We had the chance to chat to the amazing Tenille Arts back at The Long Road festival a couple of weeks back. Check out as we talk about the scene, her plans for the future, and the origins of her debut single!

Firstly, what got you into the country scene?

I mean, growing up, that was what we listened to on the radio. I’m original from Canada and a lot of the music was country. And my family were farmers, so a lot of it resonated with us. And the storytelling and all that, I just thought it was so cool. I was about 15 years old when Taylor Swift came out and she was writing her own songs and all of that so that’s when I got into guitar. I think it sparked a thing. I’d always been writing songs but I’d never actually been able to play them before so that really sparked it all for me!

And you got scouted out quite young, right?

I did! At 15. I’d just learnt guitar and somebody from Nashville asked me to come down and start working with them and start writing real music, going in with actual songwriters. Learning the ropes. So yeah, I got involved very early!

So your first single was a charity one, how did that come about?

So, growing up I was a dancer. I worked for this dance company and this girl, I think she was four at the time, and I was assistant dance teaching, just working with the kids. Helping wrangle them mostly! And one of the parents of this girl came up to me and said ‘we heard you’re a singer, would you like to perform at our charity event?’. And I said sure, what’s it for. They said Cystic Fibrosis and that was something I’d never heard of before, I had no idea what it was. And I did my research and came back and said I absolutely want to be involved in this.

Later on throughout playing at their shows for a while, I was connected with a lot of the CF community in Canada and over here actually, too. The song that I recorded was by Matt Scales. He unfortunately passed away due to Cystic Fibrosis but he was an artist and he wrote this song. I recorded it and put it out with all the proceeds going to CF research and all of that. That was the first thing that I ever got to do and it was incredible. And it’s still out there if people want to donate or be a part of that.

And you’re on tour over here at the minute, right?

Yes, this is actually my last show! Caylee Hammock and I were doing a co-headline tour in the UK. So we did three dates together and then I’m playing today and she’s playing tomorrow. So yeah, it’s been really fun. It’s been a little bit of a whirlwind. This is probably one of my quickest tours over here. We arrived at like 9am the one morning and had a show that night so it’s got a little wild. But we’re good!

And can you make any comparisons between the scene over here to the North American scene?

I love it over here. I love playing small clubs and things like that, especially over here. I will compare the UK to Canada; it’s a very respectful audience. They learn your songs and all of that. Some of the time you’re not even sure if they like you and then they give you a standing ovation! They’re so respectful vs the US where they have so many people playing all of the time, I feel like it’s kind of brushed off sometimes. They get a lot of music all the time. Once in a while there’s obviously some amazing shows over there, and amazing fans and superfans, but here it’s different. And I love it!

You put out a single at the start of the year, is that a standalone release or part of something bigger to come?

So I put out a song called ‘Jealous of Myself’. Then I added LiAnn Rimes to the record, which is really cool! Then I put out a song called ‘Summer Don’t Go’, and we have another one coming out before Christmas. Then, hopefully a full album by January/February. I’ve already written and recorded everything, everything’s ready to go. I’m excited, but it’s all of the extra work that comes with it after that now. It takes a long time. Working on visuals and stuff like that now.

And the rest of the year looks pretty busy for you?

Lots of shows, lots of fun things and obviously trying to fit in finalising the record so I might be away from shows for a little while. Just making sure it’s everything I want it to be. Then I’ll go back to Canada for Christmas and then hopefully next year will be so busy I won’t even have time to breathe!