 As the last full month of summer begins and warm sunny days turn into cooler nights, the quaint town of Challis, Idaho, which sits snug near the Sawtooth Mountains, prepares for an influx of music aficionados from all over the globe for the Braun Brothers Reunion Festival. Regarded as one of the state’s premier musical gatherings by both attendees and artists alike, the BBR is a family-friendly event that unites artists and fans in an unparalleled setting for three unforgettable days.
This year, the BBR will be held from August 8th-10th and will feature fifteen Americana, Texas, and Red Dirt artists including Idaho's own Tylor & the Train Robbers. In anticipation of their debut appearance at the BBR and their new album, Best of the Worst Kind, which drops August 26th, front man Tylor Ketchum took the time to talk Idaho, the BBR, and much more! In Aug you'll be playing the BBR for the first time, prior to being a performer, have you ever attended as a festival-goer? Yes! The BBR is actually kind of a big part of what made me want to move Idaho. When I was 19 I was still living in Oregon and some friend suggested that I go and they ended up bringing me with them that summer to check it out. I had never been to a festival with so many of my favorite bands all in one place. It was a very inspiring and educational experience for me as a young musician. After that my friends and I made it a tradition to take the time off work and drive the seven hours from Pendleton, Oregon to Challis, Idaho every summer to go. So it must have been a no-brainer to say yes to the invite to play? It was definitely a no-brainer to say yes! When I moved to Idaho I made it my goal to get on the BBR stage and everything I did to advance my band was with this goal in mind. Over the years, my relationship with the Brauns has evolved a lot. In the beginning I was just a huge fan of their music - both Micky & the Motorcars and Reckless Kelly. After my first year at BBR I wrote a song on my way home about my experience at the festival and called it "Challis." A few months later my little brother’s and I shot a homemade music video for the song and I sent it to Gary & Willy via Facebook messenger lol! To my surprise they both wrote me back and gave me words of encouragement to keep doing what we were doing and working hard. That really stuck with me and helped me to continue pushing forward. A couple years later I had the chance to meet George Devore (who has been a BBR regular for years) at a festival we were both playing at in my hometown of Helix, Oregon. He gave some strong worded advice to get the hell out of the small town and find a bigger music scene to grow in. I moved to Boise a few months later to do just that and the rest is history. Shortly after my move to Idaho I got the opportunity to open up as a solo act for Micky & the Motorcars up in Ketchum at Whiskey Jacques and that was really the start of building a relationship with the Braun’s. Over the next fews years I worked to get the right people in my band and form a solid line up. Once my band was locked in, I tried to get on the bill with them every time they came through Idaho and over time we developed a friendship. That's an amazing story! Are you still Idaho based? Yes, we are still based in Boise, Idaho. We love living here and for now it’s a great place to call home, but who knows what the future will hold. If the right opportunity arises we are open to whatever may come. No matter where we land though, Idaho will always be home. How does living in Idaho shape your music? I grew up in Helix Oregon, a small town near Pendleton Oregon. Helix has a population of about 200 people so I think it’s safe to say that there was no music scene there whatsoever. We were fortunate that our Mom brought music into our lives at an early age. She played guitar and sang to us as kids and when we showed interest in playing, she was very supportive and continues to be our biggest fan. My two younger brothers, Jason and Thomas, and I formed a family band at a really young age and started playing “gigs” around town in any place that would have us. Tommy was about 9 years old when he started playing live shows with us. This year Tommy finally made the move out to Idaho to join back up with us on drums and we are so happy to have all three brothers back together making music again. When I first moved to Idaho the music scene was so welcoming and I felt really lucky to find such a great community to be a part of. Boise felt HUGE to me at the time and so did the music scene. Obviously as we’ve grown and started to tour around the country we’ve found much larger music scene’s, but Boise will always be our home. The people in Idaho have been so incredibly supportive and have treated us like family from the very beginning. I know that no matter where we are in the country one of our Idaho fans is going to reach out and say that they know someone who they told to come out and see us there. I can’t even begin to tell you how much I appreciate all those people who have been with us since the beginning.
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