Tyler’s musical education began far before they played any instruments. It started in the passenger seat of their Grandmas truck, listening to Jim Croce’s “Bad Bad Leroy Brown” or when they had their first concert (they can remember) watching James Taylor play the sun down behind the horizon at the Gorge. From an early age, Tyler knew there was something special in music, and more importantly, that they loved it!

After formally starting their music education on trumpet at High Lakes Elementary, and continuing on at Cascade Middle School, Tyler found themselves with a musically heavy schedule at Summit High. It was there that one of the most influential music leaders that Tyler would experience was introduced: Dan Judd. Judd not only pushed Tyler and the other students to give it their best, develop real practice routines, and perform at a high level, but he did so while also being friendly and accommodating. That approach has heavily informed Tyler’s way of teaching today. Performing with the wind and jazz ensembles, music during high school took Tyler to multiple state championship titles, Carnegie Hall, Disneyland, and high level workshops around the PNW such as WIBC (Western International Band Conference) and the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival in Idaho.

Also during this time, Tyler started teaching themselves drums, and guitar, looking to trace back to those initial music influences. Through trial and error and a LOT of practice, Tyler was able to carve out some basic songwriting skills and began recording and performing with small local bands they put together. Playing around the Bend scene was a perfect way to cut their teeth before graduating and moving to Portland to pursue their bigger goals.

After moving to Portland in 2013, Tyler immediately immersed themselves in the local music scene, playing out as often as possible. This eventually led to the formation of Brother Not Brother, which became Tyler’s first long term, and moderately successful project. Between 2015-2019, Brother Not Brother performed hundreds of local shows, embarked on 5 regional tours, recorded an album and EP, and caught the attention of the Portland scene. All the while, Tyler was performing and touring in other local groups on trumpet such as Kiki & the Dowry, The Jack Maybe Project, and Ezra Bell. Tyler also interned at the professional recording studio, The Hallowed Halls, between 2016-2018, which gave Tyler invaluable insight into the music business, and the art of recording.

2019 was also the year Tyler started teaching music professionally, after deciding that they had accrued enough real world experience to bring those foundational skills to new students. When the pandemic hit, Tyler found themselves with plenty of time to record new music as well, and from that time, the project “Sun Pup” was formed with an EP “Of Fang and Feather” released in 2021.

During this time Tyler was learning quite a bit about teaching as well, working with students of all ages, backgrounds, learning abilities, and skill levels on guitar, piano, drums, bass guitar, ukulele, trumpet, and songwriting. They decided to open their own private studio in 2022, which became known as Milwaukie Music Connection, and had a consistently steady client base up until their departure for Bend in late 2025. Sun Pup also continued to make and play music around Portland through 2025, releasing singles and performing at venues such as Revolution Hall, Alberta St. Pub, and even the Tillamook County Fair.

Tyler provides a real world, experience informed approach to music lessons and always strives to meet each student at their level. Setting goals and cultivating a safe environment to achieve those goals is paramount to Tyler, and they look forward to helping you on your musical journey.