When handsome singer Tyler Rich married gorgeous actress Sabina Gadecki back in 2019, it looked like the ultimate fairytale pairing. However, most onlookers to their somewhat cinematic love story had no idea of the cruel journeys these two had been on in their quest to find true love.
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“Sabina (Gadecki) has been through quite a bit in her past relationship life, and I had experienced my share of relationship hell as well,” admits Rich in an interview with American Songwriter. “When you meet somebody that’s broken and scared and hurt and afraid to try to find love again, the other one wants to be the savior. They want to be the person to pull them out of the rut, to tell them that you deserve better than that.”
And in that way, Rich’s sweet new song “Better Than You’re Use To” tells the story of him and his sweet bride’s separate but similarly rocky romantic past, a story of a time when the two of them made the crucial decision to stop settling for second best.
“It doesn’t even say in the song that ‘I’ll be that person to save you,’” says Rich, who released his debut album Two Thousand Miles this past September, buoyed by powerful songs such as “Leave Her Wild” and “The Difference.” “Sometimes, you just have to have the confidence to save yourself.”
Co-written by Rich alongside fellow songwriters Corey Crowder and Alysa Vanderheym, “Better Than You’re Used To” goes far in reminding all who listen that everyone deserves to be treated in the best way possible.
“You make your own rules in life about how you should be treated and how a relationship should go,” says Rich of the underlying premise of the song, which has received a total of nearly 400K on demand streams thus far. “If someone isn’t meeting those standards, then you should go. (Pauses.) We knew [‘Better Than You’re Used To’] was special in June when we wrote it, but to now flash forward a half of a year later, and it’s just amazing to see where this song has gone already.”
While the song was originally set for release later this summer, “Better Than You’re Used To” was released earlier this month, based purely on the attention it stirred up on social media. Originally shared in a July 2020 Instagram post by Rich shortly after its creation, the song was resurrected during a 45-hour, cross country road trip that Rich and Gadecki took this past December.
“I was just thinking it would be a cool way to do some car karaoke with Sabina (Gadecki) and share some demos at the same time,” Rich says with a laugh. “And then, it started resonating with the wonderful world of TikTok.”
Indeed, the video of Rich and Gadecki singing the words of “Better Than You’re Used To” from the comfort of the front seat of their car quickly garnered over 3 million views on TikTok.
And heck, it was just a teaser of the song. It was simply still a demo.
“I used to have new songs that I could play for an arena size crowd as a tour opener, where I could at least test them out,” Rich remembers. “But now, TikTok is our giant crowd to tests songs out. You basically post it, and you see how loud the applause is. And Tik Tok really applauded for this one.”
So, in true 2021 fashion, Rich’s team swiftly reacted, pivoting to make the ultimate decision to send the budding country music star into the studio to record the master that they would ultimately release earlier this month.
“Immediately, fans were sending me messages not just to tell me they loved the song, but that this is the song they needed,” Rich remembers. “These are the lyrics they needed to hear. It’s so much better as a songwriter to get that sort of reaction and satisfaction.”
Over the past few weeks, Rich also says he has enjoyed watching the song take off rather organically, morphing into a song with a universal truth that could find a home within hearts just about everywhere and anywhere.
“I mean, I look at our rescue pup Max, who we saved from a pretty bad situation,” explains Rich of the dog that him and Sabina rescued back in May of 2020. “I mean, he deserved to be loved better than he was used to, you know? I just think everyone needs a little more care right about now.”
Photo Credit: Zack Napier
