Tyler Castleton: Mormon Songwriter
Tyler Castleton is a prolific songwriter, music producer and arranger. He has helped create award-winning albums for such Latter-day Saint artists as Jenny Oaks Baker, Cherie Call, Kenneth Cope, George Dyer, Kurt Bestor, Jenny Phillips, Jericho Road, Michael McLean, Hilary Weeks and Julie de Azevedo. He is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He is the co-creator and co-producer of the best-selling women’s albums “Women of Destiny.”
He toured the country as a Music Director and keyboardist for numerous music artists and groups including Kurt Bestor, Kenneth Cope, Jericho Road, Cherie Call, and Smith 4.
Castleton grew up in a large family in Preston, Idaho, and learned to play classical piano beginning at the age of five. He developed the skill to both read music and play by ear. He served as a full-time missionary in St. Louis, Missouri, then earned his bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University, where he studied songwriting, film scoring, and music business. He was named Outstanding Media Music student in 1994. While at BYU he worked as the production and stage manager for BYU’s Young Ambassadors.
He also created musical scores and arrangements for the BYU Young Ambassadors, BYU-Idaho, Tuacahn Theater and Provo, Utah’s Freedom Festival. He has been honored by the Faith Centered Music Association numerous times, including Pearl Awards for Producer and Songwriter of the Year.
He wrote the hit song “For the Love of a Woman,” which was recorded by country star Martina McBride. As a film and television composer, he has written for Animal Planet, PBS Television, National Geographic, Sundance Film Festival, Yellowstone National Park, NuSkin International, and BYUtv.
Castleton was the music producer and a composer for “Light of the World,” the 2002 Olympic Spectacular by the Church of Jesus Christ, which was seen in the Conference Center during the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City. He was tour director for Michael McLean’s "Forgotten Carols." From 2000 to 2005, and 2008 to 2009, Castleton served as director of A&R and head of music for Deseret Book and its Shadow Mountain Records label, where he helped develop and launch the careers of numerous best-selling artists, including Jericho Road, Providence, Katherine Nelson, and LOL. He was instrumental in the Grammy Award-winning album “One Voice” from Gladys Knight and the Saints Unified Voices, as well as Marie Osmond’s first-ever inspirational album, which he executive-produced.
