Daily Inspiration: Meet Lauren Ives and Ty Brigman

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lauren Ives and Ty Brigman. Them and their team share their story with us below:

Tesoro is a Denver-based husband and wife duo comprised of female vocalist Lauren and multi-instrumentalist and vocalist, Ty, from the local band “Ghostpulse”. Lauren and Ty met in 2017 when Lauren went to a see a friend’s band, from Las Vegas, play a house show in some random basement in Littleton. Little did she know, that basement would belong to her future husband and bandmate. Ty, being involved in the local music scene and various bands for over 15 years, had a music space in his basement that he would graciously offer up as a venue for touring bands who were passing through and hadn’t booked a venue. This gave bands the opportunity to make a little cash for gas or hotel rooms. It also allowed locals to hear music from different States for a cheap ticket price and gave local musicians the opportunity to make connections with out-of-state bands. After meeting at this house show, they quickly started hanging out to make music together and subsequently fell in love. Originally from SoCal, Lauren grew up singing in church as well as writing songs and jingles for just about anything that came to mind. Never having a music lesson, she is self-taught and didn’t pick up a guitar until her last year of high school. But after learning guitar, she started developing her personal sound and released her first Indie Folk/Pop EP at the end of 2017. Ty and Lauren formed “Tesoro” in 2019 and got married in 2020 and have been making music ever since! Currently, they are in the process of recording their first EP in their home studio as well as playing the occasional local show around Denver. You can stay up to date on all things “Tesoro” by following them on Instagram @tesorosound and Facebook @TesoroMusic 

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Less than a year after forming “Tesoro”, the Covid-19 outbreak was declared a Pandemic, which drastically impacted Musicians, including our Newly Formed Duo which was just starting to break through and be heard by the local music scene. Our Live performances were canceled for the entire year of 2020 and greatly reduced for 2021 due to the pandemic. This not only affected our income but also our chances of connecting with other local musicians and listeners in-person. Although the Pandemic took a toll on our Live performances and meetups, we spent the time writing songs and polishing our performances, as well as trying to grow our online presence on social media. We have greatly missed the Live aspect of performing and sharing our music with others but we look forward to releasing our EP this year and getting back into performing out again! 

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Tesoro is a Husband-and-wife duo based in Denver. They formed their band in 2019 when they were just dating but music brought them together and they fell in love and got married in 2020 and have been writing and performing together ever since! Ty’s characteristically high harmonies blend beautifully with his wife’s effortlessly sultry tone and their catchy lyrics and melodies test the listener’s willpower to get songs unstuck from their head long after they have stopped playing. Together, they have combined their various musical style backgrounds and influences and settled somewhere amongst the genres of Indie folk and Dream pop. 

What were you like growing up?
Ty Brigman was born in 1985 and spent his early years living at a Church Camp in the Colorado Foothills, as his father was a pastor there and his mother a worship leader. He grew quite fond of the mountains because of his upbringing and spent his days exploring the surrounding area with his two brothers. He was quite introverted and quiet as a child but always had an affinity for music. Music was one of Ty’s only interests; he wasn’t fond of most school subjects or sports growing up but did enjoy the occasional video game or hockey match with his brother. His mother’s musicianship definitely ran in the family and was passed down to all 3 of the Brigman Boys. Ty and his brothers all sang and played their self-taught instruments effortlessly and formed their own band, in 2009, named “Lucida Tela. Ty also formed “Ghost pulse” in 2015, with his younger brother Nate. Both of these brotherly bands were characterized by their family harmonies and wide range of instrumentation including trumpet and flute amongst drums, guitar, and bass. In addition to “Tesoro”, he continues to perform as frontman of “Ghostpulse” and dabbles in a few other bands from time to time. 

Lauren was born in 1993, in Southern California, and grew up singing in church. Coming from a big family of 7 kids, she didn’t have the money or transportation for lessons but picked up a guitar later in high school and is self-taught. Besides music, she was quite outgoing and loved participating in almost every sport as well as extracurricular activities, and excelled in school. In fact, when her mother stopped homeschooling her and she was put in Public School, she was placed in the “Gifted” class for students who excelled in school and/or had a high achievement in specific academic fields. But above all, her favorite and first interest was always singing! She started singing and songwriting from an early age and melancholy, yet catchy, melodies and lyrics oozed from her empathetic heart, which felt all too much. In her early years, she wrote mostly of boys and heartbreak but fell in love with the cathartic way music helped her express emotions. She continues to use music as a release to this day, as frontwoman of “Tesoro”. 

Contact Info:

• Email: tesorocomusic@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/tesorosound
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TesoroSound/
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/

Image Credits
KT Langley Photography
Emily May Photography