In this ongoing series, we reach out to CHS alumni to learn what they are doing now that they have the advantage of experience, education and self-reflection. This month’s pick is Tyler Lyle, Class of 2004. Tyler, a professional musician, and his band The Midnight have charted on Billboard multiple times and the album, “The Golden Age and The Silver Girl,” was named one of National Public Radio’s Top 10 Albums of the Year. He is returning home Jan. 21 to perform at the Carrollton Center for the Arts as part of the center’s 20th anniversary celebration.

EDUCATIONAL PURSUITS: After high school, Tyler headed to Asbury University his freshman year and then transferred to Georgia State to finish a degree in philosophy. Upon graduation, he moved to Prague and got certified to teach English as a foreign language. He then relocated to Paris and to attend Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines University. A musical career was not on the high school debater’s radar, but early exposure through his father’s involvement as a house guitarist for the George Britt Band and the church choir eventually piqued Tyler’s curiosity. 

“Music happened incidentally,” he says. “I was writing songs in high school, and kept writing songs through college. I moved to France and started playing music in bars. When I came back to the U.S., I made a record. After that, I started touring and regularly releasing music. After enough time wandering down this path, one day I just realized that this was my career.”

PERSONAL: “After spending a decade living between New York and LA, I moved back to Georgia. I live in Atlanta with my wife Anna and my 4-year-old son Beau. I built a music studio, where I spend my time when I'm not touring, and we have a little library and a little garden, and I like it very much.” 

HOBBIES: Tyler’s hobbies run the gamut, yet reflect the interests of a creative person: Songwriting, mythology, running, depth psychology, visiting book stores in his favorite cities, and modular synthesis, which is working with synthesizers made of discrete parts, or modules, that all interact together to create electronic sounds.

PROFESSIONAL ASPIRATIONS: “To mix and master my next record by myself.”

PERSONAL ASPIRATIONS: While Tyler continues to be committed to making music and living a fulfilling life, he and his family are planning to take an ambitious trip to Japan this year.

AS A SUCCESSFUL ARTIST, WHAT CONTINUES TO INSPIRE YOU?  “Success is what buys you time to create. The creation is the fun part. The travel and rehearsal and business stuff are just what allow me to return to my quiet studio and keep daydreaming.”