Tyler Baker used to mow graveyards for money. Raised in a double-wide trailer in Southern Indiana, he grew up in a home so rural it didn’t even have an address. As a child he rode motorcycles and played in the creek. His father spun records by Creedence Clearwater Revival and ZZ Top, while Baker played country hymns on guitar in church. The nearest Walmart was 40 minutes away. Life plans were simple.
“My grandparents just wanted me to marry in the church and be in the church all the time,” the Goodbye June guitarist tells us today, as his band gear up to release their excellent third album, See Where The Night Goes. “Beyond that, I don’t think they cared. They wanted me to keep mowin’ the graveyards and go to church!”
Over in West Tennessee, his two cousins – now his bandmates – grew up with even godlier expectations, and only slightly less remote surroundings. Church was everything. Secular music was forbidden. Rhythm guitarist and bassist Brandon Qualkenbush’s father was a travelling preacher who evangelised across the Bible Belt. Meanwhile, Landon Milbourn, Goodbye
