[3] Shortly after graduating from Austin High School in Decatur, Alabama, Herndon moved to Nashville, Tennessee, to pursue a career in country music.

[4] Herndon's first major role came in 1983 when he became lead vocalist of the Tennessee River Boys, a group that performed at the Opryland USA theme park in Nashville.

[1] The album featured backing vocals from several artists on Epic or sister label Columbia Records, including Patty Loveless, Joe Diffie, Ron Wallace, and Gibson/Miller Band member Blue Miller.

[6][12] Doug Johnson, then the vice-president of artists and repertoire (A&R) of Epic's Nashville branch, produced the album and co-wrote "I Want My Goodbye Back".

[18] Michael McCall of New Country magazine rated the album three-and-a-half stars out of five, as he considered Herndon's vocal delivery "confident" but was more mixed toward the lyrical content of the songs.

[14] An uncredited review published by Billboard was favorable, stating, "With a rich, expressive voice that is equally suited to pensive ballads and rollicking, uptempo tunes, Herndon is one of country's most impressive newcomers.

[1] This song had been recorded by Lee Greenwood, Restless Heart vocalist Larry Stewart, and Western Flyer prior to Herndon's rendition.

[25] Thom Owens of Allmusic wrote, "Although he is in fine voice throughout the album, Ty Herndon's Living in a Moment is bogged down by mediocre material that fails to given him a proper showcase for his talents.

[26] Alanna Nash of Entertainment Weekly similarly thought "Don't Tell Mama" was the strongest track, but criticized the rest of the album as "formulaic".

The former was praised for Gallimore's production and the "unique perspective...of men in difficult transitions",[34] while the latter was described as being appealing to working class listeners due to its lyrical focus on a father's struggles.

In addition, Herndon recorded demos with his road band, which he then played for the album's session musicians to give them an idea of how he wanted each song to sound.

[36] Among the involved musicians were drummer Paul Leim, steel guitar player Dan Dugmore, and guitarist Chris Leuzinger of Garth Brooks' studio band The G-Men.

[36] Dan MacIntosh of Country Standard Time considered Herndon "too darn polite" for such material, also criticizing the album for "by-the-numbers" arrangements.

[38] A more favorable review came from AllMusic, whose Maria Konicki Dinoia wrote, "With a new production team in tow, Herndon has played a bigger part in selecting the album's songs...and it's clear he sings from the heart, as he always has.

At the time, Herndon was considering exiting the music business to star in a Broadway theatre production of Urban Cowboy, but decided against it.

[2] Otherwise, he took a hiatus from recording at this point due to a number of personal issues that included weight gain, divorce, and drug and alcohol addiction.

[44] Thom Jurek of AllMusic reviewed the album favorably, stating that "Herndon's voice is not only unchanged from his missing years, it's stronger, his phrasing is tighter and more expressive, and his manner of handling a song is entirely his own.

Prior to the album's release, Herndon had performed the title track in concert, and chose to make it the lead single due to its positive reception from fans.

[55][56] Herndon described the title track as autobiographical, while in comparison, "All Night Tonight" came from Davis and Halbig wanting to write a "beach song".

Among the songs covered were Marc Cohn's "Walking in Memphis", Carrie Underwood's "So Small", and Bonnie Raitt's "I Can't Make You Love Me".

Country musicians Terri Clark, Emily West, and Shelly Fairchild provided guest vocals on individual tracks, as did jazz singer Wendy Moten.

Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic wrote of Ty Herndon's musical style, "His earnest delivery was a good match for the kind of streamlined country he sang—music that didn't shun tradition but was aligned with the anthemic, rock-influenced arena-country pioneered by Garth Brooks at the dawn of the '90s.

"[2] In a review of Lies I Told Myself, Matt Bjorke of Roughstock wrote that "Ty's always been at his best on the ballads" and "sings his ass off showcasing a vocal many of the 'young guns' could learn from".

"[45] An article from Music City News magazine re-published in the Asheville Citizen-Times said of Herndon, "there is a passion in his ballads, and in the case of...'I Want My Goodbye Back', an edgy emotional twist that sends listeners careening along with him".

[38] Walter Allread wrote of Herndon on the same site, "Country music now resembles early Sixties American pop, with producers the real artists and singers merely interchangeable faces on record sleeves.

As long as Ty Herndon's nice voice and face can front a hit, he's good for another 100,000 miles of touring and audio tape.

Herndon filed a plea bargain and was sentenced to community service and drug rehabilitation, after which the charge of indecent exposure was dropped.

After his friends noticed he had not left his apartment in several days, they flew him to Nashville, where he lived in his mother's basement for one month before re-entering rehabilitation.

[73] The editors of The Encyclopedia of Country Music wrote of the exposure incident that it "raised sexuality questions" within the genre, and that Herndon's continued commercial success throughout the rest of the 1990s indicated an unprecedented level of tolerance within the fandom.

[76] Many of the songs on House on Fire, including the title track, are about the stigmas that Herndon felt he faced as a gay man in country music, typically a more conservative genre.