Tigirlily: Meet the North Dakota Country Duo Blooming Today

Tigirlily, pronounced as Tie-Girl-Lilly, is a North Dakota country duo who are in full bloom right now after the success of their song. Tigirlily’s “Somebody Does” came out last February 23, and it dethroned Olivia Rodrigo’s “driver’s license” on the US iTunes song sales chart. They’re the latest country act who started out as a social media sensation turned into commercial chart success. 

The duo boasts a large social media following, particularly on TikTok, where they have over 520,000 followers. And they’re continuing to cultivate strong support on Instagram (73.9K), Twitter (36.1k), and YouTube (19.2k) as well. So, who exactly are these two ladies who have been shaking in the digital world and the country scene with their music?

Seeding: How did Tigirlily start?

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Tigirlily is a genre-bending duo of sisters named Kendra (25) and Krista (23) Slaubaugh from Hazen, North Dakota. The sisters grew up in a home where singing was encouraged, and they were singing as soon as they were talking. Kendra was the first one to start a path in music, kicking off her career around 2010 by uploading videos on YouTube and singing at Hazen’s Music in the Park. Soon after, Krista went in and joined her. 

And of course, the next natural step was blending their voices. The two started doing what they called kitchen covers, where they record themselves singing songs like Phillip Phillips’ “Home” while they sit in their kitchen. After that, they did their first video, “Just Another Pretty Face,” with friends and music teacher Chris Harvey. 

It didn’t take them long enough to master their own style of harmony and create their unique sound. In 2013, they decided to do music full-time, and they named themselves Tigirlily after the tiger lily that bloomed in their childhood home. 

Blossoming: Taking the State and Putting Themselves on the Map

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In the same year, the sisters released their song “North Dakota” with a video produced by The Creative Treatment, a Bismarck production company, and filmed at the Peace Gardens. And that was the video that put them on the map. It got responses from different countries across the globe after getting viewed over 213,000 times and earned them an international fanbase. It basically became their anthem.

A year later, in 2014, they officially released their six-tune extended play album and first studio work, “Victory.” The EP was unique and, at the same time, different from their previous songs. Five out of the six tracks were written by the girls themselves, while one was written by Nicolle Galyon, whose songs have already been recorded by Miranda Lambert and Keith Urban. The songs were recorded in Nashville and produced by drummer Louis Newman who was also the husband of Gwen Sebastian. 

Then for three years, the girls performed at different events, crisscrossing across North and South Dakota, Montana, and Minnesota, drawing thousands of fans. But they have always been dreamers, and they dreamed out loud to move to Nashville and land their own record deal. Then in 2017, they finally relocated to Nashville, Tennessee where they got a regular gig at Dierks Bentley’s Whiskey Row. 

They also started using TikTok, utilizing it to reintroduce themselves. They also became members of the Nashville channel ‘The 615 House’ started by Chris Ruediger and Ashley Cooke, where they feature all things honky-tonk. But aside from their growing following on TikTok, Tigirlily also got more opportunities to perform on stage. They opened for LeAnn Rimes, Big and Rich, Justin Moore, and Chris Janson. And in 2019 alone, they played around 130 shows. 

In Full Bloom: Reaching Number One and Landing a Record Deal

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Earlier this year, Tigirlily celebrated the success of their new song “Somebody Does” after it landed number one on the all-genre US iTunes song sales chart. A few radio stations have also messaged them saying they are playing the song. In an interview, Krista confessed how it was so cool to see their song get organically played as it went number one without trying to do much with radio. 

Shortly after that, they received an offer from Monument Records for a record deal. And just this month, the country duo debuted their highly anticipated self-titled EP composed of five songs – “My Thang,” “Somebody Does,” “Dig Yourself,” “Everybody’s On Something,” and “Known You Forever.” They co-wrote all five tracks alongside Monument Records artists Walker Hayes, Brandon Ratcliff, Shane McAnally (who also produced the songs with Louis Newman, who Tigirlily have worked with before for their EP “Victory”), Josh Osborne, and Old Dominion’s Trevor Rosen. 

According to the sisters who started out in a small town writing and playing music for eight years together, they definitely loved what they have produced now as the day they started Tigirlily. All the songs have already been released, and you can listen to them on all available streaming platforms. 

Tigirlily has definitely come so far in just a few years. What started off as cover sessions in the kitchen built them a loyal fanbase and now turned into a record deal with one of the major labels in Nashville. Make sure to check them out and their new EP!