“I love people, and I believe in people,” says Tyler Merritt, the ultra-positive powerhouse behind The Tyler Merritt Project. “My default with the world and with people is love, and that ends up sparking what I think we need more than anything in the world right now, which is hope. As long as hope is possible, I will continue to promote positivity.”
Tyler Merritt’s journey to Nashville is a story we’ve heard before: he grew up in Las Vegas, moved to Northern California with ambitions in theater and acting, then landed in Nashville after starting a band, Broken Flame.
“I wanted to be where the best musicians in the world lived. I was lucky enough to play music for years with some of the best musicians that Nashville has to offer in one of our favorite venues in Middle Tennessee,” Merritt shares, recalling his time playing in the now-closed 12th and Porter.
Fast forward to now, and Merritt’s impact has gone far beyond entertaining fans through music. In 2018, Merritt shared a YouTube video through his platform, The Tyler Merritt Project, called “Before You Call.” The monologue beautifully uses Merritt’s own story as a unique perspective on racial inequality. The message was heard near and far, amassing millions of views over the years and landing Merritt on outlets like Jimmy Kimmel, The New York Times, and Sports Illustrated.
The Tyler Merritt Project has continued to share messages of hope, equality, positivity, and a little laughter ever since.
“The Tyler Merritt Project started out as an idea of what a community could look like if we believed that proximity could make a difference,” Merritt shares. “I wanted to invite individuals from all backgrounds, sexual orientations, and colors and give them a single perspective of my identity as a black man in America. I wanted to do that through laughter, love, humor, grace, and education. I never imagined that The Tyler Merritt Project would grow and blossom into such a huge community, but sometimes, when you build it, they come.”
We all know that laughter is powerful medicine, an antidote Merritt knows all too well.
“We all sometimes laugh when we’re afraid, sometimes when we’re nervous, and then always, when something is genuinely funny,” Merritt shares. “That humor can continue to connect us when used well and properly.”
Evolving on the primary message of his viral video, Merritt released his debut book, I Take My Coffee Black: Reflections on Tupac, Musical Theater, Faith, and Being Black in America, in 2021. In it, Merritt details his own upbringing with plenty of humorous flair, while also shedding an important light on the reality of inequalities that exist in the world today.
“What I hope with my story is that people will see that their stories matter,” Merritt shares. “My story isn’t wildly significant. I choose to believe that by telling it, it can make a difference. We live in a world where we need each other, and we need each other's stories.”
With a community of followers all hungry for connection, Merritt’s impact has been felt all over the world. He reflects on his impact, sharing, “The amount of messages, both cards and direct messages, that I receive from people worldwide about how they feel more connected because of the time they spent within the community that we’ve created is wildly meaningful to me. In a million years, I never could’ve dreamt that a 65-year-old white woman from Kentucky would be able to reach out to me and say 'I feel more connected because of what you have created' or an 18-year-old student from Baltimore, saying how their life has been changed, and I’ve helped them to dream. Those kinds of things are just things you can never expect when you go to create something.”
While his reach may be far and wide, Merritt still calls Nashville home, and has a special affinity for Franklin – nodding to one extra special cantina in particular.
“I absolutely love this community,” Merritt shares. “Hopefully, one day, I’ll do a show in this gorgeous theater you all have here in Franklin. It’s one of my favorite spots, but I’d love to bring together the community of Franklin there to share some time together. Oh, and shout out to Mojo’s Tacos… that’s my joint.”
So what’s next for The Tyler Merritt Project? Rumor has it, a new book is in the works.
“I’ll be honest with you, after I Take My Coffee Black was done, I thought I’d never write anything better than this. It seems that I am proving myself wrong.”
TheTylerMerrittProject.com