By Olivia Turner | Arts & Life Editor
Bodies clad in gingham, florals and flouncy puffed-sleeve dresses packed in tight against the metal barrier, as if herded into place, in front of a low-lit stage sat between the Hurd and Dutton Parking Garage leading up to Ty Myers’s anticipated Baylor performance on Friday.
One of these students, Fort Worth freshman Kinley Castillo, said she discovered the heartbreaker country crooner through a friend, and has been listening ever since.
“I am ready to scream my heart out to ‘Through a Screen,’ ‘Thought It Was Love,’ ‘Stay’ — like literally just scream my heart out,” she said.
Mission freshman Samara Martinez said Myers’s music came across her feed on TikTok in December. His hit, “Thought It Was Love,” got her hooked.
“I was like, ‘Wow, that’s literally my life story,’” she said. ”Like, how does he know exactly what I’m feeling?”
Considering Myers’s age, Castillo said she is impressed by his level of maturity in his lyrics and life.
“I think it’s crazy that he’s our age and I’m in college studying and he’s already onto his life,” she said. “I think … everybody forgets how young he is because he has a very old persona.”
In addition to his maturity, his diversity in lyrics and song content sets him apart from the typical country artist crowd, according to Martinez.
“He has a song for everything,” she said.
Amarillo senior Gabbie Hoving, a Pi Phi member, said the sorority had the opportunity to attend a meet-and-greet with Myers earlier in the day.
“It was just the best thing,” Hoving said. “He was just so kind.”
In the minutes leading up to the big moment, students chattered amongst each other, took selfies on digital cameras and typed out “Ty, please kiss me!” and “Take me back to your hotel room!” in big letters on their phone screens to raise in the air once Myers took the stage. “Howdy” splayed across the stage’s backdrop in twisted rope writing. Suddenly, high-pitched screams erupted, heads flipped toward the glowing stage and the crowd surged forward as the man himself stepped up to the mic and kicked off the night with “Never Get Tired (of Loving You).”
Myers stepped out in an all-white outfit, silver hardware on his hands, wrists and neck. A weathered electric guitar was slung over his shoulder with a snakeskin strap.
He strummed to his low-and-slow “Worry is a Sickness,” but switched to shredding on his electric to “Real World Now,” and even held the wailing instrument over the back of his head while he played “Can’t Hold Me Down,” igniting whooping and hollering from the masses.
As the night progressed, Myers switched back and forth between his electric and acoustic, showing his chops in both rock n’ roll and soul-heavy songs. In between his biggest hits like “Ends of the Earth” and “Drunk Love” from his debut album, “The Select,” Myers teased multiple new songs, one of them called “Come On Over, Baby,” a swinging, spirited, keys-heavy number that will come out next Friday.
The other, “Morning Comes,” led in with an enchanting acoustic arpeggio progression, not unakin to the intro of the Eagles’ “Hotel California.” For this one, Myers encouraged the crowd to listen closely to the lyrics, which sang of trying to make a moment last, even if it’s coming to an end.
“Y’all are one of the first crowds to hear it,” Myers said. “It’s one of my favorite songs I’ve ever written. ”
On the lawn behind the crowd, couples held each other and rocked back and forth to slow songs “Through a Screen” and “Thought It Was Love.” During the latter, Myers paused midway to help an attendee get medical attention, but resumed once all was well. Not long after, Myers was roped into a Sic’em at the conclusion of a song.
“Keep going to live music; I think it’s good for the soul,” he said to the crowd as the end of the night neared.
The Hurd glowed green as Myers closed out the night with one final song — “Drinkin’ Alone.”
“Promise me you’re not going to drink and drive,” he said. “Anyways, here’s a song about drinking and driving!”
Myers’s voice rang out, booming across campus and off of buildings as he sang,
“So much for drinkin’ alone / I can’t find one good reason for leavin’ here alone.”
