Big time sound, small town roots

The Talbott Brothers journey to the Round-Up stage

By Ellie Graham

The Talbott Brothers perform Sept. 11, 2024, on Main Street, Pendleton. The brothers have been writing and making music together since high school and tour the country as full time musicians. Sept. 11-14 was the first time they performed during the Pendleton Round-Up.

Photo by/Ellie Graham

PENDLETON — People gravitated to Pendleton for Round-Up from near and far. No exception to this is The Talbott Brothers. Singer-songwriters Nick Talbott, 34, and Tyler Talbott, 32, hail from the 2,000 person town of Imperial, Nebraska.

Their music has garnered more than 3 million combined streams on Spotify, with their sounds noted as a cocktail of rock, folk, pop and blues.

"We love so many different types of music. It's hard for us to put it in a box of one genre so we use Americana country a lot," Nick said.

The duo have three albums with another in the works.

Living life in the fast lane on tour means they don't get to anchor into one community for any length of time. Spending four days in Pendleton to perform is a bit of a treat for them, Nick said.

It was not their first taste of Pendleton though, but was their first time performing during the Round-Up.

"It's cool to kind of be a part of the city and the community and kind of live like a local a little bit," Nick said.

They have been through Pendleton often on their travels, he said, but playing during Round-Up week was exciting.

"We definitely love to try new places and be in new places," Nick said, so it's really cool when opportunities like this come up, and our team works hard to get us here."

The Talbott Brothers stand outside Pendleton Music Company on Main Street. The duo have been making music together since they were in high school. Photo by/Ellie Graham

Where it all started

Nick and Tyler said they come from a modest, hardworking home and a large farming community but realized quickly there was more to life than working a regular nine to five, Nick said.

Their roots from a smaller Midwest town inspired their music.

"Music was like a safe space for us to talk about stuff," Nick said. "You know, we didn't feel like we could be judged if we put it into a song."

The brothers' passion for songwriting started young and seemingly runs in their DNA.

"Our parents love music, and we found our dad's old guitar vinyl collection, and kind of just became, you know, infatuated with music," Nick said.

The rural community they call home is about an hour from any kind of amenity.

"If we wanted to go to see a movie or go to Walmart or whatever, we had to drive about 60 miles just to get there," Nick said.

But playing an instrument required no travel. That's where the pivot to carving out a music career roots from.

Nick said their first taste of playing a live performance was probably before they could drive.

The brothers recall making music together ever since Tyler stepped in for a high school performance Nick was involved in – in their more nascent years – when a band member no-showed. When Tyler demonstrated his ability, "They were like, your brother's better," Tyler said, and subsequently the band kept him around.

Nick added they eventually proceeded to kick everyone else out and form their duo. The brotherly connection was an organic route to bringing two siblings together to make music.

They began playing together in high school and laughed when recalling fond memories that included sneaking Tyler into venues when he was not yet 21.

Their 2017 song "We Got Love" earned them some national attention.

They had purchased a second-hand van on Craigslist to tour the country and perform the hit.

They're still on the road to this day – full time. Any opportunity to perform, they'd take, Tyler said.

Their 2019 album 'Ghost Talker' brought more salience to their music, along with their 2022 album "Letters."

The success of their albums grabbed the attention of Rolling Stone and Billboard, which featured them.

For Nick, working with his brother as an artist has been the best decision he ever made. Having a history together is a rich foundation for creating meaningful music, he said.

The Talbott Brothers perform their upcoming single "Kerosene" on Sept. 11, 2024, on South Main Street, Pendleton during Round-Up. The song debuts Sept. 20. The duo said their music is intended to make fans and listeners feel less alone. Photo by/Ellie Graham

A musical connection

Connecting with people through music is a priority the brothers champion. "That's kind of our dream as songwriters," Tyler said. "That's how you connect with people, just a human feeling, pain, joy, love, all the things we want everyone to feel, all the emotions."

They said they want their music to evoke a sense of unity and healing for listeners.

"I think people just walking away feeling less alone, feeling like they're not just roaming around the earth, thinking they have these problems, and no one else does," Nick said.

The brothers have a passion for connecting with fans and making listeners feel less isolated. Lainne Wilkins, the band's manager of eight months, said the brothers even hang with fans after performances to show their gratitude.

"I love when people come up after a show and they're like, I didn't know how to put into words the way I felt about this certain matter or this feeling, but when you guys sang that song, I felt understood," Tyler said.

Tyler also said they use their music to push back on stereotypes about not showing emotion as a male in a smaller town in the Midwest.

"It was just a way to deal with emotions a little bit instead of getting in fights with each other," he said, "or putting holes in walls and stuff, just like therapy for us when we started out."

Career reflections

Being grounded in the right reasons to play music is important to the younger Talbott brother, Tyler. He said an original song that resonates with him is "Shadow Boxing" and a specific lyric in the song embodies knowing your worth as an artist.

The lyric says, "Been throwing fights my whole life for the right fee." The words take Tyler back to a time where being selective of playing live wasn't really an option. The brothers would take any gig and play anywhere to establish themselves — and get paid. Their philosophy has since changed though.

Nick said their newest release "Kerosene" captures their reworked mindset to how they approach their music.

"It's kind of about getting back to that place where you love what you do, and you surround yourself with people that you love," Nick said. "So doing what you love with who you love."

During Round-Up week, their shows ran Wednesday through Saturday starting from 4 p.m. on Main Street. The band would rotate with other artists hourly until around 11 each night.

That left time for some fun when they were off the stage. One of their favorite bars in town is the iconic Rainbow Cafe.

With the Round-Up wrapped up, the brothers' next stop is Americanafest in the country music capital — Nashville.