 A neighbor convinced him to try out for the high school chorus after hearing him sing in the shower, and after a year of singing as soloist for the chorus he auditioned for The Madrigals.After graduating from Washington-Lee High School in Arlington, Virginia, Tanner attended the Shenandoah Conservatory of Music at Shenandoah University in Winchester, Virginia where in 1985 he earned a Bachelor's degree.Upon his return to Arlington he enrolled in the Northern Virginia Trucking Academy and spent the next several years as a big rig truck driver.