{"id":2562,"date":"2020-05-05T19:38:31","date_gmt":"2020-05-05T18:38:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cmni.co.uk\/?p=2562"},"modified":"2020-05-05T19:45:34","modified_gmt":"2020-05-05T18:45:34","slug":"tenille-townes-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cmni.co.uk\/index.php\/2020\/05\/05\/tenille-townes-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"Tenille Townes Interview"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>On the latest interview, we chat to the lovely Tenille Townes about not coming to C2C 2020, her musical influences and her charity work you might not know about.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>TENILLE TOWNES&#8217; DEBUT ALBUM\u00a0<\/strong><strong><em>THE LEMONADE STAND\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><strong>OUT JUNE 26th<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;Tenille\u00a0Townes\u00a0is the future. Get on board now.&#8221;<\/em>\u2014<em>Music Row<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n <div id=\"wrapperMI_0\" class=\"wrap-mjp nostop flip \" style=\"position:relative; padding:10px 0px 30px 0px; margin:0px auto 0px auto; width:70%;\">\n\t<div style=\"display:none;\" class=\"Eabove-mjp\" id=\"Eabove-mjp_0\"><\/div>\n\t <div class=\"subwrap-MI\">\n\t\t <div class=\"jp-innerwrap\">\n\t\t\t <div class=\"innerx\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t <div class=\"innerleft\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t <div class=\"innerright\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t <div class=\"innertab\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t <div class=\"interface-mjp\" style=\"height:182px;\" id=\"interfaceMI_0\">\n\t\t\t\t <div class=\"MI-image Himg left-mjp\" id=\"MI_image_0\" style=\" width:auto; height:182px; overflow:hidden;\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t <div id=\"T_mp3j_0\" class=\"player-track-title left-mjp bold-mjp plain-mjp childNorm-mjp childItalic-mjp titleHide-mjp\" style=\"left:36px; right:36px;  top:30px;\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t <div class=\"bars_holder\">\n\t\t\t\t\t <div class=\"loadMI_mp3j\" id=\"load_mp3j_0\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t <div class=\"poscolMI_mp3j soften-mjp\" id=\"poscol_mp3j_0\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t <div class=\"posbarMI_mp3j\" id=\"posbar_mp3j_0\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t <div id=\"P-Time-MI_0\" class=\"jp-play-time\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t <div id=\"T-Time-MI_0\" class=\"jp-total-time\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t <div id=\"statusMI_0\" class=\"statusMI\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t <div class=\"transport-MI\"><div class=\"play-mjp\" id=\"playpause_mp3j_0\">Play<\/div><div class=\"stop-mjp\" id=\"stop_mp3j_0\">Stop<\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t <div class=\"buttons-wrap-mjp\" id=\"buttons-wrap-mjp_0\">\n\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t <div class=\"mp3j-popout-MI\" id=\"lpp_mp3j_0\" style=\"\">Pop Out Player<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t <div id=\"download_mp3j_0\" class=\"dloadmp3-MI\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t <div class=\"mjp-volwrap\">\n\t\t\t\t <div class=\"MIsliderVolume\" id=\"vol_mp3j_0\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t <div class=\"innerExt1\" id=\"innerExt1_0\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t <div class=\"innerExt2\" id=\"innerExt2_0\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t <div style=\"display:none;\" class=\"Ebetween-mjp\" id=\"Ebetween-mjp_0\"><\/div>\n\t\t <div class=\"listwrap_mp3j\" id=\"L_mp3j_0\" style=\"overflow:auto; max-height:300px;\"><div class=\"wrapper-mjp\"><div class=\"playlist-colour\"><\/div><div class=\"wrapper-mjp\"><ul class=\"ul-mjp childNorm-mjp childPlain-mjp left-mjp\" id=\"UL_mp3j_0\"><li><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\t <\/div>\n\t <div id=\"mp3j_finfo_0\" class=\"mp3j-finfo\" style=\"display:none;\"><div class=\"mp3j-finfo-sleeve\"><div id=\"mp3j_finfo_gif_0\" class=\"mp3j-finfo-gif\"><\/div><div id=\"mp3j_finfo_txt_0\" class=\"mp3j-finfo-txt\"><\/div><div class=\"mp3j-finfo-close\" id=\"mp3j_finfo_close_0\">X<\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"mp3j_dlf_0\" class=\"mp3j-dlframe\" style=\"display:none;\"><\/div>\n\t <div class=\"mp3j-nosolution\" id=\"mp3j_nosolution_0\" style=\"display:none;\"><\/div>\n\t <div style=\"display:none;\" class=\"Ebelow-mjp\" id=\"Ebelow-mjp_0\"><\/div>\n <\/div> \n<script>\nMP3jPLAYLISTS.MI_0 = [\n\t{ name: \"Tenille-Townes-Final\", formats: [\"mp3\"], mp3: \"L3BvZGNhc3RzL1RlbmlsbGUtVG93bmVzLUZpbmFsLm1wMw==\", counterpart:\"\", artist: \"\", image: \"http:\/\/cmni.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/CMNI.png\", imgurl: \"\" }\n];\n<\/script>\n\n<script>MP3jPLAYERS[0] = { list:MP3jPLAYLISTS.MI_0, tr:0, type:'MI', lstate:true, loop:false, play_txt:'Play', pause_txt:'Pause', pp_title:'Country Music NI', autoplay:false, download:true, vol:100, height:182, cssclass:'nostop flip ', popout_css:{ enabled:true, \t\t\tcolours: [\"#f0f0f0\", \"rgba(94, 42, 16, 0.58)\", \"rgba(167, 167, 167, 0.55)\", \"rgba(49, 49, 49, 0.64)\", \"rgba(0, 180, 37, 0.91)\", \"#d3d3d3\", \"#d8d8d8\", \"#efe4e4\", \"#262120\", \"#262120\", \"#77856c\", \"\/\", 500, 600 ],\n\t\t\tcssInterface: { \"color\": \"#efe4e4\" },\n\t\t\tcssTitle: { \"left\": \"36px\", \"right\":\"36px\", \"top\":\"30px\" },\n\t\t\tcssImage: { \"overflow\": \"hidden\", \"width\":\"auto\", \"height\":\"182px\"  },\n\t\t\tcssFontSize: { \"title\": \"22px\", \"caption\": \"15.4px\", \"list\": \"18px\" },\n\t\t\tclasses: { interface:'', title:' left-mjp bold-mjp plain-mjp childNorm-mjp childItalic-mjp titleHide-mjp', image:' Himg left-mjp', poscol:' soften-mjp', ul:' childNorm-mjp childPlain-mjp left-mjp' }} };<\/script>\n\n\n<p>One minute with Tenille Townes and it\u2019s instantly clear that she doesn\u2019t see, or hear, the world like everyone else. Maybe it comes through in how she learned to read by pouring through lyric sheets and liner notes, or how she starting singing by belting along to U2 and Shania Twain in the back of her parents\u2019 car. Or maybe it will come to light in the thousands she\u2019s raised and the miles she\u2019s logged supporting the charitable initiatives she created while still a teenager. Or maybe it will simply come across in her stunning voice and wise, insightful lyricism, all infinitely beguiling for someone of her young age. But that\u2019s the thing about Townes. She\u2019s never operated by the clock or the calendar. She operates from her heart, and from her soul. The Canadian-born Townes, isn\u2019t quite like anyone else who has graced the city\u2019s stages.<\/p>\n<iframe  id=\"_ytid_86881\"  width=\"676\" height=\"380\"  data-origwidth=\"676\" data-origheight=\"380\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/36GhNNoYfOU?enablejsapi=1&autoplay=0&cc_load_policy=0&cc_lang_pref=&iv_load_policy=1&loop=0&rel=0&fs=1&playsinline=1&autohide=2&hl=en_US&theme=dark&color=red&controls=1&\" class=\"__youtube_prefs__  no-lazyload\" title=\"YouTube player\"  allow=\"fullscreen; accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen data-no-lazy=\"1\" data-skipgform_ajax_framebjll=\"\"><\/iframe>\n<p>With the lyrical fortitude of Griffin or Lori McKenna, the soulful nature of Chris Stapleton or even Adele, Townes is paving ground all her own. Working on her debut LP with Jay Joyce, the Nashville-based Townes started her journey to becoming one of country\u2019s most promising new artists back in rural Canada, in the backseat of a car. \u201cI would obsess in the back seat over lyrics,\u201d says Townes, who recalls drives in her home of Grande Prairie, a small town in Alberta, Canada, with her parents. \u201cI would follow along to all of the words and sing along, and call out my favorites. Eventually, I started to learn all of the writer and producer names, just soaking it all up.\u201d Townes insisted that her parents \u2013 supportive, hard-working local entrepreneurs \u2013 sign her up for singing lessons at the age of five, which led to owning her first guitar from her grandparents at fourteen.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_2543\" style=\"width: 686px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2543\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-2543 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/cmni.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/zsLMmXes-1024x1024.jpeg\" alt=\"New album due out 26th June\" width=\"676\" height=\"676\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cmni.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/zsLMmXes-1024x1024.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/cmni.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/zsLMmXes-150x150.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/cmni.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/zsLMmXes-300x300.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/cmni.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/zsLMmXes-768x768.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/cmni.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/zsLMmXes-676x676.jpeg 676w, https:\/\/cmni.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/zsLMmXes.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 676px) 100vw, 676px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-2543\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">New album due out 26th June<\/p><\/div>\n<p>It was perfect timing, as Townes had already started to explore what it would be like to set her poetry to music. While other kids were reading Shakespeare and studying, Townes added the craft of famed songwriters like Carolyn Dawn Johnson to her workload, developing her own narrative style before most other teenagers even headed to prom. \u201cThere were a lot of things to write about at fourteen,\u201d Townes says. \u201cI\u2019ve always craved what it felt like to step into other people\u2019s shoes. And if songwriting was a way to step into character and make someone feel less alone, then I was all in.\u201d It\u2019s telling that Townes\u2019 first song came from a conversation in social studies class \u2013 she thought about it on the entire bus ride home and hurried to her bedroom to put her feeling to words. Ever since then, so many of her lyrics have come from that place of empathy and observance \u2013 a few years later, moments she\u2019s seen in passing or discussed at the dinner table with her family or wept about alongside strangers have worked their way into her sonic perspectives.<\/p>\n<p>Soon, she was traveling to Nashville regularly to exercise this developing talent and falling in love with everything Music City had to offer. \u201cComing here for the first time felt like walking into a dreamland,\u201d she says. She made the move to Nashville permanently four years ago, at just nineteen \u2013 driving 45 hours from Grande Prairie. Once settled in Nashville, Townes spent her days songwriting and her nights at guitar pulls or at the Bluebird, studying everything she could. Eventually, she scored a publishing deal with Big Yellow Dog, and headed into the studio with Joyce to record her debut.<\/p>\n<iframe  id=\"_ytid_88779\"  width=\"676\" height=\"380\"  data-origwidth=\"676\" data-origheight=\"380\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/79TC7281xnU?enablejsapi=1&autoplay=0&cc_load_policy=0&cc_lang_pref=&iv_load_policy=1&loop=0&rel=0&fs=1&playsinline=1&autohide=2&hl=en_US&theme=dark&color=red&controls=1&\" class=\"__youtube_prefs__  no-lazyload\" title=\"YouTube player\"  allow=\"fullscreen; accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen data-no-lazy=\"1\" data-skipgform_ajax_framebjll=\"\"><\/iframe>\n<p>Together, they tapped into her organic nature and her sheer ability to tell a story and emote it through the visceral range of her vocals \u2013 tender, bluesy, wise and full of wonder but never naive. \u201cHe has a way of pulling out people\u2019s most honest self,\u201d says Townes of her experience working with Joyce. \u201cI always loved telling stories and writing songs, and a lot of these songs deal with things that are hard to talk about. Concepts about losing someone and asking hard questions and about seeking whatever your sense of faith is. Songs about looking for love.\u201d Songs, most importantly, from the heart. And that\u2019s because Townes\u2019 heart is huge.<\/p>\n<p>At fifteen, she organized a fundraiser called Big Hearts For Big Kids benefiting a youth shelter in her home town. To this day, they\u2019ve continued it yearly and raised over $1.5 million dollars \u2013 Townes was inspired to start the event by a pamphlet her mother brought home one day, not an uncommon occurrence at her house. \u201cWe\u2019d sit around the dinner table and talk about what was going on in the world, homelessness and loneliness,\u201d she says, \u201cand I grew up being aware of those things.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-2567 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/cmni.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/tenille-townes.jpg\" alt=\"tenille-townes\" width=\"980\" height=\"666\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cmni.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/tenille-townes.jpg 980w, https:\/\/cmni.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/tenille-townes-300x204.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cmni.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/tenille-townes-768x522.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cmni.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/tenille-townes-676x459.jpg 676w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 980px) 100vw, 980px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The parts of human existence that remind us we are all more similar than we think we are. And those stories need to be told.\u201d After school, she continued this ethos by launching a tour called\u00a0<em>Play It Forward<\/em>, where she spent 32 weeks on the road, visiting 106 schools and playing music for over 35,000 students. Meant to encourage leadership and inspire youth, it was a huge success and completely born out of Townes\u2019 own scrappy sense of \u201canything is possible.\u201d\u00a0 Some of the stories she heard along the way even inspire songs on her debut LP.<\/p>\n<p>The idea of community that she grew up with comes through, too. Her music is that kitchen table, her words are the experiences and struggles and moments of joy she wants to share, packed with her dynamic vocals and, at the core, that heart. \u201cMusic pushes walls down you didn\u2019t know were up,\u201d she says. \u201cA song will take you places you didn\u2019t even ask it to, and I\u2019m always thankful that it does.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On the latest interview, we chat to the lovely Tenille Townes about not coming to C2C 2020, her musical influences and her charity work you might not know about.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2563,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sfsi_plus_gutenberg_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_show_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_type":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_alignemt":"","sfsi_plus_gutenburg_max_per_row":""},"categories":[156],"tags":[39,40,159,94,436,428],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/cmni.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/cmni-4.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cmni.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2562"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cmni.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cmni.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cmni.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cmni.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2562"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/cmni.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2562\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2568,"href":"https:\/\/cmni.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2562\/revisions\/2568"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cmni.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2563"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cmni.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cmni.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cmni.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}