Timothy Wayne: From Marine Corps Plans to Tiger Country and Beyond
Timothy Wayne spent most of his childhood planning a life in the United States Marine Corps. Instead, a high school art credit put a guitar in his hands. Within a few years he had signed with Universal Music Group Nashville, performed Louisiana Saturday Night on the state's float in the Tournament of Roses Parade, graduated from LSU with a degree in history, and wrapped a summer of stadium dates on the Pawn Shop Guitar Tour with Tim McGraw. Now he's out with Jack'd Up Truck, a song he co-wrote with Ben Hayslip and the late Brett James.
He grew up in Franklin, Tennessee, but spent childhood summers in Louisiana, where his mother's family is from. Between visits with relatives in Start and West Monroe, he worked on his uncle David's farm, running irrigation and learning to drive a tractor and a combine. By the time he toured LSU, the state already felt like home.
This spring, Timothy joined LCM Live host Ronnie Calhoun on Louisiana Country Music Live, presented by Explore Louisiana, days before headlining The Texas Club in Baton Rouge. It was his birthday, and the comments filled with family from North Louisiana as he talked about everything from trap shooting with Navy SEALs to the barn where he recorded his first song.
From the Marines to Music
From age four, Timothy planned to enlist in the Marine Corps. An uncle who is now a Major General was someone he always looked up to.
At 13, through his mother's work with the Tug McGraw Foundation, he tried trap shooting for the first time and hit 92 of 100 targets. A Navy SEAL he met there pointed him toward Marine Special Operations Command, and he set his sights on becoming a Marine Raider.
"I loved everything they stood for," he said. "We were raised with respect and love for our country, and I saw that as kind of a way of paying that back."
Then, junior year, he needed an art credit. He'd taken photography and pottery, couldn't draw, and wasn't interested in theater, so he chose guitar. His classmates had a year or two on him, so he practiced for hours every night until his fingers bled.
He learned fast, entered school karaoke competitions, and became the friend everyone asked to bring a guitar, the life he sings about on Guy With a Guitar. The first song he learned in class was Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys. One of the first he taught himself was Good Ol' Boys, Waylon Jennings' theme from The Dukes of Hazzard, the first show he remembers watching with his dad. He still plays it at nearly every show.
The turning point came around 17. His mom talked him into a night on Broadway in Nashville, and a family friend playing Legends Corner called him up to sing Waylon and Willie's Luckenbach, Texas.
"After I finished, a bunch of people started yelling encore, do it again," he said. "This older guy went over to the bar, found a lady, and they started dancing. Then my mom and dad started dancing, and there were people out on the street two stepping too."
The confidence still lagged. Family kept telling him he had what it takes, and he kept telling them they were wrong.
"I had to start believing in myself because everybody else believed in me," he said.
The record deal came faster than he expected. During his sophomore year at LSU, Jamie O'Neal invited him onstage at the Bluebird Cafe, he told American Songwriter. Someone filmed it, the clip reached UMG Nashville, and by the time he got back to Baton Rouge his mom was calling to tell him not to unpack. He signed in April 2024.
Family First
Ask what his parents taught him and Timothy answers in two words: love and hard work. His father spent years as a lineman, gone all week and sometimes a month at a time on storm work, and now works for the IBEW. His mother held down several jobs while raising four kids. Today she manages his career while running her own brand and event partnership company and working with charitable foundations.
Timothy is also close with his mom's siblings, Tracey and Tim, Tim's wife, Faith, and his cousins. They're a very close-knit family, and his Uncle Tim just happens to be Tim McGraw, one of his biggest influences in both life and music. Growing up, Timothy didn't fully understand the scale of his uncle's career. That began to sink in around third or fourth grade, when he started seeing his uncle's face on billboards.
"He was always the cool uncle," Timothy said. "It was just a job to me. It didn't strike me that he was this massive legend until much later."
Tim was the first to tell him his voice was worth pursuing, and he set the terms.
"He said, 'I'll produce you and I'll give you advice, but you've got to carve your own path, and you have to go to college,'" Timothy said. "That was the deal."
Tim produces his records with longtime McGraw and Hill producer Byron Gallimore. Timothy calls Faith a supporter since day one, and says watching them both on stage is part of why he never pictured himself doing the same.
The Barn in the Woods
For his high school graduation, Tim planned a surprise. The two often traded songs, and one day Tim sent him a demo of Guarandamntee Ya. Timothy called it a hit and told him to cut it. Tim told him to learn it and then let him know what he thought, and days later came a text: a dropped pin and 8:30 p.m. sharp.
"I get there, it's dark, stormy, there's a barn with one single light over the door," Timothy said. "I text him, 'You got 30 seconds or I'm leaving, because I ain't getting shot tonight.'"
Inside were a studio of session players, Byron Gallimore as well as familiar faces he'd grown up around on the road. Tim put his nephew in front of the mic, handed him headphones and a lyric sheet, and told him to sing. It was his first time recording, and his graduation gift.
When Guarandamntee Ya finally came out on March 13, 2026, several singles later, it was still that same vocal from the barn.
"I didn't go back and re-record it," he said. "That is me at 18 years old, the very first recording session I ever did."
The song was written by Lori McKenna, who also wrote McGraw's Humble and Kind, with Barry Dean, Jimmy Robbins, and Josh Thompson, according to iHeart Country.
In the Writing Room
Timothy wrote his first song in his family's living room with Mark Collie, the country singer, family friend, and early mentor who gave him a rule he still follows.
"Always come with an idea or a melody or lyrics," Timothy said. "Always bring something to the table when you walk in. Don't be one of those guys that walks in and goes, 'All right, what are we doing today?'"
His strength turned out to be melody. It shows on That'd Be You, his first released co-write, written with Collie and Jamie Moore over three days not long after he met his girlfriend at LSU.
His newest single carries more weight. Jack'd Up Truck, released August 28, 2026, was written with Ben Hayslip and the late Brett James, the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame member behind Jesus, Take the Wheel. It was their only co-write. James died in a plane crash in September 2025, before they could book another.
"It's turning out to be a heck of a song," Timothy told us before its release. "I hope I make him proud."
Trial by Fire
Timothy has a habit of rising to big moments. He'd played open mics and acoustic sets for family and friends, but never a full show with his own band until Tim brought him on the 2024 Standing Room Only tour. His first real show, he told us, was an arena in Philadelphia. What he remembers most is walking off.
"My uncle goes, 'That's how you do it right there,'" Timothy said. "He had tears coming out of his eyes, and I had tears coming out of my eyes. It was a really cool moment that I will cherish forever."
A live recording of Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys from that tour, with no studio touch ups, became one of his releases. He told us it's the recording he's most impressed by so far: not quite Waylon and Willie, but one he adores.
In August 2025, he joined Tim on Paper Umbrellas at the first concert ever held at the Field of Dreams movie site in Dyersville, Iowa, then again weeks later at the iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas, on a bill with Mariah Carey and John Fogerty. It was his first time singing on live television.
"I came off stage, turned back around, looked out towards the crowd, and I was like, man, this is what I get to do for work," he said. "And then the stage crew rushed me off because I was in the way."
This summer, fresh off graduation, he joined the Pawn Shop Guitar Tour with The Chicks, Lady A, and 49 Winchester, playing stops including Fenway Park and a rain-soaked set at Hersheypark Stadium. His run wrapped in September in Dallas, which he called a fitting end. We covered the beginning of that run here.
A Tiger for Life
Timothy applied to VMI, the Naval Academy, Texas A&M, Middle Tennessee State, and LSU, all with a military career in mind. Touring LSU during Tiger Trails settled it.
"I saw people sitting inside the oak trees reading books, saw the parade ground, the memorial clock tower, Death Valley," he said. "I felt at home here. Once I got my letter back, it was a no brainer."
He studied history, joined a fraternity, and met his girlfriend while playing guitar in a dorm stairwell freshman year.
Louisiana has returned the welcome. On January 1, 2025, he performed Louisiana Saturday Night on the state's Tournament of Roses Parade float in Pasadena, chosen by Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser and the Louisiana Office of Tourism. That summer he played LSU Baseball's Men's College World Series celebration, and he's played The Texas Club in Baton Rouge several times, including the spring headlining show he previewed on LCM Live with Cody Lee opening.
When people in Nashville ask him what Louisiana is like, his answer is an invitation.
"I don't know how to explain it, man," he said. "You just have to go live it for a little while."
Why Timothy Wayne
Timothy Wayne could have leaned on family connections. Instead, he took his uncle's deal: finish college, carve your own path, and bring something to the table every time. He did all three, graduating from LSU in May 2026 while releasing music, writing with Nashville veterans, and learning to hold a stadium crowd.
He also shows up for Louisiana, from a Rose Parade float to The Texas Club stage to a Tuesday night livestream full of family from Start and West Monroe. For all the stadiums and big stages, the way he describes himself is simple.
"I try really hard," he said. "I'm human like everybody. I'm going to stumble and fall and scrape my knee a couple of times, but I'm going to get right back up."
That work ethic and his love for Louisiana is why he's our Artist Spotlight this month. With Jack'd Up Truck out now and a summer on the Pawn Shop Guitar Tour behind him, he's just getting started, and Louisiana Country Music will be cheering him on every step of the way. Once a Tiger, always a Tiger.
How to Support Timothy Wayne
Stream his newest single Jack'd Up Truck, written with Ben Hayslip and Brett James
Revisit Guarandamntee Ya and Sounds of a Small Town
Follow Timothy on social media for tour dates and new releases: @timothywayne on Instagram and @timothywaynemusic on TikTok
Follow Timothy Wayne
Watch Timothy Wayne on LCM Live
April 8, 2026
Frequently Asked Questions About Timothy Wayne
Where is Timothy Wayne from?
Timothy Wayne grew up in Franklin, Tennessee. His mother is from Start, Louisiana, he spent childhood summers with family in West Monroe, and he built his music career while attending LSU in Baton Rouge.
Did Timothy Wayne go to LSU?
Yes. Timothy Wayne graduated from Louisiana State University in May 2026 with a degree in history.
What was the first song Timothy Wayne recorded?
Guarandamntee Ya was the first song Timothy ever recorded, cut as a high school graduation gift from Tim McGraw. He released that original recording as a single on March 13, 2026.
Is Timothy Wayne related to Tim McGraw?
Yes. Timothy Wayne is Tim McGraw's nephew, and Faith Hill is his aunt. McGraw co-produces his music with longtime producer Byron Gallimore.
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