Biography
Jenny & Tyler fuse the straightforward melodies of bluegrass with the personal intensity typical of today’s singer/songwriters, and their husband-and-wife partnership channels both sound and lyrics through a committed Christian perspective. Jenny Appel and Tyler Somers encountered each other in 2004 while attending the University of Delaware, where Tyler served as worship leader for the Baptist Student Ministry that Jenny regularly joined. Their quick friendship gradually deepened into marriage.
Jenny had already begun writing songs in her early teens as an outlet for personal expression; her parents maintained a strong devotion to gospel and bluegrass, and her father additionally worked as an amateur luthier. Tyler likewise grew up surrounded by music, the son of jazz composer and music instructor Wilson Somers and a vocalist mother. Each had performed independently before they started accompanying one another and composing together as a duo.
Recording sessions for their first project began in 2006, and the independently issued A Prelude appeared late the following year, several months after the wedding. The pair toured in support, and in 2008 they relocated to Nashville, Tennessee, once they chose to treat the endeavor as a serious vocation. After issuing several additional modest self-produced efforts, they shared a bill with Third Day and met Mac Powell, who later contributed guest vocals to the 2010 album Faint Not, on which Jenny & Tyler adopted a noticeably more expansive production approach.
Although Tyler had produced nearly all prior recordings, the 2012 album Open Your Doors was their first to involve an outside producer, Mitch Dane, whose previous clients included Jars of Clay and JJ Heller. That release reached the Billboard Christian, folk, and Heatseekers charts. When not performing or caring for their daughter, Jane Mercy Somers—born in summer 2013—Jenny & Tyler actively support various charitable organizations, most prominently the International Justice Mission and its campaign against human trafficking.
In 2013 they issued the covers EP For Freedom, which included appearances by JJ Heller, Sara Groves, and Levi Weaver and directed its proceeds to anti-trafficking causes. The full-length Of This I’m Sure arrived in 2015 on Residence Music, a newly launched Centricity Music imprint devoted to artists of faith whose work could reach broader audiences; the album once again appeared on the Christian, folk, and Heatseekers charts. The live set 10,000 Miles: Live in 2015 and the holiday collection Christmas Stories both surfaced in 2016, with the latter entering the Christian chart that November.
Jenny had already begun writing songs in her early teens as an outlet for personal expression; her parents maintained a strong devotion to gospel and bluegrass, and her father additionally worked as an amateur luthier. Tyler likewise grew up surrounded by music, the son of jazz composer and music instructor Wilson Somers and a vocalist mother. Each had performed independently before they started accompanying one another and composing together as a duo.
Recording sessions for their first project began in 2006, and the independently issued A Prelude appeared late the following year, several months after the wedding. The pair toured in support, and in 2008 they relocated to Nashville, Tennessee, once they chose to treat the endeavor as a serious vocation. After issuing several additional modest self-produced efforts, they shared a bill with Third Day and met Mac Powell, who later contributed guest vocals to the 2010 album Faint Not, on which Jenny & Tyler adopted a noticeably more expansive production approach.
Although Tyler had produced nearly all prior recordings, the 2012 album Open Your Doors was their first to involve an outside producer, Mitch Dane, whose previous clients included Jars of Clay and JJ Heller. That release reached the Billboard Christian, folk, and Heatseekers charts. When not performing or caring for their daughter, Jane Mercy Somers—born in summer 2013—Jenny & Tyler actively support various charitable organizations, most prominently the International Justice Mission and its campaign against human trafficking.
In 2013 they issued the covers EP For Freedom, which included appearances by JJ Heller, Sara Groves, and Levi Weaver and directed its proceeds to anti-trafficking causes. The full-length Of This I’m Sure arrived in 2015 on Residence Music, a newly launched Centricity Music imprint devoted to artists of faith whose work could reach broader audiences; the album once again appeared on the Christian, folk, and Heatseekers charts. The live set 10,000 Miles: Live in 2015 and the holiday collection Christmas Stories both surfaced in 2016, with the latter entering the Christian chart that November.
Albums
