Rising Stars: Meet Ty Gallaway

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ty Gallaway.

Hi Ty, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Shady Oaks started in the late fall of 2019 as the cold weather seeped into my bones as I trudged through the mud and snow in the beautiful desert of Weld County (working as an environmental scientist). At the time, I was figuring out how to turn my Ty Himself solo project into something more than another guy with a guitar singing about insomnia and misguided feelings of love. I was working with Molly (our manager) on how to achieve this goal, and we knew that I was going to have to get a backing band at some point. I was already in contact with her partner, Jonah, who played the drums and just needed to find another guitar and a bassist. Enter Matt McClelland (rhythm guitar) and Jake Walker (bass). We started off playing my solo project which were pretty much wannabe jazzy indie songs that ended up not being entirely…. loud enough. So I started working on some of my blues tunes and wallllah… 3AM and Home were born. Cool, we had a couple of songs that could lead us down a loud blues hole but also keep a more broad audience with some catchy folk-rock styles. Fast forward with some lineup changes, COVID times, and life changes, we picked up three more people. Now we have Isaac Vance on dual lead guitar, Brendan Lamb on bass and knobs, and Loren Dorland as our Billie Eyelash (did that on purpose) vocal stacking, dual lead vocalist, with a vocoder and a whole lot of energy. We went from Shakey Graves to The Dead Weather pretty quickly.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
I would say it has been a relatively curvy road, but rough wouldn’t be the word to describe our journey. We were two songs into our album (Tequila and Dyin’) and decided to start from scratch and head to Loren’s studio, Mighty Fine Productions. I always had a dream of doing everything with analog outboard gear and a giant console, so Loren made it happen.

We also got shut down for the ol’ pandemic right after our first gig, so that definitely put a halt to our progress. We did use that time to our advantage and were able to write so much to be ready once restrictions were lifted. That time really helped us out of the gate and people were so down to come out to shows after being cooped up for so long.

Lineup changes are always stressful and never fun, but we figured it out. Luckily I knew Isaac from our early college days and knew he was an incredible guitarist that could tell me what I was playing and how to make it bigger. He also puts his whole heart and soul into the band which I always appreciate. Brendan was my intern at the time and he was a ball of raw energy that oozed confidence. He is actually a drummer by trade but had interest in learning the bass, so Jake got him trained up on our music before his departure. Now he has delved into the black hole of boutique pedal collecting which I most definitely support, and is taking us down a path of dark psychedelic bliss. Loren was not a replacement, she just did some producing for our music and sang on some of our early tracks. Once we got the tracks back with her vocals on it, we knew she had to join the madness.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Shady Oaks, in my opinion, is not just another rock band. I truly, with all my heart and soul, believe that we have something unique and special. Every person in this band adds a layer of flavor that is not congruent with each other’s style. I like to hear people tell me that there are too many influences in the band that makes the compass of genre identification spin in circles. Our band works more like Jack Sparrow’s compass in Pirates of the Caribbean. We point more toward what is desired instead of what is expected by us. Happy, Sad, Dark, Folk, Rock, Psychedelic, Shoegaze, Blues, Country, Grunge, Indie, Punk, and Pop. We never really know where we are, other than we have to make it Shady. I still do not know what that is… But I imagine it means to sprinkle whiskey, cigarettes and sleeping pills on whatever cake we are baking. We also play harder than any group out there (except maybe The Velveteers). It is only a matter of time before fire and broken guitars get thrown into the mix. I would say we definitely specialize in our uniqueness and raw energy.

I am most proud of everyone in the band and team that makes this happen. Special thanks to Molly (manager, social media, genius), Jesus Ortiz (Friend, Photographer, DD, makes sure we don’t break anything), Chris Carboni (photographer and documenter), Jeff Riley (dank music videos), Allison Howard (helping us load in every gig and keeper of Ty’s sanity and also DD), Andres Kalegiro and Eri (Graphic Design Crew) also The Dog House Crew for always giving us a home and supporting our dreams. And also the dudes always in the front, and all of our regulars at every show who help us crowd surf (you know who you are). Also the Gallaway family for always throwing down at the bar for our shows. Alcohol sales definitely help get more gigs. We have come so far, transformed a million times, and I think we are doing everything right. This album…. Oh man…

Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
I still do not know what luck is. In my opinion, you always need a little luck on your side. But I also believe in consistent hard work, organization and execution. I think hard work and luck make something impossible happen. Maybe luck disguises itself in the opportunities that present themselves to us? But I think that is from great marketing (molly) and persistence. I guess luck would be Alicia from 102.3 somehow finding a box I left on the doorstep of the radio station in the middle of Covid when no one was actually working from the building that contained a shot glass, a shot of tequila, and a lime that slowly rotted over time with information on our latest single nestled between them. That gave us an intro when we met her at a local meetup which led to radio play. But then again, the box wouldn’t have made it there without great marketing ideas, but maybe luck saved the box from blowing away or being snagged by a homeless dude who would have been LUCKY to find a box with a tequila shooter and a shotglass all ready for the taking?

Pricing:

• T-Shirt: 25$
• Shot Glass: $5
• Tickets: $12
• Hearing Damage: Free

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.shadyoaksband.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shadyoaks_band/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theshadyoaksband/
• Youtube: https://music.youtube.com/channel/UCkc_GLvv35XGeMq5AJbnU4Q

Image Credits
Chris Carboni Jesus Ortiz Molly Schorsch Allison Howard