Who Is Tenille Arts? The Story Behind Her Journey to Country Music

We have been following Tenille Arts’ career for a few years now. Today, we are excited to finally get to spotlight her journey in the country music industry. We chatted with the singer-songwriter about her Canadian upbringing, her move to Nashville, her new music, and more.

Growing up in a small town in Canada, Arts does not recall a time where music was not pertinent in her life. “I loved country music. Growing up that was all that was played on the radio,” she shared. At just eight years old, Arts was mesmerized by artists like Martina McBride, The Chicks, and Faith Hill. “That was the music that was always playing in my home,” she adds. The singer also remembers loving artists like The Beatles and Paul Simon.

As a young girl, Arts’ talent was recognized by one of her neighbors, which set her off on this musical trajectory unbeknownst to her. “I started singing and just making up songs as early as eight years old. I was actually just always singing everywhere I went and my neighbor […] heard me singing and came over and told my mom that she thought I had a good voice and that maybe I should do something with that.”

This propelled the songstress’ mom to put her in vocal lessons. Arts ended up training classically for ten years. Still, she loved country music the most, so she taught herself guitar at around thirteen years old. “I picked up the guitar and started writing my own songs and made my first trip to Nashville at fifteen years old, back in 2009. I just fell in love with Nashville and kept going back and forth until I graduated high-school and started looking for a publishing deal,” adding later, “I signed a publishing deal when I was 21 and moved to Nashville and it just kind of all spiraled from there.”

The Turning Point:

With her dream of going to Nashville on her heart, Arts declined a Canadian record deal before landing her Nashville publishing deal. “I was like ‘I would rather go to Nashville and really take on the entire the country music scene and see what happens, rather than maybe get stuck up there.'” She added,  “I didn’t want to only be in Canada. I wanted to possibly have a career worldwide.”

For Arts, Nashville was the place to be to really hone her craft. “Nashville was where all the songwriters were and I wanted to be in that world and write with those people. Because that’s where the best songwriters in the world are.” Inspired by artists, who wrote their own music like Taylor Swift, Arts worked endlessly to write and cut her own music.

According to the singer, she feels like she is in the perfect place getting to be in country music right now. “It is so, so exciting to be a part of this change where women are taking over again. It’s so incredible and I feel so grateful to be an artist at this time.”

In her career, Arts has developed a reputation of being a team player. She supports other country artists and continues to be inspired by the amazing class of women in the genre right now.

Today:

Arts’ newest record, Girl to Girl was just released. The record is a full on love letter to her younger self and other girls, who could use the songs. “This album honestly was not planned at all. I was stuck at home and had a bunch of Zoom writing sessions set-up because that was the only thing I could do, so I started writing without a direction,” shared Arts.

“I was a little discouraged at first, because I was like ‘I don’t have anything to write about. I’m not living life. I’m sitting at home.’” And the more I thought about it the more I realized that there was a lot of things that I hadn’t written about yet that I had been through in my life that I had just sorta brushed over.”

The record became an ode to her younger self and the songs started to pour out of Arts. She yearned to support other female artists, so she decided to collaborate with Callista Clark on her song “Breakup Songs. “I kind of just wanted to be a big sister and share these things,” shared Arts. “I wanted to spotlight another new female artist. First of all, she’s incredible […] I wanted to put my arm around a young artist and say I love you and I want to support you and be here for you throughout your entire journey.”

Of course, the record features Arts’ first number one single “Somebody Like You,” which found its way to the top during the pandemic. “For me, the first time I played a show was months after it went number one. […] It went from zero to one hundred, people were singing the song back to me and I could put my microphone out to the crowd […] It was just such an incredible moment.”

If Girl to Girl is any inclination of how Arts’ career is going to progress, fans are in for a real treat. The singer will be re-releasing her Christmas song soon, and will be focusing on shows at the top of 2022. Keep your eyes and ears peeled for more soon!

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