Tyler Ballgame

Tyler Ballgame, born Tyler Perry in 1987 in Rhode Island, is an American singer-songwriter now based in Los Angeles. Originally a musical theatre kid and fan of rock and grunge greats like The Beatles, The Who, and Nirvana, he adopted his stage name after a crowd member at a local club requested Roy Orbison's "Crying" and he performed it in Orbison's signature style. His lush, soulful songwriting in the tradition of the 1960s and 70s has drawn comparisons to Roy Orbison and Harry Nilsson. At his first open-mic night, he met producer Joey MacMahan, who began recording his songs. A 10-second clip of one of his performances caught the attention of Foxygen's Jonathan Rado, who offered his time and home studio to produce an album. The result was his 2026 debut "For the First Time, Again," produced by Rado and Ryan Pollie of Los Angeles Police Department, and released on Rough Trade Records -- a collection of finely crafted tunes rooted in classic rock, indie, and Americana.