'Honky Talkin' with TLWG' is part talk show, part music — but all country

The lights are low.

The stage is littered with instruments — a mandolin, a stand-up bass, a Budweiser-themed guitar.

The hot dog roller grill is twirling a half-dozen glizzys, adding a convenience-store smell to the ambiance of the room.

A man with braids like Willie Nelson and a ruby suit coat that looks like it belongs in the Country Music Hall of Fame is sitting behind a makeshift desk adorned with letters he cut out on his wife's Cricut.

Honky Talkin', the letters read.

The man taps his left foot rapidly on a switch on the floor, and an "applause" light flashes.

Imagine Porter Wagoner, Willie Nelson and Jimmy Fallon have a talk show child.

That's Tyler Lance Walker Gill, "your host with the most names."

He will be here all night, guiding country music lovers and others who are just curious about Honky Talkin', the weekly combination talk show/listening room session in the back room of Whirling Tiger, a Butchertown bar. It's an ode to the songs he misses — and the ones he thinks you probably miss, too.

The show features two country music acts — a local and a touring — every Tuesday at 8 p.m. The acts play for 30-45 minutes and then sit on Gill's "creepy couch" to talk about the throes of an independent artist.

"There's not much of a country music scene in town," Gill told The Courier Journal. "And that sucks because it's just a stone's throw from Nashville. ... I've been whining about it, so I decided maybe I should do something about it.

"So, if you're like me, and you're bummed that you feel like there's not a country music scene in town, come help me build this one."

The man behind all those names

Gill grew up in Bullitt County. He's always used both of his middle names — Lance and Walker.

"I feel like Tyler Lance Walker Gill has a nice ring to it," he said. "I think most people think it's too much to remember. I think both things are a little true. I guess I use them because I have them. God only knows why I have them, though."

His aunt used to manage a country music jamboree in Mt. Washington, he said.

"When I was learning to play guitar, I was like, 'I want to learn rock-n-roll,'" Gill said. "I started writing stuff, and it came out instead in country songs."

He graduated from the University of Louisville in 2011 "with a bachelor's in political science and minors in history and philosophy — which is why I'm so good at bartending."

But the silly, performative side of him grew when he became U of L's mascot, parading up and down the sidelines in a giant Cardinals suit.

"Then I got a very normal job and super hated it," he said.

After he quit that 9-5 office job, Gill focused on his music career. That's when he started noticing how serious country music has become.

"If you just see the Instagram side of country music, it's just this dead serious scowling, howling man with a guitar in the woods," he said. "You're missing all the comedy. Like, the saddest country songs of the '60s and '70s, there's some sort of clever joke wrapped up in there.

"(George Jones') 'He Stopped Loving Her Today' is a sad song, but it's because he died. It's not funny necessarily, but the turn of phrase is baked right in there to be clever."

Don't forget to tip the band

Honky Talkin' may be the closest you can get to a Nashville night in the heart of Louisville ... and with way more space between you and your neighbors’ elbows.

Honky Talkin' is a grassroots way to gain access to live music at an affordable price: free.

"But I will rob you of your money," Gill tells the audience.

What he means is while each act is playing, he'll walk around the crowd wearing a very large 'Tip the Band' cowboy hat, as well as a Venmo code.

"It’s a hard hat to wear," he said. "Seriously. I designed it, so it’s not super structurally sound.

"That hat has a little bit of magic in it. It does better than just a bucket. The silliness makes people feel the need to be a little bit more generous."

The artists are walking away with some money on a notoriously tough night to find an audience — Tuesday ― but Gill said he isn't making money off the show.

He thought maybe selling hot dogs would pay some bills.

"I'm maybe making 10-12 bucks a show on hot dogs," he said. "I spent $160 on a roller grill, so I've almost got it paid off."

The show has been gaining followers, but maybe, he jokes, that's just for the beer and bourbon special.

"My goal is to bring good singers and songwriters under the country-music umbrella, Americana, Ameri-kinda, so people don't have to find it," Gill said. "I found it! Look! Come watch!"

Stephanie Kuzydym is an enterprise and investigative reporter. She can be reached at skuzydym@courier-journal.com. Follow her for updates at @stephkuzy.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Honky Talkin' with TLWG talk show and country music in Louisville