Saturday, October 7th
Popular country singer Ty Herndon will open the second season of the Sand, Stars & Guitars Music Series at the Palm Springs Cultural Center on Saturday, October 7th. Herndon began his career in the 1980s as a member of the Tennessee River Boys, a predecessor to the country band Diamond Rio. Herndon quit the band early on before gaining his first national exposure as a competitor on Star Search. Herndon made his debut on the music charts in 1995 with his number-one single, “What Mattered Most”. This was followed that same year by the release of his first album, also titled What Mattered Most. Ty Herndon has charted a total of 17 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. This figure includes three number-ones: “What Mattered Most”, “Living in a Moment” and “It Must Be Love”. His singles “I Want My Goodbye Back”, “Loved Too Much”, “A Man Holdin’ On (To a Woman Lettin’ Go)”, and “Hands of a Working Man” all made top ten on the same chart.
In 2014, Herndon gained media attention when he came out as gay, becoming the first mainstream male country music singer to do so. He stated that he had been in a gay relationship for several years at this point, and that his ex-wife and several close family members already knew. Herndon re-issued “What Mattered Most” in June 2019 with the song’s pronouns changed to reflect a gay relationship. This re-recording appeared on Got It Covered, and Herndon commented that he wished he could have recorded the song in that fashion at the time of its original release. Many of the songs on House on Fire, including the title track, are about the stigmas that Herndon felt he faced as a gay man in country music, typically a more conservative genre. Ty married his boyfriend, Alex Schwartz, on August 27, 2023 in Nashville.
The Second Season of the Sand, Stars & Guitars Music Series includes nine monthly concerts featuring a wide variety of well-known artists from the worlds of Country music, Bluegrass, Folk and Blues. Ty Herndon will be followed by Becky Buller & Ned Luberecki on Saturday, November 11th and Levi Kreis’ ninth annual Home for the Holidays Holiday Concert on Friday, December 8th. All shows start at 8pm. Tickets are available at PSCulturalCenter.org.
