Dr. Faulk rocks out on his trusty keytar at a concert for his Christian band, The Museum, in 2008. A keytar is a cross between a guitar and a keyboard. photo provided by Dr. Faulk
Dr. Ty Faulk, beloved Dean of Spiritual Development, has an impressive resumé. He is a husband, father, cyclist, and musician, but few people know the true extent of his musical talents. Whether he’s collaborating with other artists, leading worship for his students, or
touring the country in a band, he has always been involved in music. He has primarily made tracks for other artists, but he has also dabbled in drum and keyboard playing.
Dr. Faulk marked the start of his musical career in 6th grade when his parents gifted him a drum set for Christmas in 1996.
“I was always known as the kid... [who] had their pencil out and was making beats in class,” Dr. Faulk said.
After seeing his musical prowess, Dr. Faulk’s parents bought him his own Casio piano from Target. From 8th grade onward, Dr. Faulk taught himself the piano in a quest to create better beats. Then in 9th grade, he saved $500 to purchase a beat-making program called Reason. Aspiring student artists at his high school began to approach him and request tracks for their demos.
“I started charging people... I had a basement studio at my house that people would frequently visit,” said Dr. Faulk.
In his senior year of high school, when Dr. Faulk began to take his faith more seriously, he started questioning the morality of the incredibly dark rap music he was helping to create.
“I realized I wasn’t very comfortable with the music that was being created, so I took a hiatus. I had to trust God with this decision because it had been a source of income for me,” Dr. Faulk said.
Dr. Faulk then pivoted to working on worship tracks. This was his way of continuing to do what he loved while glorifying God at the same time.
“I ended up in a band called The Museum, and we were signed by Tooth & Nail Records. I traveled full-time from around 2006 to 2009,” Dr. Faul said.
Many might not realize the level of diligence that is required to compose a track. Dr. Faulk described it as a lot of “plug-and-play.”
“When I was in college, I was hired to do a track for a Christian album, and I spent all of Christmas break working on it,” Dr. Faulk said. “I had two weeks left before the deadline, and I was working on it for 8 to 10 hours every day.”
He also occasionally plays keyboard for folk artist Jonathan Payton, who was the opener for Zach Bryan’s concert at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre. Dr. Faulk was invited to go with Payton, but the plan fell through. In this phase of his musical career, Dr. Faulk is incredibly grateful for the opportunity to still participate in the music industry.
“I’ve been able to diversify later in life through folk with Jonathan Payton and worship with The Museum,” said Dr. Faulk. Students can listen to The Museum on Spotify. Dr. Faulk worked on their top song “My Help Comes from the Lord,” which has been played on radio stations like K-Love.