Tyler Fortier

Part puppeteer and part meteorologist, Tyler Fortier uses lyrics to both control and describe the weather in his new batch of songs. The music draws listeners into an intimate landscape while holding them at arm’s length.

Fortier has become quite astute in describing emotional terrain, and the wind serves many functions in his writing. The majority of the songs are subdued in tone.

“I don’t write everything to be woe-is-me depressing,” he said. “It’s not upbeat by any means. I don’t know. That’s just what I channel.

“I am a happy person. I am in a good relationship. For whatever reason, that’s what seeps out.”

Listeners may not get the sense that they know what he was feeling when he wrote the lines, but the songs on his new album, “This Love Is Fleeting,” are packed with emotion.

The 24-year-old songwriter has graduated from the University of Oregon. He plans to make Eugene his home base while he strikes out on the road for his longest concert tour to date.

After Thursday’s release shows at CD World and Cozmic Pizza, Fortier mostly will be on the road until mid-June, pushing his rain-soaked songs across Oregon, Washington and Idaho.

“This Love Is Fleeting” is replete with wind, rain, sun and celestial imagery, but not so much as to make it feel like a concept album or that he is overdoing it.

Fortier uses the elements to transport listeners to a conjured world that is more even-handed than the one in his earlier release, “Pale Moon Rise.”

Last time out, Fortier seemed equally fascinated with the moon, the stars and the rain. Here, he has matured and seems more sure of himself as a writer.

There is some fine finger-picking in “Sing So Blue.” But he is confident enough to let the guitar sink into the background for some of the more orchestrated songs, such as “Let Me In.”

Still, weather plays a role in every song except “Tennessee (Ain’t That Lonely).” It’s mostly rain or sun, but ice and snow show up occasionally.

Often, we know if the sky is clear or cloudy by whether we can see the moon or stars. In only one song does he address God directly — in the passively titled “Waiting for the World to Unwind.”

You can almost read it “un-wind.” If the world ever did un-wind, Fortier would have a lot less to sing about.

Here comes the rain again

Fortier’s narrators are also battling time and struggling with sleep.

“One Thing Left to Say,” which is among the strongest songs on the new CD, is a good example of how night and day can become characters in a Fortier tune: “The night plays flute with the chimney chutes/ A steady rhythm on worn-out boots.”

But “One Thing” also presents a quandary: Does the songwriter have something specific to say, or does he just like the way certain words feel in his mouth. And does that riddle even matter when the songs are so beautiful and so ponderable?

After I spoke to Fortier about his work, I came away knowing almost less than before.

It’s not that he is intentionally coy, or that he doesn’t want to share, but for him songwriting isn’t a choice. He just knows he doesn’t want to miss the songs when they come a knockin.’

“I am still learning about why I write or the process of it,” he said. “It’s not an obvious thing to me. It’s something that’s very personal.

“That’s why it’s hard to express.”

In his hermitic musical world, rain might be Fortier’s only friend. When it pours, what else could he do but stay inside and ascribe feelings and personality to it?

Fortier said that in the last couple of years, he has opened up more and started to believe that humans are social creatures. His hermit phase ended about a year ago, but he still doesn’t like to go out that much.

“I have the need to be alone when I write, and I will and I do close myself off from friends, family and social gatherings if I think a great song is on its way,” he writes, answering a follow-up question after the initial interview.

“But I also compromise my need to write and the need to be a happy human being.”
- The Register Guard

Tyler Fortier unveils yet another album
Published: May 13. 2011 4:00AM PST

Sometimes people get the words prolific and proficient mixed up.

But with Eugene-based singer-songwriter Tyler Fortier, it’s easy: He’s both.

In February, Fortier played in town to celebrate the release of his then-new album “... And They Rode Like Wildfire Snaking Through The Hills ‘Neath The Scarlet Sun,” a collection of raw, lo-fi story songs about the Old West.

And on Saturday, just three months later, he’s back for another CD-release show, this time for “Fear Of The Unknown,” a much more produced record fraught with existential crisis.

The string that ties the two together is Fortier’s outstanding songwriting, which is dark and dusty and heartfelt, cut out of the folk/Americana cloth, and akin to brilliant guys like Ryan Adams and Josh Ritter.

Even now, Fortier isn’t done for 2011. He’s planning on releasing his third album of the year — and seventh of his career — in a few months, as well as a live CD/DVD. He’s also touring eight states in an effort to showcase his considerable gifts beyond the Northwest.

You can stream “Fear Of The Unknown” at www.tylerfortier.bandcamp.com. - The Bend Bulletin

Eugene resident Tyler Fortier’s new CD, This Love Is Fleeting, grabbed me as soon as I popped it in the CD player. As I listened to it to and from work, I marveled at how his voice and his words seem to float effortlessly over each note, each instrument, and each turn of a phrase. But while a host of descriptive words came to mind, the ones that kept coming back to me were: sad, melancholic, and heartbroken. And while many musicians write “sad” music, Fortier’s blend of Americana and alt-country reflects a man who’s been in the gutter and used his music to rise above.

According to Fortier’s press release, This Love Is Fleeting is a record about mourning. Each of his 12 tracks takes the listener on a journey, beginning with puppy love, and then following with breakups and other heartaches. Fortier’s lyrics are honest and feel familiar at times, especially for those of us who have loved and lost. One of Fortier’s greatest strengths might be his ability to write the perfect lyric to represent a particular moment in one’s life. “Find me a lover that fits like warm clothes” is a lovely lyric that has not left my consciousness since This Love Is Fleeting first met my ears.

Released in April, this CD captures Fortier’s ability to write folk songs that warrant comparisons to Neil Young and to some extent Townes Van Zandt. With a voice that can be soft, still, and clear, but also grizzly and frustrated, Fortier creates beautiful, heartfelt songs that deliver. - Eugene Magazine

Few musicians render me speechless, awestruck and inspired all at once, but Tyler Fortier recently managed to do it with his latest album, Fear Of The Unknown. Yes, I review music all the time and listen to artists of all genres and calibres, but Fortier... he's different. In Fear Of The Unknown, Tyler Fortier strikes a chord - not on his guitar or with his voice (though he's extremely capable of succeeding at both), but with his resonating message of fellowship and unity in a time of economic, cultural and political instability. He answers those existential questions we ask ourselves almost every day: Who am I? What role do I play in this world? Where do I fit in? Fortier puts those worries to rest with songs that'll make you laugh, cry, and above all, feel alive.

Washington-born Tyler Fortier now calls Eugene, Oregon home, though for the last couple months he's been on the road promoting And They Rode Like Wildfire Snaking Through The Hills 'Neath The Scarlet Sun, an album he released Feb. 19. The 25-year-old had previously told me he'd planned to release two albums this year, presumably because he had so much material (in September, he said he had 15 songs already and would be penning more in the coming weeks). His official site says Fortier plans to release a seventh album, Bang On Time, later this year.

In an introductory note on the album’s Bandcamp page, Fortier writes, “Fear Of The Unknown, at the heart, is a record about humanity. Each day we continue to exist as individuals in an increasingly individualistic society. How does society function as a whole as we continue to grow apart as individuals? Fear Of The Unknown evokes images of a future Armageddon, narrating accounts of finality, existential crises, and ballads of survival.”





Fear of the Unknown starts off with the dynamic-yet-understated "Mamma, I'm Coming Home," which was a surprise to me as I've only heard upbeat, guitar-centric tunes from Fortier. In the first track, he balances solitary vocals with crescendoing percussion accompaniment that echoes the sobering sentiments of Fortier's lyrics ("There’s a fire up ahead, blinded by the sun and I’m on the run / Got a blue eyed boy and a wanted sign upon my neck / Crooked river roaming, the leaves of fall unfolding / Mamma, I’m coming home to you"). As I made my way through the album, I soon realized I'd be hard-pressed to find a favorite track among Fortier's selection. The ballad "If The World Is Ending" tugged at my heartstrings with its simplicity and tenderheartedness; the feeling was soon followed by elation when "To The Promised Land (Through The Dark)" began, Fortier's vocals and guitar chords reminding me of Bruce Springsteen and John Cougar Mellencamp.

The title track has been a favorite of mine for a while: I first heard Fortier play the song at the Whiteaker Block Party last summer, and featured it in our BackStory series last September. I'd also heard "Into The Heart Of Everyman," which I highly regard for its punchy rhythm and bold lyrics ("There’s gasoline in the water, so drink it up / Everybody wants to be stronger, le'ts fuck it up / Let’s fuck it up for the next ones"). Something I love about Fortier's music is his incorporation of violin, mandolin, horns and various other instruments; Abby Young has a fantastic violin solo during "Into The Heart Of Everyman." Those looking to do a little soul-searching will love the profound "What Do You Want To Fear More?"And just as solemnly as the album began, it ends with "Where The Dark Used To Sleep," a bluesy, dark track fittingly signaling the end of the journey Fortier has just taken you on.

Though I tend to favor all of his uptempo tracks, "Sing For Our Fellowman" actually made me cry - out of happiness, of course. The spirit of community and togetherness really shines through, undoubtedly in part because of the chorus of voicing joining on the track but also because of the inspirational message of the lyrics, some of which I'll include here:

Now the borderlines are full of 100,000 hungry men
Waiting for a prophet to prophesize the end
Now the borderlines are full, full of regret
Let’s get to the light, there’s no waking up dead

Then a man turned around and that man said to me….

We must sing, we must sing, sing for our life
Sing for the morning and sing for our love
We must sing, we must sing, we must sing to survive
Sing for the lonely, and sing for our fellowman
We must


Tyler Fortier will be in Moscow, ID tonight at John's Alley Tavern, and at The Coug in Pullman, WA tomorrow night. The official CD release of Fear of the Unknown will be on April 30; the album is currently available for digital download on Bandcamp.
- Best New Bands.com

This year, Tyler Fortier will release three albums. Actually, if you include the live disc he’s preparing, he’ll actually have four full-length discs coming out before we hit 2012. In an age when bands are considered to be working at a hectic pace if they put out one album every two years, this is almost hard to believe.

What’s even more incredible is that Fortier is commonly out on the road for tours that include as many as 40 dates, but still manages to find time to write, record and produce all of his songs. And he doesn’t just write the dozen or so songs that appear on these discs – he’ll often pen 30 or more tracks for a record, the majority of which are tossed aside with only the best cuts appearing on the album.

For reasons only he probably knows, the Eugene-based songwriter (whose parents live here in Bend) seems to feel a need to defend, no matter how unnecessary, his prolific output.

“I know it seems crazy to put out three albums in a year, but I’m not throwing out shit. It’s stuff I’m really proud of,” says Fortier, checking in from Eugene where he, just a week prior, had released his latest album, Fear of the Unknown, a 13-track collection of Fortier’s wide-range of indie rock, Americana, blues and a host of other influences that make it tough for him to even describe his own sound.

“I still haven’t found a way to comfortably talk about my work. It’s hard to describe,” says Fortier.

But he doesn’t mind a few comparisons. When I tell him that I could hear some Bruce Springsteen on a few tracks on Fear of the Unknown that tell easy-to-visualize stories, like “Sing For Our Fellowman,” Fortier agrees.

“I actually think Springsteen is one of my biggest influences and it comes out sometimes,” he says, “I definitely wanted to capture an E. Street Band sort of feel. Maybe some Arcade Fire in there, too.”

He’ll be playing this weekend at the Silver Moon, accompanied by his extra-solid backing band, to celebrate the new record for his fans on this side of the mountains, much like he did at Eugene’s Sam Bond’s Garage last week. Except that party had a double meaning – it was also Fortier’s 26th birthday and he gave himself the gift of yet another new record.

This sort of output isn’t new to Fortier. He’s been working like this for his entire career, which – even at a young age – saw him cranking out full-length records. Between 2006 and 2010, he released four excellent records, the last of which, This Love is Fleeting, was a huge step forward for the songwriter. Earlier this year, in between touring and plotting the recording of Fear of the Unknown, Fortier got back to his roots. He spent a couple weeks holed up in a garage, armed with his instruments and the old eight-track recording system that he used before his production process expanded for the last few records. That record – although minimalistic in nature – was a conceptually complex album featuring both historically based and fictional songs about the 19th century American West. He gave the collection an appropriately dusty title, And They Rode Like Wildfire Snaking Through the Hills ‘Neath the Scarlet Sun.

With Fear of the Unknown, Fortier – who studied sociology during his time at the University of Oregon – looked at the state of our current society and how he feels we’re becoming increasingly isolated, opting for our technologies rather than human contact. (“I’m worried about how society functions as a whole. There’s this weird tension and it causes a lot of anxiety,” he says.)

Later this year, we’ll hear even more from Fortier with the upcoming Bang on Time, the next record he’s currently plotting with three dozen or so songs already in the hopper. So how is Fortier handling his big, three-album year? He has to be at least a little worn down, right?

“For this year, I just felt like I had so much to get out. I don’t know if that was such a great idea because sometimes I feel scatterbrained,” he says, “I don’t know if people get it and I don’t know if I get it.”

Don’t worry, Tyler. We get it. - The Source Weekly

Fear of the Unknown is laced with strong examples of the many things musicians strive for when making an album. Fortier’s writing and lyrics are excellent; his theme remains hefty throughout; he uses an array of sturdy backing musicians; and he has enough catchy tunes within the thirteen-song disc to connect to a large audience.

The Americana/rock/singer-songwriter sound is something Fortier seems to be supremely comfortable with.

It all starts with the writing. The composition and lyrical delivery really stand out as Fortier’s bread and butter. The album is stuffed with potent, vivid verses; with one of my favorites coming from the song “What Do You Want To Fear More” – “As we’re plugged into walls, attached to wires and chords/Chords that snake through our living rooms and out our kitchen doors.”

The album maintains a strong “what’s wrong with humanity?” theme, with large amounts of biblical references and allegories. Songs like “Bad Men” create haunting images of people who can’t live with the amount of insanity in the world, with the feeling amplified by a hollow, steady drumbeat.
I commend Fortier for keeping this theme fluid and flowing; it helps to create a strong and introspective story. If there is a downfall, it would be Fortier’s sometimes forced and raspy voice. It doesn’t take away from the album, but it’s noticeable at times.

At the end of the day, Fear Of The Unknown sucks you in with its storytelling and cohesiveness, keeping the listener hooked with sturdy, solid musicianship. - Scene Magazine

When you come to a fork in the road, take it. This is the hypothetical question and aesthetic answer simultaneously posed and provided by Tyler Fortier on his fourth album, This Love Is Fleeting. This collection of home and studio recordings by the Eugene troubadour is a solid cycle of folk and country tunes that whirls like a weathervane at the windy Crossroads of Americana — you know, that Faustian place where Robert Johnson signed away his soul to the man with pointy horns. Fortier, a deft songwriter with a voice spun of pure silk, refuses to budge an inch from his obvious sweet spot, standing pat with one leg planted in the past and one in the future. Thankfully, his artistic influences are as attractive as they are apparent. When he doesn’t trip time like Robert Zimmerman getting ready to blow Hibbing for the East Village, Fortier sounds like Ryan Adams right after he left Whiskeytown to become the prodigal son of the burgeoning alt-country scene. Safe, yes, but also pretty damn smart: Fortier ain’t breaking any sound barriers, artistically speaking, but with his talent the choice to remain rooted in tradition is canny and well timed.

With its false start, simple harmonica lick and windblown lyrical lilt, the album’s opening track, “Blue Sky and Sunshine Again,” might be an outtake from Dylan’s eponymous debut. Ditto the second number, “Sing So Blue,” a gorgeous pastoral that receives some tasteful percussive flourishes and a gentle backing vocal from Amanda Lee. Other songs, like “Tennessee (Ain’t That Lonely)” and “Let Me In,” would be right at home on Heartbreaker, Adams’ first solo effort. Moving between these two poles, then, Fortier finds a comfortable and entirely pleasant balance between the old and the new, while for the most part keeping the whole shooting match stripped down to its essentials — strings, a whisper of piano or string here and there, and occasional drum work that chugs and snaps like the wheels of a train bound for Folsom Prison. And yet, despite the infusion of artistic reference points, This Love Is Fleeting hardly qualifies as a stillborn bit of artistic inertia. It’s possible to evolve while standing still, especially when you’re standing on the shoulders of giants. As this latest record makes clear, Fortier — whose “Pale Moon Rise” was a top-five finalist for EW’s Next Big Thing Eugene singles contest — has matured both as a songwriter and a performer. Whereas the aforementioned single, though a perfectly dandy song, suffered from a somewhat heavy hand production-wise, This Love finds him in a more confident and engaged mood, and willing to allow the strength of his songwriting to speak for itself. And Fortier is good enough that his fans will always meet him half way, wherever he chooses to go, or not go. - The Eugene Weekly

Pam Fortier didn't have to search too extensively to find musical talent for the benefit she was putting together for her non-profit organization that provides advocates for abused and neglected children. In fact, she didn't have to look past her own family tree to book her son, Tyler Fortier, a Eugene-based singer songwriter who at 23 has already solidified a reputation as a tenacious recording studio hound.

"He'd actually mentioned that [CASA] should do a music event and that's kind of what planted the seed in my mind," Pam says. She adds that it wasn't hard to convince Tyler to fill a spot on a bill that also includes local musicians Doug Michaels (who helped arrange the show) and Bo Reynolds. The show is a benefit for CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) of Central Oregon, the non-profit organization of which Pam is the executive director.
Tyler plays the type of Americana-fueled folk and rock popularized by the likes of Ryan Adams and Conor Oberst and has recently released his third full-length album, Pale Moon Rise. A Eugene-based singer-songwriter with an earthy album title...I know what you're thinking: This is hippie-dippie nonsense. You're wrong. Fortier, although still largely unknown, has put together an almost shockingly well-produced album for a musician his age that branches out to both his rock and folk influences while not falling prey to stereotypically folky lyrics or song structure.

"I hate trying to stuff my music into a genre. Recently, whenever I have to describe my music, I just call it Americana. But even that's pretty broad," he said in an interview with the Source last fall. He was wearing a plaid shirt, jeans and his shaggy side-swept hair suggested that he could wander onstage with Fleet Foxes and no one would think twice about it.

The relatively soft-spoken Tyler has a penchant for dishing out a grab bag of musical styles on his albums ranging from blues to Wilco-esque country folk which is the reason that although Pale Moon received largely positive reviews, it also prompted one publication to pose the question: "Would the real Tyler Fortier please stand up?"

The "real" Tyler Fortier almost lives in a recording studio. When I caught up with him again last week, he was in Eugene where he's finishing up a psychology degree at the University of Oregon and was planning to spend the night recording material for his forthcoming and yet-to-be titled album. It will be his fourth album...and remember he's only 23.

"I've told myself that I wouldn't record another CD unless it was being financed and in a studio. But no matter how much I lie to myself, I have to record," says Tyler, adding that this new album will be more stripped down than Pale Moon and probably more stylistically focused.

Tyler will produce this next album, just like he did on the previous one, providing a production flare that rivals those who work on major label releases. While it seems that Tyler could eventually make a career for himself behind the mixing board or up on the stage, his career aspirations (well, backup career aspirations - music is still his main career focus) are to follow in his mom's footsteps by pursuing a masters degree in counseling and family therapy.

Pam Fortier is proud of have her son playing the benefit for her organization - a non-profit that operates on a combination of state and county grants as well as their own fundraising efforts to train volunteers that represent abused children in court. She hopes the event will raise awareness and some funds for CASA, but there's a hint that she also wouldn't mind raising some awareness about Tyler's music. After all, moms are allowed to be proud, and unabashedly so.

"I'm his biggest fan. I'm so proud of him and I'm really hoping that I can make it through this show without welling up with tears," Pam says. - The Source Weekly

Tyler Fortier—Pale Moon Rise—Out of Oregon comes Fortier with an Americana/Folk sound that includes a dominant horn section on some tracks and a finished sound on others. His refreshingly snappy sound finds you humming along quite quickly. The first track “On His Way” harkens a Dave Matthews pop quality, but finds its inner twang and softer lyrical spirit immediately. “Where the Sky Turns Gray” slows things down and is more indicative of the Americana voice with a polished quality and a lyrical head spin that works well. The rest of the album follows suit more like the second track than the first, with a quality that melts the listener a little bit deeper. Fortier is able to throw around different sounds from folk to blues to popish rock yet still keep you listening. - Austin Daze

Tyler Fortier’s new album, “Pale Moon Rise,” has been steadily growing on me for the past couple of weeks. At first, knowing that a 23-year-old made it, it conjured a mental image of a greeting card photo of a young child in her mother’s high heels and pearls.
But after many closer listens, Fortier strikes me as mature enough to pull off these sounds and not just a young man dressing up as his heroes. But I still see an identity problem.
It’s hard to ferret out the real Fortier, given his wide stylistic swings from project to project, and even within this one.
What he’s accomplished here is prove he can put together a layered recording. He’s one of the best artists in Eugene right now, and his music shows the promise of matching or eclipsing other fine songwriters in the region, such as Chris Robley or Rocky Votolato.
“Pale Moon Rise,” at its heart, is singer-songwriter Americana. Fortier has a talent for lyrics and has perfected his husky, intimate delivery.
In his bio, he explained that his goal for “Rise” was for it to sound like a novel, “not merely a collection of short stories.”
If not for that stated goal, I might have looked past his experimental wanderings and admired him for trying to grow from them. I do admire him for branching out, but he missed on the “novel” metaphor.
“Whiskey Blues,” a fast-paced, honky-tonk rocker, makes me look ahead to the time when Fortier has found a consistent literary voice through which to deliver a concept.
For now, his musical multiple personalities are easy to take one at a time. But they leave me to ask: Will the real Tyler Fortier please stand up?
- The Register Guard

If you want to get the most out of Eugene troubadour Tyler Fortier’s new album, Pale Moon Rise, I advise you to start at the last track and work backward. On the final three tracks, Fortier drops all pretense and goes for the gusto with “More Than I Know,” “Time Keeps On Movin’” and “Over Indulgence and Time to Kill.” Gusto is what the rest of Pale desperately needs more of.
Fortier was on the right path with his 2007 release, the stripped-down demo tape Drunk, but appears to have made amends with the airbrushes available to him in a studio setting. The result is that some tracks sound less like Tyler Fortier and more like Bob Dylan (“The Nameless Wanderer”) or Elvis Presley (“Whiskey Blues”). But the final three songs are all Fortier, all the way. On the blues-rock slow-burner “Over Indulgence,” Fortier delivers nuggets like “She’s got time to kill / she does it so very well,” and a sultry female chorus echoes (“She got time!”) over a piercing fiddle solo. And then the album ends. To my mind, Pale Moon Rise was just getting started. - Eugene Weekly

Written by Mike Bookey
Friday, 20 February 2009

Pam Fortier didn’t have to search too extensively to find musical talent for the benefit she was putting together for her non-profit organization that provides advocates for abused and neglected children. In fact, she didn’t have to look past her own family tree to book her son, Tyler Fortier, a Eugene-based singer songwriter who at 23 has already solidified a reputation as a tenacious recording studio hound.

“He’d actually mentioned that [CASA] should do a music event and that’s kind of what planted the seed in my mind,” Pam says. She adds that it wasn’t hard to convince Tyler to fill a spot on a bill that also includes local musicians Doug Michaels (who helped arrange the show) and Bo Reynolds. The show is a benefit for CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) of Central Oregon, the non-profit organization of which Pam is the executive director.

Tyler plays the type of Americana-fueled folk and rock popularized by the likes of Ryan Adams and Conor Oberst and has recently released his third full-length album, Pale Moon Rise. A Eugene-based singer-songwriter with an earthy album title…I know what you’re thinking: This is hippie-dippie nonsense. You’re wrong. Fortier, although still largely unknown, has put together an almost shockingly well-produced album for a musician his age that branches out to both his rock and folk influences while not falling prey to stereotypically folky lyrics or song structure.


“I hate trying to stuff my music into a genre. Recently, whenever I have to describe my music, I just call it Americana. But even that’s pretty broad,” he said in an interview with the Source last fall. He was wearing a plaid shirt, jeans and his shaggy side-swept hair suggested that he could wander onstage with Fleet Foxes and no one would think twice about it.

The relatively soft-spoken Tyler has a penchant for dishing out a grab bag of musical styles on his albums ranging from blues to Wilco-esque country folk which is the reason that although Pale Moon received largely positive reviews, it also prompted one publication to pose the question: “Would the real Tyler Fortier please stand up?”

The “real” Tyler Fortier almost lives in a recording studio. When I caught up with him again last week, he was in Eugene where he’s finishing up a psychology degree at the University of Oregon and was planning to spend the night recording material for his forthcoming and yet-to-be titled album. It will be his fourth album…and remember he’s only 23.

“I’ve told myself that I wouldn’t record another CD unless it was being financed and in a studio. But no matter how much I lie to myself, I have to record,” says Tyler, adding that this new album will be more stripped down than Pale Moon and probably more stylistically focused.

Tyler will produce this next album, just like he did on the previous one, providing a production flare that rivals those who work on major label releases. While it seems that Tyler could eventually make a career for himself behind the mixing board or up on the stage, his career aspirations (well, backup career aspirations – music is still his main career focus) are to follow in his mom’s footsteps by pursuing a masters degree in counseling and family therapy.

Pam Fortier is proud of have her son playing the benefit for her organization – a non-profit that operates on a combination of state and county grants as well as their own fundraising efforts to train volunteers that represent abused children in court. She hopes the event will raise awareness and some funds for CASA, but there’s a hint that she also wouldn’t mind raising some awareness about Tyler’s music. After all, moms are allowed to be proud, and unabashedly so.

“I’m his biggest fan. I’m so proud of him and I’m really hoping that I can make it through this show without welling up with tears,” Pam says.

28 Reasons to Stand Up for an Abused or Neglected Child with Doug Michaels, Bo Reynolds, and Tyler Fortier
4-7pm, Saturday, February 28. 28 Restaurant, 920 NW Bond St. $10 suggested donation.

- The Source Weekly

Just barely twenty-one, Eugene, OR based Tyler Fortier's first studio album "When the Sun Hits the Water" showcases an artist with great potential, sounding years beyond his age.
Originally from Camas, WA Fortier has been in Eugene for the last couple years playing as a solo acoustic artist. On his studio album, produced by Thaddeus Moore at Sprout City Studios in Eugene he offers up a full band effort. Though still including some mostly acoustic songs like "Losing You," many instruments can be heard throughout the album, including pedal steels, mandolins, cellos, harmonicas and piano which create a rich sound and Fortier's Ryan Adams influenced voice drives most of the songs. Lyrically, Fortier is prone to clichés like "all you need is love," "candle in the wind" and "we're all brothers after all" which he pulls off because of his rich voice and music. The infectious "Walking Blocks," with its blaring harmonica lines and guitar solo, is the album's standout track and the likely choice for a single.
Because he's still young, songs that could come off as sappy like "A Letter Home" instead come off as honest and heartfelt. Fortier is wise for his age and hopefully his potential will come to fruition in next few years. "When the Sun Hits the Water" is an impressive debut for the artist, both in content and in production. It really doesn't get better than on the opening title track's bridge where Fortier suggests "let's forget about life for a while." - Minute Morning Magazine

If Tyler Fortier has learned anything from his first experience in the studio setting (where he recorded last year’s When the Sun Hits the Water), he’s learned that he wants to be more like Ryan Adams, less like matchbox twenty. He describes When the Sun as “very tedious” to make, admitting that he “didn’t really know what [he] wanted out of the record.” So when it came time to record songs for his debut’s companion album, drunk, Fortier stayed home. “There is a certain quality or characteristic [in home recording] that is really unique that doesn’t really get conveyed in the studio,” he says. Recording the “rough cut” album after the polished album is a concept seen more and more in the age of Pro Tools and home studios, and it has paid off for Fortier in dividends. Gone are the corny references to candles in the wind and the “All You Need is Love” clichés of the first album. Fortier strips away the soft rock balladeer antics for the more ripped-jean punk folk of, natch, Ryan Adams. While still baring his soul, he does it with less processed cheese and more personal energy.
Fortier says he performed all the vocals and guitar in a “one take fashion…mistakes or not.” Naturally, some guitars sound out of tune, apparently part of the rough cut package. My only gripe is that, for a home recoding, it’s still highly polished (it was engineered and mixed with help from the Ingredients’ Jon Timm), so the rough edges are more jarring. That said, drunk showcases Fortier’s forte: strong guitars, melt-your-heart lyrics and snappy, dancing-in-the-dark prairie ballads.
In addition to Adams, Fortier adds Jackson Browne, Tom Petty, Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen to his list of influences on drunk. Certainly Springsteen’s Nebraska era can be heard in “Away from the Sun,” the road-tripping country lullaby with lines that are easy to place. “Trains follow me through the hills,” Fortier sings, “like shadows afraid of the sun.”
Fortier’s acoustic guitar and harmonica prowess is put on full display with “Fields Flooded (Where You Go),” complete with backing vocals that sound distinctly feminine (but are really a mash-up of Fortier’s and Timm’s vocals). “That was supposed to be a secret,” says Fortier. “How lame.” However it got made, Fortier’s drunk won’t be kept secret for long.
- Eugene Weekly