Tyler Booth Grab The Reins EP Review

Tyler Booth was raised in Campton, Kentucky, and attended Morehead State University on a music scholarship where one of his instructors started championing his talent. Booth’s talent started gaining more attention and momentum in 2017 when he released his debut self-titled EP featuring the popular track “Hank Crankin’ People.”  In 2019, he released the singles “Long Comes A Girl” and “Where the Livin’ Is” with Villa 40/Sony Music Nashville. Now, after signing a major record deal with Sony Music Nashville in early 2020, Booth released the 6-track EP Grab The Reins that dropped on August 20th.

Grab The Reins starts on a strong note with the first song “Drink It Up” which is pure country from tempo and melody to its moral-of-the-story celebratory lyrics.  The refreshingly authentic country sound fits Booth’s unbelievably mature and traditional vocals. Booth is a 24-year-old who sounds like he’s been singing country before he could talk. The wise message of the track is delivered by an intrinsically-country metaphor that life is a party that we have to drink up and savour. 

“Drink it up. Try to sip it ‘cause it’s real good stuff and you’re gonna get a real good buzz off life and love and you only get one cup so pour yourself a good time, raise it up real high, taste it ‘fore it runs dry. Drink it up.”

The second track “Ghost Town” hits the nail on the head by once again conjuring vocals and lyrics reminiscent of traditional country story-telling eerily resembling a young Johnny Cash. The upbeats of this track mesh perfectly with Booth’s low tones to produce a walk-about tale of love lost but never forgotten.

“Every corner that I turn, every sunset that I burn. Every dirt road I go down, down, down. I smell your perfume, see your face. Something whiskey can’t erase. Swear that I can feel you here right now and you’re always hangin’ ’round. It’s like I’m livin’ in a ghost town.”

The sixth and final track on Grab The Reins is how the EP got its name with lyrics about the girl of his dreams grabbing his heart by the reins. “Palamino Princess” is an epic cowboy’s love song to the kind of country girl who not only can catch the heart of a cowboy but perhaps even tame it too.

“Saddle me up, I won’t buck on you, baby. Let’s take a chance and we can ride the night away. A palomino princess is all a cowboy needs to face a long, hard day. So won’t you climb on up and grab the reins.”

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