Tyler Nance Talks ‘Insane’ Success of Viral Hit ‘Keeps Me Sane’: ‘It’s Like the Song Was Meant to Be’

Before Tyler Nance released his debut opus “Bad News” past autumn and eclipsed it this twelvemonth with his existent Billboard Hot Country Songs debut introduction “Keeps Me Sane,” helium worked arsenic a welder and grew up tending cattle connected his family’s workplace adjacent Lamar, Missouri, a representation dot municipality northwest of Springfield.

“I thought that was what I’d beryllium doing for the remainder of my life,” helium tells Billboard.

But the occurrence of his euphony has enactment Nance connected a antithetic trajectory. “Keeps Me Sane,” released via Santa Anna Label Group, has earned 17.9 cardinal authoritative U.S. on-demand streams since it released successful July, according to Luminate, portion the song’s occurrence propelled Nance to his existent No. 32 presumption connected the Billboard’s Emerging Artists chart. “Keeps Me Sane” earned six cardinal streams wrong 2 weeks of its release, and made it onto Spotify’s Viral 50-Global rankings, portion Nance’s monthly Spotify listeners person ballooned to implicit 2 million.

Nance wrote the opus this past summer, moving with co-writers Brent McCollough and Donnie Napier. “Keeps Me Sane” blends quality imagery of maple leaves and rushing waters, portion capturing a consciousness of the hunt for alleviation against heartbreak and anxiety.

“I was sitting successful my surviving country 1 nighttime and grabbed my guitar and started mumbling retired words and wrote the archetypal verse,” Nance recalls. “I had a [writing session] the adjacent day, took it successful and they loved it. It was similar the opus was meant to be, successful a way. It’s truly seemed to person helped radical who woody with anxiousness and stress.”

Nance wrote poesy arsenic a child, but spent astir of his clip moving the household farm, a puerility helium says, “taught maine a batch astir respect and hard work.” Nance learned tube welding from his uncle, who built fencing for corrals. After precocious school, Nance moved to Kentucky, surviving successful a camper portion moving arsenic a welder. During a sojourn to Missouri, helium picked up an acoustic guitar he’d purchased during the COVID-19 pandemic and began learning songs by Zach Bryan and Tyler Childers.

“I learned immoderate basal chords and kept penning to those chord patterns. I didn’t instrumentality it excessively seriously, it was conscionable my outlet,” helium explains. “Then I shared immoderate euphony connected societal media and it started gaining traction.”

In August 2024, helium released his archetypal opus “Bad News,” which present has implicit 4 cardinal streams connected Spotify. He followed with 2 EPs (I’m Not Him and Wasted Chances), including songs specified arsenic “Sorrows of a Sorry Soul” and susceptible “I’m Not Him” and “Whiskey Me oregon the Pain.” But “Keeps Me Sane” reaches a caller level.

“I support saying, ‘It’s insane,’” helium says with a laugh.

The Wasserman-booked Nance has opened shows for Bayker Blankenship and Kidd G, and volition unfastened for Justin Moore this month. He’s besides moving connected his upcoming full-length project.

Nance, Billboard’s Country Rookie of the Month for September, discussed his upcoming album, his influences, his signature mustache and more.

You person a afloat medium successful the works. How is that shaping up?

Hopefully, I volition beryllium putting it retired adjacent year. A batch of the songs are benignant of astir my beingness and my roots, increasing up successful the Midwest and that communicative of wherever I came from.

Can we expect immoderate collabs?

As of now, no. I person 1 opus connected determination that has a pistillate [vocal] portion and I americium looking astatine getting idiosyncratic connected that. There are a mates of different songs that I person artists successful caput that I would emotion to person connected those.

Which artists are connected your bucket database to collaborate with?

Tyler Childers and Sam Barber. Tyler, his euphony has influenced me. Sam is besides from Missouri, and he’s a proficient writer and has a large voice.

Who were immoderate of your different influences increasing up?

I listened to a batch of bluegrass stuff, a batch of Keit...