An Arizona native with more than four decades of experience behind him, Ty is a multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, performer, sound engineer and longtime member of Arizona’s music community. And when asked what has kept him going all these years, his answer may explain his entire career better than anything else.
“Music is who I am, not just what I do.”
Ty’s musical journey began in junior high school with a saxophone.
While attending Coconino High School, he played alto, tenor and baritone saxophone as part of the school band and marching band. Before long, however, his musical curiosity started pulling him toward other instruments.
By high school, Ty had picked up the drums and bass guitar, beginning what would eventually become a lifetime of playing just about whatever was needed.
He remembers realizing sometime around 1983 that music was going to be more than simply a hobby.
“That was a long time ago,” he jokes.
And he wasn't kidding.
Over the decades that followed, Ty would play country, rock and metal, tour extensively throughout the United States during the 1990s, perform alongside nationally recognized artists and become the kind of versatile musician who could step into almost any musical situation.
Today, he plays guitar, drums and piano, sings, writes music and continues performing both as an acoustic solo artist and in duo settings while also filling in with working Arizona bands.
Trying to narrow Ty’s musical influences down to one genre — or even one decade — is nearly impossible.
His musical foundation reaches from The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Elvis Presley and George Jones to Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Chet Atkins, Roy Clark and Buck Owens.
Then there’s the rock side.
Black Sabbath, Boston, Grand Funk Railroad, AC/DC and Alice Cooper became part of the mix, followed later by artists like Skid Row, Whitesnake, Slaughter and Armored Saint.
Country never went away either.
Ty also points to Hank Williams Jr., Eddie Rabbitt, George Strait, Diamond Rio, Shania Twain, Mark Chesnutt, Billy Currington and Jason Aldean as influences throughout the years.
More recently, artists including Luke Combs and Zach Top have caught his attention.
Put all of those influences together and Ty describes his own sound pretty simply:
A mix of classic country, contemporary country and hair metal.
That combination makes a whole lot more sense once you know his story.
Over the years, Ty has had the opportunity to share stages with an impressive list of artists, including:
Joe Diffie, Collin Raye, The Bellamy Brothers, Aaron Tippin, Mark Wills, BlackHawk, Doug Supernaw, Confederate Railroad and Billy Joe Shaver, among many others.
He also spent an important chapter of his career at Flagstaff’s legendary Museum Club, where he wore more hats than most people could probably handle at one time.
Ty served as the venue’s entertainment director, house sound engineer and DJ, while also performing as part of the house band.
That experience gave him something that continues to define him today: an understanding of live music from nearly every angle.
He knows what it takes to be the artist onstage, but he also understands what it takes behind the scenes to make the show work.
That versatility is one of the reasons Ty continues to fill in for Arizona bands when someone needs help.
With decades of experience and multiple instruments at his disposal, he can often walk into a situation with very little — or sometimes no — rehearsal and simply handle the job.
For Ty, that ability is about more than getting another gig.
It gives him the chance to help fellow musicians when they’re in a bind.
Ty’s career has also included original music.
In 2013, he released the Ty One On Band and Friends record, including a song called “It’s All Over But The Cryin’.”
And the inspiration?
Ty doesn't exactly dance around the answer.
“It’s about me and my first ex!” he says with a laugh.
That combination of real life, humor and experience feels pretty fitting for someone whose musical influences stretch across traditional country, outlaw music and rock and roll.
Of everything Ty has accomplished, one moment stands above the rest.
In 2023, Ty was inducted into the AZGCMA Hall of Fame.
Ask him about it and you quickly realize this wasn't simply another plaque or another line to add to a biography.
It meant something deeply personal.
Ty recently turned 65, and after spending most of his life in and around the music industry, he admits there were times when he wondered what all of those years had amounted to.
“I’ve been around a couple times,” he says. “And I really got nowhere in this industry, but this just sort of validated that all my hard work and perseverance in this industry was not just all for nothing.”
For Ty, being recognized in his home state made the honor even more meaningful.
Arizona has an extraordinary country music history, with legendary artists including Waylon Jennings, Marty Robbins, Tanya Tucker and Jessi Colter connected to the state's musical story.
To Ty, finding himself recognized within that Arizona tradition was something he never expected.
“I’ll be forever grateful to those who felt like I was worthy of this award,” he says. “I know it may not mean much in the grand scheme of things, but it does to me. This is the highest honor I’ve ever received.”
Sometimes an award isn't about arriving somewhere.
Sometimes it's simply confirmation that all those years of showing up mattered.
A career spanning more than four decades doesn't happen without challenges.
For Ty, one of the biggest has been something plenty of working musicians understand all too well:
Money.
“Endless financial difficulties,” he says.
And when asked what kept him going through them?
He's not entirely sure there was ever a calculated reason.
Maybe there didn't need to be one.
Music was simply part of who he was.
So he kept playing. He kept learning. He kept filling in. He kept writing. He kept showing up.
And when asked what the title of his life would be if his music story were a country song, Ty gave perhaps the perfect answer:
Anyone who assumes Ty has spent his entire life doing nothing but playing music might be surprised.
He's also an FAA-licensed unmanned aircraft pilot.
Before music became his full-time focus, Ty spent 11 years in the automotive industry during the 1980s and describes himself as a “Doctor of Motors” — working with gasoline and diesel engines, automotive heating and cooling, towing and recovery.
After leaving the automotive industry, he spent much of the rest of his working career in construction.
He can build, repair and inspect houses and spent years designing and building custom decks.
Ty retired from that work two years ago.
These days?
He only plays music.
After a lifetime of balancing music with everything else, that feels like a pretty good chapter to be in.
There may not be one giant tour announcement or carefully mapped-out next move.
That's never really been Ty's style anyway.
“The live music just keeps going,” he says. “It’s mostly random and never ending.”
But there is one project he's especially excited about.
Ty is putting the finishing touches on a brand-new recording studio, with plans to begin producing all kinds of new music in the years ahead.
And somehow that feels exactly right.
After decades spent playing stages, touring, writing songs, running sound, working with other artists and learning virtually every side of the business, Ty is building something that can help create the next chapter — not just for himself, but potentially for other musicians too.
Because that's another piece of what music means to him.
It's connection.
It gives him the opportunity to meet people from completely different walks of life. It allows him to help other musicians when they need somebody experienced enough to walk into a difficult situation and figure it out.
And after more than 40 years, he’s still doing exactly that.
Still playing.
Still helping.
Still creating.
Still learning.
And, most importantly…
still going.
From all of us at the Arizona Desert Country Music Association, we're proud to spotlight AZDCMA Member Artist Ty Mount and recognize a lifetime spent contributing to Arizona music.
Because sometimes the most powerful music stories aren't about overnight success. They're about the people who simply refused to stop.
Want to watch Ty Mount live? You can find all the places to watch Ty play by visiting his Facebook page here:
