A romantic poet blessed with an evocative, crystalline voice and a knack for crafting artful melodies, there’s no denying that Tenille Arts possesses exceptional talent. And it’s that talent combined with her hard work and met with perfect timing that led her to become one of the most popular country music artists of her time. Not only that, but in just a span of a few years, she has grown to be one of the most promising country music artists and empowering female figures of this generation.
Let’s get to know her beginning and the story of her rapid rise in the country music scene.
A Series of Perfect Timing
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Born and raised in Weyburn, Saskatchewan, Tenille Arts grew up listening to music, and she would often find herself singing everywhere she went. And it was during one of those times that she was leisurely singing that she opened the gate for her to explore music more.
According to Arts, when she was about 8 or 9, one of their neighbors overheard her singing Shania Twain’s “Man I Feel Like A Woman” in the backyard. The neighbor, later on, approached her mom asking if Arts was enrolled in any vocal lessons because she had the talent. Her mom told the neighbor she wasn’t and proceeded to ask Arts if she wanted to, and she said yes.
And so the next day, she auditioned for a local vocal coach (she trained classically for 10 years and explored country music in the middle of that) and soon after took lessons in piano. At 14, she received a guitar as a birthday present which sparked the soul of a songwriter that has long been resting inside. Songwriting became her safe haven where she can pour out all of her feelings.
Not long after that, she started performing at showcases as well as competitions. In 2009, Arts captured the attention of music manager and industry executive Hal Oven when she posted her acoustic version of Taylor Swift’s “Fifteen” online. Oven offered to represent her, so Arts briefly moved to Nashville before coming back to Canada to complete high school.
Six years later, she was able to build a name for herself as a songwriter and work with fellow songwriters based in Nashville. And then, when she was offered by Noble Vision Music Group in Nashville a publishing contract, she signed and relocated to Nashville. In the same year, she released a single, “Breathe,” which was for the benefit of cystic fibrosis charities. The track reached the Top 10 digital country single in Canada.
For You
In 2016, she dropped a six-track self-titled album, which again gained attention in her home country, topping the Canadian digital country charts. It also broke into the US Country Top 100 and made waves in the country music scene.
Momentum Building
Tenille Arts’ career, which started in 2015, slowly built momentum and by mid-2017, she was one of the most watched-out country music artists. And by October 2017, she dropped her first full-length album titled Rebel Child featuring “Cold Feet,” which earned her number two in Canada’s digital country sales chart and number 17 in the US.
A year later, she performed an acoustic version of one of her originals in the album “Moment of Weakness” for the reality TV show The Bachelor, which brought a lot of attention to her and her music. In an interview with Taste of Country, Arts said that her manager had been sending her music to the producers of the show long before she set foot on the show for the first time.
The song gained new life on radio and other platforms and expanded her audience from just teens and twenty-somethings to even 40-year-olds.
Rise to Stardom
After performing “Moment of Weakness” on The Bachelor, Arts delivered a hot on the wheels deluxe edition of Rebel Child. She also became a favorite on The Bachelor, and in 2019, she performed again for the show. She sang “I Hate This” for bachelor Colton Underwood which was released just four days before the airing and already racked up over a million streams.
But this time, she got something bigger than just applause and streams. She earned herself a record deal with Reviver Records. Arts released her second album Love, Heartbreak & Everything in Between, and performed her empowering single (written by women, produced by a woman, and of course, sung by a woman) “Somebody Like That” on The Bachelor’s 2020 season premiere. It was her third time singing on the show, and we may see more of her.
It’s also safe to say that this rise to stardom is not going to fade away anytime soon. In fact, with the caliber of Tenille Arts’ songs, she will definitely be able to build a longstanding country music career.
