Tayler Holder Sit Down and Dyin' Flame Audio Premiere
TikTok sensation and the platform’s most-followed country music artist, Tayler Holder, is set to ignite the charts once again with his highly anticipated new single, “Dyin’ Flame.” The heartfelt track takes listeners on a journey through the struggles of a fading relationship, weaving together country storytelling with a pop sensibility. “Dyin’ Flame” resonates with the singer-songwriter’s signature blend of powerful guitar riffs, driving rhythms, and anthemic vocals, delivered with the raw, emotive energy fans have come to love.
This week, Country in the UK caught up with Tayler to find out more about the Alvarado, Texas native and we have as teamed up to bring you an audio premiere of the new track before it's release on 22nd November and you can pre-save HERE
Your new single Dyin’ Flame is coming out on Friday, how's the excitement levels heading into these final few days? Yes, sir. Dude, honestly, I think this is the most exciting I've been for a release yet because it's gotten so much traction that I didn't even expect. I wanted to just prove my team wrong because at first no one wanted us to release it. They didn't want us to release it at the end of the year because going into holiday season, they were like, ah, people tune out of music. I was like, all right, I'll make you guys a deal, okay! I haven't put out a song in several months, so if I wait till the top of the year, like you guys are saying, it's gonna be half a year till I dropped another song. What if I tease it, it does good, then we put it out, let's make a deal! The first tease did over a million views! Then, all of a sudden, people started using the sound and now we have over 12,000 or 13,000 videos made to the sound on TikTok. It's got 15 million views and over 30,000 shares. It's just blowing up everywhere, man. It's kind of been super surreal, honestly.
Does that put a bit more pressure on you though, with the song not even being out yet and getting that kind of traction? Yeah, I'm not gonna lie though, this is probably one of the most confident songs I've put out. You always have the idea of, oh, they hear this one little clip that they love and if they hear the whole song, is that gonna ruin it? Are they gonna be like, all right, this wasn't as good as what the hype was. To be honest with you, everyone I've showed it to has loved it - I listen to it every single day in my car. I've actually never been this pumped for a song. So yeah, I'm excited, man.
I understand you have already got to play it live as well, which must be quite cool to get those reactions before release. Dude, we did it for the first time ever just last weekend. I played my last show of the year in Florida and we added it to the set last minute and ran with it. It was so much fun, man. We didn't rehearse it or anything. So, we were like, this could absolutely be a disaster but it went really well and we had a great time doing it.
What was the reaction like for it? It was great. There were some people that already knew the little second verse and stuff like that from me teasing it and stuff too. It was great.
The festival you played in Florida was with Cole Swindell and Bradley Gilbert Yes, sir. Yeah, so Cole played the day before us and then I was at the Jake Paul, Mike Tyson fight on that day. Then we flew that morning to go to Florida, so we played with Brantley that night and I got to come out and sing with Brantley as well. So that was really cool.
Do you go to guys like Brantley for advice? Oh dude, absolutely, man. Brantley is another one of those like Jelly Roll and Struggle Jennings where they've just been through the ringer a little bit and they've all honestly played older brother figures to me. They’ve given me advice and talking to me and helping me and all that stuff. I'm a new kid here! Dylan Scott has been the only one really that's kind of taken me on the road with him so far. Other than that, no one really turns a head at the TikTok kid! It's been kind of crazy to have those types of people turning their heads at me and stuff. Honestly, I feel like I don't even deserve their attention right now. It's been really cool to have people like that to lean on and get advice from
Right, so you've mentioned the boxing. I was going to come onto this later, but I'll mention it now. So obviously you've done a bit of the misfit boxing stuff yourself. What was the fight like on Saturday night for you being there? Okay, so one, I've been telling everybody about the Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano fight. From the first fight that they had, I knew it was going to be a brawl. I knew it was going to be crazy. I knew there wasn't going to be a dull moment at all. I was a little disappointed with Katie's headbutts, I'm not going to lie, where it cut Amanda open early on in the fight. I mean, I think Amanda got robbed from that fight personally. I think she won that fight, dude. She fought her ass off for seven more rounds with an eye cut completely wide open. I was bummed to see them give it to Katie.
As far as the Mike Tyson and Jake fight, Jake is my boy, dude. I love him so much. I just think that it wasn't what I thought it was going to be. I know Jake was trying to protect Mike in a sense of, everyone is like, it's got to be staged, man. Coming from an insider, I mean, none of that stuff is staged, dude. No one's going to put their reputation on the line, especially someone like Mike Tyson. I will say with the hype going up to it, I thought it was going to be a lot more active and a lot more interesting than what it was. So that was a little bummed out, but I know he was saying he didn’t want to hurt Mike Tyson because he's old and this and that. At the end of the day, it's a fight, dude. Mike got in the ring and he signed that contract and he knew what was going on. So, if it were me on the other side of that ring, no matter how much of a legend he is, I would have, I mean, not saying I'm anywhere near Mike Tyson, but I would have at least like tried to hurt him.
Do you feel quite honoured to say you've watched Mike Tyson fight though? Honestly, that was the moment for me. I was like, you know what? No matter the outcome, no matter how old he is, he's still, without a doubt, one of the most dangerous people in the entire world, for sure. I was glad I got to just experience him in the ring. That was cool to me. Seeing someone that I've known since I was like 18 years old fight him, whatever the outcome was, it was just really cool to experience it.
Dyin’ Flame is now your fourth release of the year. How does this compare then to the other three that you've put out this year? Cause Nothing but Neon is probably one of my favourite tracks of yours. Yeah, we were doing more slower, sad stuff and Nothing but Neon technically is a sad song, if you listen to the lyrics, but we tried that trappy sound. We honestly referenced like a Morgan Wallen thing. I wrote it and I was like, I think this sounds like Morgan Wallen. I actually sent it over to Big Loud. I sent it over to Morgan's team as I didn't know if it was for me as I was like, this is not like anything I've put out. They said, hey, we're not accepting, they got their projects that they got, all this stuff and I was like, no worries. I got to thinking about it, I was like, you know, what if I just put it out? It was so different. I didn't know if anyone would like it but it's been our top streaming song. I was like, okay, there might be something cool here. As far as difference from the other songs I've put out this year, I think that the stuff that I put out this year is stuff that I wrote at the end of last year. We’ve been writing all year long. We've been doing the reps. We're getting better slowly as we go. Each song we're writing, I can definitely tell that it's getting better and better and better each time. I would just say that I think this is probably lyrically vibe all around, probably one of the best songs that I've written or put out - honest to God. We have some more songs in the bank ready for next year and they're getting 10 times better every time. I'm excited.
Now that you've got this group of songs, are there plans for an EP or for a full-length album in the works? Or is it just going to be single releases to build the profile? We were trying to get single, single, singles and just trying to get music out first of all because we've had such great traction over the last year and a half, two years with the whole music thing jumping into it. We didn't really expect it and we're getting booked for some shows that are an hour to hour and a half long sets and we don't have that much music right now! We're having to throw some covers in there! We're having to throw a little bit of everything in. We've just been trying to get songs out to at least have enough to play a set that people would know the songs well. We are planning to do an EP next year; we don't know exactly when but we're hoping to get it out as soon as possible. We've just been trying to get one to hit before we released the project. To be honest with you, with the love that we've gotten from it, I think maybe Dyin’ Flame is gonna be the one that kicks that off to get some traction, to get some eyes turning to then drop a project to let people know like, hey, we're serious about this and we're here to stay a little longer than you think.
I guess the good bit for you at the minute is you're now getting to that point where just even picking songs for that EP is gonna be quite a challenge for you. Yeah, man, because I talked to my team recently and we are putting out songs right now that I think I have written from the perspective of what I think people would enjoy listening to it. I've written songs that are also very meaningful to me, all this stuff. I think that there's still such a cool story to tell about my life that no one knows. Honestly, we're still writing as it is right now and we don't have all the songs 100% solidified on what's gonna be on the EP. I wanna write some more stuff that's real to me, man, and whether it's a little slower, whether it's whatever, I want people to know a little bit more of my testimony, my story, with what we're putting out, instead of just putting out songs that I think other people would like - I would like to put out songs that I know that I like. If people like it and listen to it, then that's even better for me.
I understand this all kind of started for you around lip-syncing, is that right? You know, it was crazy because I'd been playing instruments since I was 10 years old. I started when my grandma got me my first guitar. After that, a couple of years later I picked up piano, I picked up drums, and I played saxophone in school for a minute. I'd always enjoyed music but from where I'm from, no one really made music. I didn't know how to write a song. I didn't know how to make a song. Nothing. I just knew I liked the idea of it. When the whole social media thing came around, I was riding dirt bikes at the time, man. I wasn't even doing any of that stuff. That's what was working at the time. That's where I'm grateful because it definitely got me to where I'm at, but I'm also at the same time like, dang it, I kind of put myself in a hole here because I'm known as that lip sync, TikTok, social media influencer guy and no one knows the real and authentic Tayler. That's where I think we want to go with the music, to let people know a little bit more about who I actually am. Everyone thinks I'm from LA and I'm a city kid. No one knows that I'm from a town that's got like a little over 2000 people in it and there's nothing going on. I'm a small-town country kid at heart. We're just trying to really paint that narrative and let people know that, hey, this is who I actually am. We've gotten so many heads turned and so many people looking at it already and I think just with time, you know, the music will speak for itself and people will start believing it.
Do you still thrive on those kind of nerves you must've had when you went from lip syncing to people hearing your own voice and wondering how they would kind of accept it? Yeah, man, I get super nervous. Every show I play, I'm super nervous at first. I am that TikTok kid in everyone's eyes. Going out there, people are also kind of mean sometimes. I luckily, knock on wood, haven't really experienced a show yet where anyone was being mean or saying some crazy stuff to me in the crowd about me being a TikTok kid or whatever. They've actually all been really accepting, which is cool.
Do you see that TikTok kid tag though as an opportunity to introduce new fans to the country music genre? I think country music is bigger than it's ever been right now. I love it man. I grew up with all the old country and stuff like that. My dad's an old school guy and a lot of people don't like it, but I honestly like how it's bringing all these different genres together. It's not like country trying to be like other genres - it's like every other genre wants to be like country. They're bringing a cool twist to it. It's making country really cool to everyone else as well and all these different demographics. I think that it's cool bringing different eyes to it and it's making it bigger, whether people want actual country music on country radio anymore, or if they want, whatever it is but I think it's the same thing with the influencer boxing stuff. It's obviously very different as a lot of these influencers can't fight and it's kind of embarrassing to watch, right? But they're bringing so many people in, they kind of save boxing, man. They're bringing so many new eyes to boxing and getting so many people to love the sport that it is, in a way, helping out the community, helping out that world as well. I think that's kind of the same effect we see going on with country music right now
Are you also hoping to stick with a couple of boxing matches as well next year? Absolutely, man. I'm still going to try to fight at least once a year. I've been talking to Mams (Mams Taylor) about it. Fighting definitely isn't something that I'm going to do as my career for the rest of my life. I think I'm past that moment for sure. I just love the sport a lot and no matter what it is, I would love to just still get in there and do it until I can't no more.
Once the touring schedule picks up and takes over, is that going to be the point where you're like, right, I can't have fights anymore. Yeah, dude, that's where it's hard, man because just this year, and I already know that this is nowhere near as busy as what we're going to be when we get to where we're going, we were playing damn near every weekend or every other weekend and we're only home for two to three days or maybe five days at a time. That doesn't give me enough time to do a camp for a fight. These camps are long and hard with long days. The only reason I even got to fight back in March was because Mams called me. I was on Broadway, literally at a bar on Broadway in Nashville and he was like, yo, the guy's opponent failed an MRI. Do you want to fight this guy? He's six foot two, he's 185 pounds, dah, dah, dah, dah, da and I was like, okay, cool, when is it? And he was like, it's this weekend. I was like, oh shit, Mams, that's in four days, brother. I had not really been in the gym and my cardio was not good but, and no one knew this at the time, my parents' house had just burned down. We had a lot of pivotal moments going on in my life at that moment and the money that they offered me was something that I knew could really help. That's honestly why I did it. I didn't know, I wasn't super confident going into it because of the way that my cardio was and I was just out of shape, man. I got in there, got the second round finish and it was cool to win. That was awesome on a four day notice but I hope I get to actually get back in there and show people what I can really do and how I can really fight.
And now people will be nervous now if they're like, hold on, he knocked someone out in the second round without any training. Yeah, and dude, honestly, I kind of got lucky to be honest with you. I mean, I knew I would have beat the guy regardless but I mean, I was getting tired, dude. He luckily got really tired too. I think that that's another reason as to why it was really hard for him to get up. I kind of honestly got lucky, man. I'm not gonna lie to you because if we would have went another round, dude, I don't know, my cardio was gassed!
So, before we finish, I have got to ask you, obviously we're based over here in the UK. Are we on your radar? Oh, dude, absolutely. We're coming to you guys a lot sooner than you think. You're definitely on our radar!
Nice, I'll take that. Hopefully next time we can do this over some beers at a football game here Yeah, I'd love to, man.