Rising musicians have emerged from the university and are making their way across the country. Already with a record, music video and record label offer, Tyler Kinchen and the Right Pieces are continuously establishing who they are as a band and figuring out their future.
Tyler Kinchen and the Right Pieces have played at Hammond’s own Cate Street Pub, The House of Blues, on Frenchman Street and many other popular locations, even travelling to perform in New York City this summer. All band members are alumni or currently Southeastern students.  
Uniting as students and finding each other on campus, the musicians have not only found a band they are passionate about, but a brotherhood.
“We’re like brothers, seriously,” said lead singer Tyler Kinchen. “All of our characters, everything, we try to align as much as possible, not to remove conflict or force compromise but it’s really like a brotherhood. It’s deeper than fraternities. We practice humility, that’s our thing and because of that it’s beyond music. If we all quit music today, we’d still be together.”  
Although each member has their own talents and responsibilities within the band, everything they do is as a unit. Kinchen usually writes the lyrics and comes up with a song idea, but it is with the help of the rest of the band that the music is created.
“The writing process for us usually comes from an idea I have, but like I always say I come up with a trace and everyone else fills in the colors. It’s beyond their instruments.  Zakk will lean something to Caleb on base, and Caleb will lean something to the drums, and the horn players will have ideas so it’s this full arrangement of how everything fits together.”
Even when writing lyrics, Kinchen explained how he questions what the rest of the band will think before completing an idea. Just as Kinchen takes from and learns from his fellow band mates, they do the same.
“There are so many things I’ve taken from Tyler, like the way he sings something. I would try to play it back to him on guitar and it’s like language,” said Zakk Garner, saxophone and guitar player.  “We’re all speaking a certain language but we’re learning different ways to say things.  I think that’s really important.  Also in life, we’re each growing and learning from each other, just being around each other.”
Although the band is marketed as R&B soul, they do not like to label themselves as one specific genre.  According to Kinchen, they have played Latin, R&B, metal and more.
“As musicians we’re all very versatile, which we feel is really important to be able to play different styles, but we want to be able to play whatever we think of,” said Garner.  “We don’t want to be restricted by the genre or any lyrical content. We just want to be able to express ourselves to the full extent.”
Part of the unique sound of the group has to do with what each member brings to the table.
“Individually and collectively, we each have unique influences that have lent a specific sound to the group that really creates our type of sound because between seven guys, everyone has different influences and when you put it together, it’s really wild, it’s like gumbo,” said Garner.
The band mentioned one of the bigger obstacles they had to overcome was finding new gigs and becoming comfortable in the setting. Getting their foot in the door was difficult, but after establishing themselves in some local venues, scheduling became easier. They are currently booked every weekend for the next few months.
“We definitely love New Orleans and consider it our cultural home, but we’re ready to get to other states,” said Kinchen. “We’re dreaming big, we want to go to the sky.”
New Orleans has become more than just a cultural home. A record label in New Orleans is currently talking with Tyler Kinchen and the Right Pieces about a possible deal.
“The kind of music they work with is all New Orleans music, but they have a reputation of leading those artist on to bigger labels and bigger opportunities and they really want to invest in us and they really want to work with us,” said Kinchen.
More information about Tyler Kinchen and the Right Pieces can be found online on the group website tkandtherightpieces.com.  
Their music and music video can be viewed here and their record “Firmamento de Amor” can be purchased on iTunes and Amazon. The music video was created by Southeastern student Nick Killebrew.
Tyler Kinchen and the Right Pieces are scheduled to play in Hammond on March 15 at Shamrock Run and are scheduled to play April 4 at Cate Street Pub.
“Music is expression just like any art form, but music becomes so individual.  People interpret things differently,” said Garner.  “Tyler always quotes Oscar Wilde saying, ‘Interpretation is the greatest form of art.’ When people hear something it may not sound the same to somebody else.  So for you, you take what you will from it that makes you feel.  Music just makes you feel and that’s so special because without feelings what are we?”