Jonathan Tyler & The Northern Lights

Jonathan Tyler & the Northern Lights play blues and Americana rock, and have a knack for emotive depth and crunchy, rootsy hooks. His gritty sound and his gently raspy voice catapulted him to fame, from his launching pad in Dallas, in the form of an Atlantic Records deal, spots on the nation’s biggest festival bills, and musical features in a bunch of TV shows. These days, Tyler is signed with Thirty Tigers and reeling a bit from the heights he and his band achieved so fast. But Tyler’s latest album, 2015’s Holy Smokes, is certainly his finest work yet, dialing up a traditional blues feel even in the midst of a hard-edged rock onslaught that barely sounds like Americana, despite smacking of heartland America through and through.