Canadian country music star, Tenille Townes’ musical journey was ignited when singing along to Shania Twain in the back of her parents’ car, leading her down a road of musical self discovery and paying it forward.
Spend a few minutes with Tenille Townes and it’s immediately clear that she doesn’t see, or hear, the world like everyone else. Maybe it comes through in how she learned to read by pouring over lyric sheets and liner notes, or how she discovered she loved to sing whilst belting out U2 and Shania Twain in the back of her parents’ car.
Selfless to the core, a humble Townes has helped raise over a million dollars for a charitable initiative she created – and all while still a teenager. Speaking to Headliner from her home in Nashville during lockdown, the usually touring singer admits that the current situation doesn’t quite feel real:
“It’s been such a crazy time, and I’ve been walking every day,” she says of her lockdown habits. “That's a big part of keeping my sanity. That always puts me in a good headspace, although with wanting to be outside and be moving – it’s such a weird contradiction to be still right now. So much of my life in the last two years has been spent on the road getting to do the thing I love: playing for people. So it's definitely a drastic change to be standing still, but I'm doing my best to be thankful for the rest, and the ability to sleep more and recharge, listen to podcasts, records, plus I'm journaling, watching some fun TV shows and I’m reading more.
“I’m definitely grateful for all those things. It's so easy to just be heavy hearted thinking about the world right now and all those people who are on the front line, and everybody who can't work right now…” she trails off. “I’m doing as much as I can to try to send out as much love and positive vibes as I can, because it's easy to slip into that dangerous place in our minds, I think.”
As with many creatives, Townes is encouraged by the sense of hope and unity that has developed during the pandemic, which has seen people extend a helping hand at a time, ironically, when human contact is forbidden:
“Exactly,” she says. “The thing that brings me the most comfort right now is that we’re literally all going through this together. We can bond together and hopefully engage more; there are different ways to call people that you haven't talked to in a long time. We’re all working this out together, so that part's pretty amazing.”