A Mighty Look In The Mind Of Entrepreneurial Artist, Asheboro’s Ty Brueilly
A few years ago, when we got an article forwarded to us about an “artistic revolution” in the small North Carolina city of Asheboro, NC, we first heard the name Ty Bru. Then we heard Ty Brueilly. Digging around some more we heard Tyler Brueilly. All the same person, yet possibly different personas for each, or a smooth cut off for each depending on the time, place, event or social atmosphere.
We begin to dive into the mind of Brueilly with the most obvious of places, his song ‘A.S.H.E.B.O.R.O.’ The 2007 song that was previously released in 2005, we found out it originally meant “Always Stayed Hard Even Before Our Real Obligations” but has evolved to something more compassionate since then.
Brueilly chimes in, “Hindsight is crazy clear. I was 25 when I wrote that song, and I used some lyrics that I wrote way before that to tie it all in. It was a time period where being “hard” or a badass seemed important, like don’t mess with Texas, but for Asheboro and it meant that we pretty much were hardcore since before we had responsibilities, so like from the age of young kids we were like that, a product of our unique and kettle pot environment. That was the mindset at the time.
Brueilly continues, “The song definitely has violent verses with the same vibe for the hook, but I’m not backing down from that, and I don’t regret it at all, it still represents what it needs to. It became the city’s anthem for years, and what propelled me in my hometown for people to take my music seriously. It’s kind of cute that people still sing that to me when I’m like at Wal Mart or a local bar or restaurant and I do still perform it often. Fast forward to 2020, as many people did at the time, I, too did a personal deep dive and decided to revisit that, and update the acronym to “Always Show Heart Empowering Beauty Openminded Rational Optimism, too much and not as flowing but you get the idea, maturity and growth.”
Growth and maturity, most certainly. That’s all we can see throughout the career trail of Brueilly. From becoming a teacher of pre-school children all the way to post-graduates, marriage, then becoming a father of two sons, establishing an independent record label in 2005 to offer opportunities for musicians during a time that was nearly impossible to break through in, to this current endeavor from him, which is founding Asheboro North Carolina’s first ever film festival, now in it’s third year.
“While working on my BSBA’s at Appalachian State University, a professor of mine was adamant that the real definition of entrepreneur was to determine a need that was missing and fill that need. That stayed with me, much more than the technical Webster’s definition, and that echo is what truly propelled me to maneuver they way I do in arts, culture or entertainment in Asheboro, because there are so many needs that are missing here, especially when it comes to those areas. We have been so behind for so long and I have been steadily bringing first of its kind events and opportunities to my city for decades.” Brueilly said.
Going beyond that quote, earlier in July, Brueilly stood up before the City Of Asheboro council and reminded them of those groundbreaking firsts of which he has brought to his city and to plant seeds of the importance of growing his film festival, becoming one of the best in the state in just three years.
His festival goes by the name Mightier Than The Sword Awards at Sunset Film Festival and has been quickly gaining recognition throughout the state of North Carolina, gaining the support of the Piedmont Triad Film Commission, the Asheboro/Randolph Chamber Of Commerce (where he was a board member for two years) Randolph County Tourism Development Authority and has been heralded by some of the most prolific filmmakers in the state that participate every year with excitement and vigor.
Brueilly adds to that, “This film festival is a necessity in Asheboro. It was needed about ten years ago, but it just never happened and I don’t think it would have happened for several more years if I hadn’t just taken control of the opportunity I had in front of me and go with it like I did. Either that or someone would have came in with an elitist mentality that didn’t have the best interest for all parties involved like my team and I have.”
Continuing onward, Brueilly says, “There were so many factors involved with it that gave me enough confidence to be what people in my city have called me, and that’s the perfect person for the job…I’ve got the experience of a decade plus for filmmaking, the extensive proficiency of being involved in global film festivals with my own work, I have earned the trust of the theatre and much of the community, I’ve lived in Asheboro 35 of my 45 years of life. I have a background of seven years of teaching, and I’ve put together over 1,000 events in my career and performed on stage over 2,000 times. All that combined with two decades of knowledge and networking within the industry that I have amassed, equals one hell of a combination to put together one of the most eclectic and captivating festivals you could ever attend.”
What an event and festival indeed. Just one example of that is that in 2025 Brueilly brought Hollywood royalty to Asheboro, in a move that was far more superior than anyone in the city gave him credit for. Richard & Anastasia Elfman were the festival’s guests of honor as the Sunset Theatre made home to an extraordinary 45th anniversary showing of ‘Forbidden Zone’ with a pre-show performance by Richard and some Asheboro area musicians followed by Anastasia’s leading role film, ‘Bloody Bridget’ with a first ever Bloody Burlesque pre-show that rocked the crowd.
“After the festival was over, I started hearing people talk about how big of a move that was, and how they couldn’t believe that the Elfmans had been in Asheboro. This wasn’t merely a transactional thing either, from my time in Hollywood and LA, I have built a healthy and trusting relationship with the Elfmans and way too many people here didn’t pay attention and missed out tremendously.
Asheboro never really supported it, never latched on to the idea enough to spread the word like it should have been. I don’t necessarily think It was intentional, but it’s just in the everyday flow here, where people don’t use much peripheral vision, so it was certainly overlooked, in the grand scale of things. A leader in my community even went so far as to call it a coup d’état. Which in a way, I guess he’s right because this city needs that artistic revolution that publications and people have associated me with anyway. And I’m not denying that is the goal. We need to change here in Asheboro, and I’m not talking about losing our core traditions or values, I am talking about just stepping into the current, well um, current.” Passionately worded by Brueilly.
History shows us that Brueilly was the first of his family name to be born in Southern USA, with both his father and mother’s side of the family from the states of Pennsylvania and New York, which he usually mentions in most of his interviews or explanations of his journey as a confusing way to be reared, and in turn could have been what gave him the enthusiasm combined with reservation to spearhead such a legacy building project as a authentic Asheboro Film Festival.
We look forward to talking more with Brueilly following the film festival, which takes place August 7-9, 2026 at the historic Sunset Theatre, downtown Asheboro, NC. Tickets are $15 & $20 with full three-day passes at $45. 60+ film titles will be shown during the three days, with an opening night comedy hour and concert, a cult classic double feature (‘The Mutilator [1984] & ‘Mutilator 2 [2023]) on Saturday, finalized with a formal award ceremony and headlining films (‘Boonerang: Returning To The High Country’ & ‘The Sight Unseen’) on Sunday. More information, for tickets and schedule, go here: www.filmandfashionbybrueilly.com/mttsawards
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