Tenille Townes Creates Musical ‘Gathering Place’ with ‘The Lemonade Stand’
“I want this music to make people feel like they can show up and be who they are."
After introducing herself to the country world in 2018 with her debut single “Somebody’s Daughter” and opening for major artists such as Dierks Bentley and Miranda Lambert last year, Tenille Townes has released her debut album, The Lemonade Stand. The highly-anticipated project features 12 tracks, all of which serve as a look into who the singer is, and she hopes listeners can find themselves in the authentic lyrics as well.
“I want this music to make people feel like they can show up and be who they are,” says Townes in an exclusive interview with Sounds Like Nashville. “I want it to be like a gathering place where they feel like when they listen they’re reminded that they’re not alone in what they’re going through.”
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Produced by Jay Joyce, the project features a variety of different feelings and influences. There are upbeat songs like the lead track, “Holding Out For The One,” in which Townes makes clear her standards for love, as well as the victorious “White Horse,” where she finds her unlikely knight in shining armor. The album also features former single, “Jersey On The Wall (I’m Just Asking),” a highly-emotional track inspired by a tragic car crash that happened at a high school Townes once played. Then there’s “I Kept The Roses,” a bittersweet, vintage-inspired ode to lost love. Townes hits another deeply emotional chord with “When I Meet My Maker,” a song that paints a detailed picture of heaven inspired by someone close to the singer.
“I was sitting at this little rental place in Nashville shortly after moving here and sat at this coffee table just thinking about my great-grandmother who we’d just lost,” says Townes of the writing process. “She was such a glue to our family; literally a human version of a teddy bear. That song was sort of the first moment that really felt like a vessel where I just kind of got out of the way and was really thankful as the song found its way through. It brought a lot of healing for me on the way.”
Other tracks include “The Way You Look Tonight,” an original song inspired by a Sinatra-style love story, and “Find You,” a tune about the journey of finding true love. Townes closes out the album with the song she says is the anchor of the project, “The Most Beautiful Things.” In this tune, Townes sings of all the small, beautiful details in life that are often overlooked, from snowflakes and diamonds, to daisies and lightning. At the end of the song, a child’s voice comes in, which was a symbolic moment for Townes in the studio.
“She was a 7-year-old kid that came and sang her heart out on these four lines,” she says. “To me, it was just a crazy full circle seeing her in the studio with the big headphones on and just imagining the 7-year-old kid that I was singing along to records in the backseat of a car and just imagining how cool it would be to get to sing for people or make a record someday. This record is the dream that I had as that seven year old kid, and I hope people feel reminded of their dreams when they hear it.”
Sonically, the songs vary — there are rock influences, acoustic and bluegrass vibes, and even a touch of ‘80s synth in some places — but they all fit together to become part of the unique ‘gathering place’ Townes and producer Joyce have created. Regardless of their musical characteristics, the songs have one big thing in common: they all have the singer’s unique stamp of authenticity, which is something that just comes naturally to Townes.
“Writing songs is really my safe place,” she says. “It’s how I process my own emotions and how I feel about things. I think in real life I maybe have a harder time articulating that, but if I can write it into a song, it suddenly has this way of just working its way through me, and I’m really grateful for that sense of understanding.”
