Tyler, Texas

Everything Tyler is known for

17 songs mention this city 63 artists from here

Tyler, Texas, known as the "Rose Capital of America," has a notable connection to music, with 63 artists calling it home and 14 songs mentioning the city. The city was designated a Music Friendly Texas Certified Community in January 2024 by the Texas Music Office, highlighting its commitment to fostering music business and economic development.

Among the artists from Tyler are country artist Paul Cauthen and indie band Eisley. The city is also referenced in songs like "Broken Window Serenade" by Whiskey Myers and "City of Roses" by Charley Crockett. Tyler's music scene includes various live music venues and events, contributing to its cultural landscape.

Music in Tyler

Songs About Tyler

Broken Window Serenade
Whiskey Myers
90%
"Now you work down at the Timeout Off 155"
Tyler Song
Ulpu
80%
"Song about Tyler"
Tyler Song
BLUEHEELS
80%
"Song about Tyler"
Bumpa Grill
Chalie Boy
62%
"for my boy Brandon Chisom in Tyler, Texas"
East Texas Ways
Cottonwood Crows
50%
"Make our way on up to Tyler, Texas"
Forever
Koe Wetzel
49%
"Well down another hour just outside of Tyler"
Thunderstorms & Tyler Roses
Brian Burns
32%
"Thunderstorms and Tyler roses always make me think of you"
Rose Queen
William Clark Green
30%
In the House Tonight
DJ Screw
7%
"Baton, Baton, O O (N.O), Tyler Tyler"
Ida Red Likes the Boogie
Bob Wills
7%
"Johnny Gimble, ah haw, ah you boogie good"
Railroadin’ Some
Henry Thomas
7%
"Tyler, Longview, Jefferson, Marshall, Little Sandy, Big Sandy"
City of Roses
Charley Crockett
7%
"There's a city of roses / Way back in the pines"
Smile
Curtis Grimes
6%
"More tender then a Tyler rose"
Tyler Rose
Justin Slinkard
6%
"Tyler Rose"
On Cum
Say Anything
3%
"I'll always come for Sherri DuPree"
Jim Murphy
Mark David Manders
3%
"They put us both in chains and they hauled us off to Tyler, and when that district court commenced"
Tobey
Eminem
2%
"John Manziel, odd man out (What?)"

Artists From Tyler

C
Chance Peña
folk Pop: 69
P
Paul Cauthen
country Pop: 60
F
Fit for a King
metal Pop: 57
C
Chance Pena
pop Pop: 52
E
Eisley
indie Pop: 50
I
Ivoryline
rock Pop: 46
B
Brandon Beal
pop Pop: 46
E
Ella Lee
r-n-b Pop: 43
L
Lil' Son Jackson
blues Pop: 42
S
Sugaray Rayford
blues Pop: 42
M
Mouse and the Traps
rock Pop: 42
E
Element Eighty
metal Pop: 38
T
Teron Beal
r-n-b Pop: 37
S
Sucré
pop Pop: 36
G
Gus Johnson
jazz Pop: 36
L
Lil’ Son Jackson
blues Pop: 30
D
Dooley Wilson
jazz Pop: 30
S
Shaun Groves
classical Pop: 29
J
Johnny Williams
blues Pop: 28
P
Perma
indie Pop: 27

Showing top 20 of 63 artists

Rivers & Roads in Song near Tyler

Songs written about the waterways and highways that run near Tyler.

Interstate 20 13 songs Kickapoo Creek 4 songs Sabine River 13 songs

History of Tyler

A President Born In Seventeen Ninety With A Grandson In Our Time RoadyGoat

Here's a fact about this town's namesake that sounds impossible until you check it. John Tyler was born in seventeen ninety, back when George Washington was still President. And believe it or not, one of his grandsons was alive just last year. Not a great-great-grandson, an actual grandson, only two generations removed. How on earth? Tyler had fifteen children, more than any President in American history, eight with his first wife and seven more with his second wife, who was thirty years younger than him. One of those children, a son named Lyon, had babies very late in life himself, including a boy named Harrison Ruffin Tyler born in nineteen twenty-eight, when Lyon was about seventy-five. Harrison lived all the way until May of twenty twenty-five, passing away at the age of ninety-six. Think about that. A man born in seventeen ninety had a grandson walking around in the twenty-twenties. Three generations of one family reaching across two hundred and thirty-five years of American history, all tied to the name you see on the sign here in East Texas.

RoadyGoat →

His Accidency RoadyGoat

The man this town is named for got one of the meanest nicknames in the history of the White House. They called John Tyler His Accidency. Here's how he earned it. In eighteen forty-one, William Henry Harrison became President, gave a marathon inaugural speech, and then died just thirty-one days into the job, the first President ever to die in office. Nobody knew exactly what was supposed to happen next. The Constitution was fuzzy about it. Some folks in Washington figured the Vice President would just be a caretaker, an acting president until a new election. But Tyler didn't blink. He took the full oath of office, moved into the role of President completely, and when opponents mailed him letters addressed to the Vice President, he sent them right back unopened. That bold move set what historians call the Tyler Precedent, the rule that a Vice President truly becomes President, not a stand-in. It's why every succession since has been smooth. His rivals sneered and called him His Accidency, but that so-called accident settled a question that could have thrown the whole country into chaos.

RoadyGoat →

The Loophole That Made Texas A State RoadyGoat

Ever wonder how the President this town is named for actually pulled Texas into the Union? It came down to a clever bit of legislative math. Normally, to bring a whole new country like the Republic of Texas into the United States, you'd sign a treaty. And a treaty needs two-thirds of the Senate to say yes. That's a huge hurdle, and Tyler knew he didn't have the votes. So he went a different way. Instead of a treaty, he backed a joint resolution, which is just a bill passed by both the House and the Senate. And a bill only needs a simple majority, more than half, in each chamber. That's a much easier bar to clear. Congress passed it, and on March first, eighteen forty-five, just three days before he left office, President Tyler signed it. Then on his very last full day, he fired off the official offer of statehood to Texas by courier. Texas formally joined as the twenty-eighth state that December. So the next time you pass the Tyler city limits, remember, the town's namesake got Texas in through the side door, using a simple majority instead of a supermajority.

RoadyGoat →

Wilson, Arthur [Dooley]

1942

Dooley Wilson, actor and musician, was born Arthur Wilson in Tyler, Texas, on April 3, 1886. Some sources list 1894 as the year of his birth, but Wilson's gravestone gives 1886. Wilson's career spanned more than forty years. He began at age twelve with performances in vaudeville as a minstrel player. Around 1908 he performed in black theater in Chicago and New York. It was during this time that he got his nickname, "Dooley," as a performer in Pekin Theatre in Chicago. The name was taken from "Mr. Dooley," Wilson's signature song at the time. During the 1920s he led his own band—the Red Devils—in which he performed as a singing drummer on a nightclub tour of Paris and London. He returned to the United States in 1930 and gave up his drums for an acting career. He performed with Orson Welles and John Houseman in Federal Theater productions and then landed a Broadway role in the musical Cabin in the Sky . Wilson made his film debut in 1939. Although his roles were primarily supporting ones, he made film history as Sam, the pianist–singer in Casablanca who performs "As Time Goes By." Director Hal Wallis wanted a woman for the role but chose Wilson instead, although Wilson "couldn't...play piano." The director allowed Wilson to sing, but the piano playing was dubbed. Wilson was under contract to Paramount and on loan to MGM. His film credits include Keep Punching (1939); My Favorite Blonde , Night in New Orleans , Take a Letter Darling , Cairo , and Casablanca (1942); Two Tickets to London , Stormy Weather , and Higher and Higher (1943); Seven Days Ashore (1944); Triple Threat and Racing Luck (1948); Free for All and Come to the Stable (1949); and Passage West (1951). In 1945 Wilson had a prominent role in the New York musical Bloomer Girl . He also acted in Beulah , one of the first television series starring black actors, in 1951. He was on the board of directors of the Negro Actors Guild of America. He died in Los Angeles on May 30, 1953, shortly after his retirement, and was buried in Angelus Rosedale Cemetery. He was survived by his wife, Estelle.

Tsha Handbook →

Tyler

1839

In area opened 1839 to white settlers by Republic of Texas victories over Cherokee Indians whose trails led the way to good springs, fine farmlands, useful salines. The first Legislature of the state of Texas named the town (founded 1846) for President John Tyler, who signed the resolution annexing Texas to the United States. Originally a farm market, Tyler in early years had few men of wealth, but by 1860 was known for good schools, churches and cultured citizens. Several men here raised and commanded troops in Civil War. After mid-1863 this was transportation headquarters for Trans-Mississippi Department of the Confederacy. It had an ordnance factory and was site of Camp Ford -- the largest P.O.W. post west of the Mississippi. In 1870s important as site of railroad shops and roundhouse. Developed industries, manufacturing, fruit and vegetable packing, shipping, expanding economy. Furnished Texas with statesmen, including Governors Richard B. Hubbard (in office 1876-1879), O. M. Roberts (1879-1883) and James Stephen Hogg (1891-1895). Upon discovery of nearby East Texas oil field in 1931, became investment, banking, servicing center. Home of Tyler Junior College; Annual Rose Festival.

Historical Marker →

Smith County, C. S. A.

1861

[FRONT] Smith County C.S.A. Major center of Confederate activity during Civil War. Many distinguished men and military units served South. The largest ordnance plant west of the Mississippi River manufactured "Tyler Rifles" near here. Camp Ford located east of town was the largest prisoner of war compound in the western Confederacy. Other military activities here included a quartermaster depot, training camps, transportation depot, foundry, general hospital and medical laboratories. Two large salt works produced daily thousands of pounds of this vital commodity. At home, women, children, old men, loyal slaves raised cotton and grain for army. Women made all their own clothes, used parched okra and yams for coffee and made hats out of shucks and straw. [BACK] Tyler-Smith County C. S. A. Men and Units Elements of the following Confederate Texas military units were recruited from or organized in Tyler and Smith County: Douglas' Battery, 1st Texas Infantry, 3rd Texas Cavalry, 11th Texas Infantry, 15th Texas Infantry, 22nd Texas Infantry. Erected by the State of Texas 1965

Historical Marker →

First County Agricultural Extension Agent

1906

At a time of low crop production and depressed farm economy, Smith County became the birthplace of the County Agricultural Agent concept. This occurred in an historic meeting Nov. 12, 1906, in an opera house near this site. Present were Dr. Seaman A. Knapp of the United States Department of Agriculture, County Judge S. A. Lindsey, and some 44 local leaders-- many belonging to the Tyler Commercial Club which sought to underwrite farm improvement. Smith County that day appointed Wm. C. Stallings (1842-1916) the first county agent in Texas and the first in the nation to serve only one county. Three years earlier the first cooperative farm demonstration program was begun on the Walter C. Porter property, Kaufman County. That successful application of scientific farming operations and appointment of Stallings (an outstanding farmer of the Dixie community, west of Tyler) were first steps toward establishment of the County Agricultural Agents' system, now known the world over as the Cooperative Extension Service. Today its educational programs further development of agricultural and human resources in both rural and urban areas.

Historical Marker →

Gardner, Carl Edward

1954

Carl Edward Gardner, lead singer of the Coasters, was born in Tyler, Texas, on April 29, 1928. He was the son of Robert and Rebecca Gardner. His father was a hotel bellman who, according to Gardner's autobiography, Yakety Yak I Fought Back: My Life With the Coasters, ran a side business in bootleg liquor. His mother, a Comanche Indian , had a fine singing voice and was the source of his own vocal talent. A music teacher, a German classical pianist, instructed Gardner in singing and also trained his sister, Carol, who would later become an opera singer. As a young man, Gardner sang at parties for a living in Tyler. He attended Emmett Scott High School and sang and played drums with the territorial band of Lasalle Gunter. He spent a year in the United States Army. In 1952 he married Ladessa Richards, and they had a daughter. Eventually he moved to California in the early 1950s to pursue a career in the music business and left his wife and daughter behind in Tyler. In 1954 he joined the Robins, a rhythm-and-blues and doo-wop group, as a replacement for a singer who was in jail. Gardner stayed on and recorded with the group on the Spark label in 1954 and 1955. His first major career success came with the Robins, with the Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller song, "Smokey Joe's Café," the first hit to feature Gardner on vocals. It attracted the attention of Atlantic Records, and the company made arrangements for the Robins and Leiber and Stoller to relocate to New York, but when three members of the group chose to stay in Los Angeles, Gardner and bassist Bobby Nunn recruited new members and the new band was dubbed the Coasters. Subsequently, Atlantic Records signed the group. They were one of the first major Black groups of the rock-and-roll era and specialized in humorous songs featuring characters who often reflected the problems facing teenagers at the time; their music appealed to both Black and White audiences. Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller wrote much of the group's material, and the Coasters made their debut recording, "Down in Mexico," in 1956. A Latin-tinged, bluesy song, it featured Gardner's clear-voiced and plaintive style. The Coasters' first big hits, "Searchin'" and "Young Blood" (the B-side of "Searchin'") were released in 1957. The Coasters went on to record enduring classics of 1950s rock-and-roll, including "Yakety Yak," "Charlie Brown," and "Poison Ivy." With these recordings their work took a lighter turn and reflected youthful problems in an adult world. "Yakety Yak," was a warning to obey parental wishes; "Charlie Brown" painted the portrait of a class clown; while "Poison Ivy" dealt with the first hormonal stirrings in a young man. The Coasters communicated with 1950s teenagers through these "playlets," as Jerry Leiber called them. Texas-born sax player King Curtis was often heard on their recordings, and he contributed the tenor solo on "Yakety Yak." From 1956 to 1961 the Coasters enjoyed enormous popularity in America and England. Their popularity began to wane, however, and sales of singles such as "Little Egypt" and "Run, Red, Run" were way below those of previous releases. Eventually the "British Invasion" displaced groups such as the Coasters. The original Coasters were Carl Gardner, Bobby Nunn, Leon Hughes, and Billy Guy. Personnel changes occurred over the years, but during the group's heyday, from the late 1950s to the early 1960s, the lineup included Gardner, Guy, Cornel Gunter and Will Jones. These four members were inducted as the Coasters into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. They had the distinction of being the first vocal group to be inducted. The Coasters continued touring with a lineup fronted by Gardner and including Ronnie Bright, Jimmy Norman, and guitarist Thomas "Curley" Palmer, from El Paso, Texas. Their major album releases included The Coasters (1957), The Coasters' Greatest Hits (1959), The Coasters One By One (1960), Coast Along with The Coasters (1962), That Is Rock & Roll (1965),

Tsha Handbook →

Parsons, Albert Richard

1867

Albert Richard Parsons, radical labor organizer, was born in Montgomery, Alabama, on June 24, 1848, the youngest child of Samuel and Elizabeth (Tompkins) Parsons. Both parents died before he was five, and Albert was sent to Tyler, Texas, to live with his brother William Henry Parsons . From 1855 until 1859 the family ranched in Johnson County, Texas, and from there they moved to Waco. In 1860 Albert Parsons was apprenticed to Willard Richardson on the Galveston Daily News . When the Civil War began, Parsons joined the Lone Star Grays, a Confederate volunteer company. Later he served as powder monkey for an artillery unit at Sabine Pass. In the final years of the war he was a scout for Parsons's Brigade . Following the war Parsons returned to Waco, where he received his only formal education, studying political economy and moral philosophy for six months at Waco University (now Baylor University). In 1867 he began to publish the Spectator , in which he advocated civil rights for Blacks and acceptance of the terms of surrender. He became a Radical Republican and traveled throughout Central Texas registering freed slaves to vote. The Republicans appointed him to a position in the district clerk's office in Waco in 1870; he was also appointed assistant assessor of United States revenue and was elected a secretary of the Texas Senate in 1871. When Reconstruction came to an end in Texas, Parsons was hated as a miscegenationist, a scalawag, a traitor, and a revenue man. He had been shot in the leg, thrown downstairs, beaten, and threatened with lynching for his efforts to register Black voters. That year, he moved to Chicago with his wife Lucy E. Parsons , a woman of mixed racial heritage, whom he had married in Austin in 1872. They had two children. In March 1876 Parsons became a member of the Social Democratic party of North America, and on July 4, 1876, he joined the Knights of Labor . He became a leading agitator for social change in Chicago, and the railroad strikes of July 1877 brought him into the limelight. He was taken to City Hall to face members of the powerful Citizens' Association, and he was fired from his job as a typesetter at the Chicago Times and blacklisted. The police chief warned him that his life was in danger and advised him to leave Chicago at once. After a series of defeats as a candidate for public office between 1877 and 1882, Parsons rejected electoral politics and joined radical trade unionists who advocated industrial struggle and believed unions to be the embryo of a postrevolutionary society. Parsons began to call himself an anarchist, although he used the terms anarchist and socialist interchangeably. Though his rhetoric was visionary and even violent at times, he remained committed to improved living conditions for all. To that end he helped to organize the Chicago Trades and Labor Council and threw himself into agitation for the eight-hour working day. In October 1884 he became editor of the Alarm , published by the International Working People's Association. May 1, 1886, the date set for the inauguration of the eight-hour day, passed smoothly and with great optimism; Lucy and Albert Parsons led a march of 80,000 strikers and supporters up Michigan Avenue. However, violence erupted two days later at the McCormick Reaper plant, and the anarchists called a meeting for the night of May 4 in Haymarket Square to protest police brutality. Parsons spoke, then left the meeting with Lucy and the two children; they were nearby in Zepf's Hall when nearly 200 policemen marched into the square; an unknown person threw a bomb, and police began shooting wildly. Most of the seven police officers and seven members of the crowd who died apparently sustained wounds from police revolvers. Albert Parsons left the city that night; in the aftermath of the bloodshed known radicals were jailed. Parsons returned to Chicago voluntarily and presented himself to the court, declaring his innocence and expecting to be exonerated.

Tsha Handbook →

Things to Do in Tyler

food 13.2 mi away
LaCascio's Scratch Italian

Italian fine dining in tiny Lindale at 75 Miranda Lambert Way — named for the town's famous daughter. Scratch kitchen, fresh-baked bread, upscale-casual…
historical 25.0 mi away
Kilgore, Texas (c. 1939, Russell Lee)
day trip
Day Trip to Tyler 🌹 (FULL EPISODE) S11 E8

Featured on The Daytripper — a full-episode local travel guide.

Sports in Tyler

⭐ HOMETOWN LEGENDS Class 5A · Football

Tyler Lions — Tyler — a college & pro athletic pipeline

6 alumni who reached major-college or pro sports

Tyler High School has a proud tradition of developing athletes who excel beyond their high school years. Several former Lions have gone on to compete at major college programs and even professionally. These alumni represent various sports, showcasing the diverse athletic talent nurtured within the school's programs.

Among the notable athletes are Aqua Franklin, a women's basketball player for Texas A&M and later with the Sacramento Monarchs in the WNBA. The school also saw Daniel Hernández become a former MLS soccer player. On the gridiron, Ronnie Lee and Quincy Stewart both played in the NFL, with Stewart also a member of the Edmonton Eskimos team of the CFL. Derrick McFall was a college football running back for the SMU Mustangs, and Teddy Williams was an NFL player after his time at the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Pro/D1 alumni
6
Class
5A
Key Players
  • Aqua Franklin — , Texas A&M women's basketball 2004–2008, WNBA drafted 38th pick Sacramento Monarchs, assi
  • Daniel Hernández — , former MLS soccer player
  • Ronnie Lee — , former NFL player
  • Derrick McFall — , college football running back for the SMU Mustangs
  • Quincy Stewart — , former NFL player and a member of the Edmonton Eskimos team of the CFL that won the Grey
  • Teddy Williams — , four-time NCAA track and fieldAll-American at the University of Texas at San Antonio; NF
The moment

Aqua Franklin was an assistant coach with Stephen F. Austin.

Sources: Wikipedia · SI High School (ScoreBook Live)

Everything Near Tyler

285 stories, landmarks & places within ~20 miles — the same local lore RoadyGoat plays as you drive through.

Explore Tyler on the Map
All music from Texas → · Browse more cities