parking available on the property or street behind HMH. Seating for the show is first come first serve.

ABOUT TYLER RAMSEY

Tyler Ramsey is a singer-songwriter and guitarist known for his evocative, genre-blending soundthat fuses modern folk, rock, and alternative influences. Based outside of Asheville, NorthCarolina, Ramsey gained recognition as a key member of Band of Horses, contributing to theirsoaring indie-folk sound across three studio albums, each of which included Ramsey originalsincluding Grammy-nominated "Infinite Arms" (2010). As a songwriter and guitarist, his intricateplaying and introspective lyricism becamea defining element of the band's music.With masterful guitar work and a gift for storytelling, Tyler Ramsey continues to carve out hisown space in the world of folk and indie rock. He has released a series of critically acclaimedalbums, including "Forthe Morning" (2019), which showcased his signature blend offingerpicked guitar, pedal steel, and atmospheric rock textures. His latest album, "New LostAges", marks a new creative milestone, produced by Phil Ek (Fleet Foxes, The Shins, FatherJohn Misty)and recorded in Seattle’s Avast Recording Co. The project captures Ramsey’sevolution as both a songwriter and musician, balancing moments of quiet introspection withgrand, sweeping arrangements.Ramsey’s music is deeply rooted in nature and personal experience, with much of "New LostAges" inspired by his life in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Seeking solace during a tumultuousperiod, he retreated to a secluded cabin near his home, channeling his reflections on change,fatherhood, and artistic perseverance into a collection of deeply resonant songs. The resultingalbum, with contributions from musicians like Morgan Henderson (Fleet Foxes), Sean T. Lane(Ann Wilson), and Carl Broemel (My Morning Jacket), captures both the intimacy of hissongwriting and the expansive sonic landscapes he crafts.Tyler’s music, praised by outlets such as Relix and NPR, resonates with listeners seeking depth,honesty, and a connection to something timeless. "New Lost Ages" stands as a testament to hisjourney—one that embraces both the uncertainties of life and theenduring power of song.

ABOUT T. HARDY MORRIS

The line between art and entertainment has always been fuzzy. Certainly, there’s plenty

of overlap between the two, but lately it feels like there’s a growing divide, an

ever-widening chasm separating our fundamental need for creative expression and our

insatiable appetite for disposable content. That’s where T. Hardy Morris comes in.

“I’ve spent a lot of time parsing the difference between the two,” he explains, “not just

for myself, but for society at large. What does it mean to be an artist? How do we

measure creative success? Where are the boundaries between audience and performer

when everyone’s broadcasting their lives 24/7?”

Morris dives into those questions headfirst on his riveting new album, Artificial Tears,

and while the answers don’t come easily, the search yields plenty of reward. Recorded in

Nashville with My Morning Jacket’s Carl Broemel at the helm, the collection is an

electrifying work of existential exploration, a raw, rock and roll reflection on meaning

and identity in a modern world that’s simultaneously more connected and isolated than

ever before. The performances are blissed-out and hazy here, captured primarily on a

four-track tape machine, and Morris’s delivery is subtle and understated to match,

fueled by tumbling, stream-of-consciousness lyrics rooted in a dreamy sense of longing

and nostalgia. Despite the weighty ruminations at its core, the result is a remarkably

grounded, down to earth album that’s at once honest and abstract, a poignant,

clear-eyed look in the mirror from a master craftsman committed to his work for

nothing more—and nothing less—than its own intrinsic value.

“I’ve found a comfort zone for myself over the years writing music and performing when

I feel compelled to, when I’ve got something I need to say,” Morris reflects. “The idea of

being an ‘entertainer’ day-in and day-out never had much luster for me. I was always

drawn to the shadows rather than the limelight.”

Born and raised in Georgia, Morris got his start with southern psych-rock/grunge outfit

Dead Confederate, which shared bills with the likes of Dinosaur Jr. and R.E.M. in

addition to making their national TV debut on Conan. When the band split up, Morris

hit the ground running under his own name, releasing his solo debut, Audition Tapes, towidespread acclaim in 2013. Over the course of the next decade, he would go on to

release three more similarly lauded solo records, prompting love everywhere from

Pitchfork and SPIN to Paste and Billboard and earning dates with the likes of Jason

Isbell, Drive-By Truckers, Shovels & Rope, and Shakey Graves. In addition to his steady

solo output and rigorous tour schedule, Morris also found time to record a pair of

albums with the freewheeling side project Diamond Rugs, which featured members of

Deer Tick, Los Lobos, and The Black Lips.

“Everything was pretty tumultuous leading up to my most recent record [2021’s The

Digital Age of Rome],” Morris recalls, “but it felt like there was a return to some kind of

normalcy for a couple years after that. I was just living day to day, writing and watching

my kids grow up. It gave me a chance to reflect on what it means to carve your own path

and find happiness in front of you.”

In typical fashion for Morris, the songs came slowly at first, then all at once in a rush as

he reflected on two decades of highs and lows, on the joys and struggles of a life in

music, on the heroes and cautionary tales he’d encountered along the way. When it

came time to record, Morris called on Broemel, who ended up not only producing, but

playing the vast majority of the instruments on the collection.

“I’ve always been a fan of Carl’s solo records and his work with My Morning Jacket, so it

turned out to be a perfect fit,” explains Morris. “He’s phenomenal on guitar, bass, pedal

steel, everything, so I was able to show up with my drummer and just immediately get

collaborative on everything.”

“Hardy’s got a really direct and honest approach to music—and to life—which was so

refreshing,” says Broemel. “He likes to work fast and not get too precious about things.”

After cutting some rehearsals and demos on a Teac four-track at Broemel’s house, the

trio headed to a studio in Nashville for the “official sessions,” but something was

missing.

“The studio was great for some of the songs,” Morris recalls, “but I often found myself

drawn more to the demos we’d done at Carl’s house, so we headed back to his place to

finish the record the way we’d started it.”

“The quiet songs needed that raw and simple approach to feel right,” explains Broemel.

“As we continued recording back at my house, we elaborated on the four-track process

and started recording some more full band tracks there, as well.”That intentional embrace of the grit and limitations of four-track recording forms the

heart and soul of Artificial Tears, which opens with the sprightly “Write It In The Sky.”

“When all the world was young / We held it like an egg / We never dropped a crumb,”

Morris sings over nimble guitar and muscular drums. “When all the world was young /

We swore we’d keep it safe / We held it like a babe.” Like much of the album, the track

veers between optimism and cynicism, wondering if unbridled ambition is an asset or

simply a symptom of youthful naïveté. “Write it in the sky above me,” Morris concludes.

“I’m a means to an end.” The driving “I Guess” makes peace with imperfection (“No

such thing as no regrets,” Morris sings), while the bittersweet “Juvenile Years” reaches

back for memories of a simpler time and place that hang just out of reach, and the

hypnotic “Breakneck Speed” contemplates the comedown that inevitably follows any

meteoric rise.

“No matter which way you slice it, whether you’re working some menial job or you’re a

bigtime entertainer, you’re a cog in somebody else’s wheel,” Morris reflects. “Everybody

gets up and goes to work; maybe it’s in a factory or an office or on a stage or in a tour

bus, but there’s no escaping that reality, so you’ve got to figure out what it is that really

makes you happy.”

Meditations on the true meaning of satisfaction turn up throughout the album. The

laidback “Don’t K*ll Your Time (To Shine)” revels in the freedom of unselfconsciousness;

the tongue in cheek “Sweet Success” questions whether the grass is ever really greener;

and the haunting “Low Hopes” learns to let go of wants and desire and find gratitude for

what already is.

“When you focus on entertainment over art, you start reaching for your lowest impulses,

for the lowest forms of security and status,” Morris muses. “When you let go of the stuff

that doesn’t matter and stop being so overly concerned with material things, you can

appreciate the real stuff that’s all around you.”

It’s perhaps the churning “Fight Forever,” though, that best embodies the album’s ethos,

with Morris proclaiming, “Keep better measure / Keep a naked eye / Rather be forgotten

/ Than know I never tried.”

“I’ll always be writing music,” he explains, “no matter who’s listening. Day in and day

out, one phrase to the next. This has always been more than a dream. It’s been a

calling.”

Spoken like a true artist, indeed.

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