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TylerWard
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TylerWard
A monthly creative community inside Davidson, open to interested students across grade levels. Built on the honest, confessional culture that has already guided 300+ artists and 60+ American Idol and Voice finalists through Song House since 2021.
"Two billion streams and still mostly just trying to write one honest line."
Song House started in 2021 when Tyler opened a rental house in Nashville, split twelve writers into groups, gave them thirty minutes to write a hook, and shared the raw ideas on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. That small experiment became a pop music incubator that has now mentored over 300 artists from across the country.
Song House artists have amassed over 1 billion TikTok views collectively. More than 60 American Idol and The Voice finalists have come through its doors. It has been featured on NBC, the Kelly Clarkson Show, and Ellen. It is currently being developed into a TV series with Wayne Brady and Sky Studios backed Jupiter Entertainment.
The hook is not the format. The hook is the culture. Honest. Vulnerable. Iterative. Skilled. That culture is what travels into Davidson.
Inside a Song House writing session, Nashville.
Click each column to expand.
Tyler Ray Ward was born in 1984 in Colorado. He served in the Air Force and was honorably discharged. He started uploading acoustic covers from his dad's basement in 2010 and became one of the first musicians to prove that a real career could be built on YouTube without a label, without permission, without a gatekeeper.
Since then he has released music that landed on six different Billboard charts at once with his EP Hello. Love. Heartbreak., collaborated with Earth, Wind and Fire, The Beach Boys, Jason Mraz, Jason Derulo, and Lindsey Stirling, toured the world, and landed a number one Christian radio single.
His acoustic cover of Shallow from A Star Is Born has over 28 million views. His collaboration with Lindsey Stirling and Kina Grannis on The Scientist has over 13 million.
Tyler lives on a farm outside Nashville with his wife Emmy Russell, granddaughter of Loretta Lynn, and their daughter Taylor Ray. He is writing a book called I Will Never Get Married, coming in 2026. He is the guardian of his nephew Christian, who attends Davidson Academy.
"I spent thirty years trying to hide the parts I thought would disqualify me. Then Emmy walked in, and I realized the hiding was the only disqualifier."
Tyler's writing, his songs, his book, and Song House all carry the same thread. Honest confessional storytelling. Raw. Vulnerable. Grounded in faith. Built on the belief that the things we hide are the very things that, brought into the light, heal us.
This voice is why Song House works. It is why artists drive across the country to come to his camps. It is why the culture inside that rental house in Nashville turned into something people pay attention to. It is also why this same voice can land safely and powerfully inside a Christian school like Davidson.
The Honest Encourager tone is direct, warm, and real. It tells students the truth, believes in them, and refuses to flatter. That is the same voice Davidson's teachers already bring to their students. Song House just expands it into a creative context.