30 Sep 2010 : Train driver swaps her caboose for a guitar and signs with Mushroom Music
A former train driver from Karratha WA, now a fully fledged singer-songwriter - Tenielle‘s music career has gone from strength to strength after taking out the major performance prize at the Telstra Road to Tamworth (TRTT) Final in January this year.
Since then Tenielle has released her debut EP “Better than leaving”, performed overseas as a guest of the New Zealand Country Music Awards, and cemented representation by Premier Artists and Other Tongues.
As if that wasn’t enough, Tenielle also recently returned from her TRTT prize winning trip to Nashville USA where she performed at the annual Americana Festival and secured a Mushroom Music publishing deal.
Kicking off the 10-day US trip, Tenielle performed at one of Nashville’s most iconic venues, The Bluebird Café, as part of an Australian showcase alongside legendary artists Tommy Emmanuel, Troy Cassar-Daley and Sara Storer.
Mushroom Music Creative Manager, Bill Page (also Telstra Road to Tamworth’s Head Judge) was with Tenielle and current TRTT Songwriter winner, Luke Webb in Nashville, and has worked closely with Tenielle since discovering her through last year’s TRTT Digital Heat. ”Tenielle has always shown such immense promise not only as a performer but as a songwriter. I have seen her grow and mature as a musician during the last nine months and that is down to her hard work and also taking every opportunity that has come her way.”
An avid songwriter, Tenielle was given the opportunity to explore her craft with some of America’s finest during one-on-one writing sessions with the likes of Mike Daly (Whiskeytown/Ryan Adams) and Andy Stochansky (Goo Goo Dolls, Shannon Noll), and also took part in song writing workshops at TenTen Music, the number one music publisher in Nashville.
Jewel Coburn, Co-President of TenTen Music, applauded Tenielle’s musical talents. “The fact that Tenielle attracted so much interest and praise during such a major event is proof of the quality of talent that the Telstra Road to Tamworth is identifying and fostering,” she said.
Tenielle will perform as part of the Telstra Road to Tamworth Semi-Final in December, during the Sydney Telstra 500 V8 Supercars event and will then hand over the reigns to a new performance category winner when the TRTT Final is staged in January during the Tamworth Country Music Festival.
Entries in this year’s Telstra Road to Tamworth digital heat and song writing category are open until 31st October 2010, for more details on how to enter visit www.telstra.com/trtt
