{"id":34024,"date":"2020-06-25T17:00:44","date_gmt":"2020-06-25T21:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/?p=34024"},"modified":"2020-06-25T17:29:14","modified_gmt":"2020-06-25T21:29:14","slug":"playing-nashville-tenille-townes-the-lemonade-stand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/playing-nashville-tenille-townes-the-lemonade-stand\/","title":{"rendered":"Tenille Townes Builds a Sanctuary With &#8216;The Lemonade Stand&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_34025\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-34025\" style=\"width: 1000px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-34025\" src=\"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/TenilleTownesfeatimg.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"666\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/TenilleTownesfeatimg.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/TenilleTownesfeatimg-324x216.jpg 324w, https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/TenilleTownesfeatimg-416x277.jpg 416w, https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/TenilleTownesfeatimg-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/TenilleTownesfeatimg-768x511.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/TenilleTownesfeatimg-500x333.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/TenilleTownesfeatimg-700x466.jpg 700w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-34025\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo Credit: Matthew Berinato<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Tenille Townes\u2019 <em>The Lemonade Stand <\/em>is more than a major label debut album \u2013 it\u2019s a safe space. On it, Townes asks big questions and expresses even bigger emotions, her compassionate worldview on full display as her childhood dream of making it big in country music takes root.<\/p>\n<p>The title itself stems from a line in Townes\u2019 empathy-focused debut single \u201cSomebody\u2019s Daughter\u201d where she crafts a narrative about a young woman she saw begging for money on the side of the road. The lyrics give the woman a name (\u201cshe could be a Sarah, an Emily\u201d), reflect on her past without judgement (&#8220;Bet she was somebody&#8217;s best friend laughing\/Back when she was somebody&#8217;s sister\/Countin&#8217; change at the lemonade stand\/Probably somebody&#8217;s high school first kiss\/Dancin&#8217; in a gym where the kids all talk about someday plans&#8221;), and finally, pack a thought-provoking punch as Townes ponders, \u201cI wonder if she got lost or they forgot her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/36GhNNoYfOU\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>While the song emphasizes compassion, the album\u2019s title stands for unity. \u201cIt represents a gathering place,\u201d Townes tells <em>Audiofemme. <\/em>\u201cI hope this record somehow reminds people of their dreams, too &#8211; because that feeling was very much saturated in the creation of it.\u201d Coming together during, in Townes words, a season of \u201ctrust and faith,\u201d there\u2019s a certain magic that runs through the project. Across twelve songs, Townes demonstrates a sense of wisdom beyond her 26 years, crafting songs that present a deity with a list of hard-hitting questions, share her vision of heaven and suggest that life\u2019s beauty is intangible, experienced within.<\/p>\n<p>Since making the 37-hour drive from her hometown in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=-qlJMIWREUA\">Alberta, Canada<\/a> to Music City, Townes has spent the past seven years working with some of the city\u2019s best songwriters, connecting to her voice in the process. \u201cBeing able to really disappear into the Nashville community and craft these songs and find my voice and the things I wanted to say, that time felt really sacred to me to be digging into those thoughts,\u201d she expresses.<\/p>\n<p>Townes recorded the project over the course of seven weeks at a church-turned-studio in East Nashville. One of the \u201ctranscendent\u201d moments of the album-making process came when she sat around the altar of the church to record \u201cWhen I Meet My Maker.\u201d Townes was wearing her great-grandmother\u2019s earrings while recording and vows that she could feel her presence, her spirit serving as the heartbeat of the song that depicts Townes\u2019 perspective of heaven. \u201cWhen I meet my maker\/I\u2019ll walk on heaven\u2019s boulevard\/Up above the clouds\/In between the stars\/I\u2019ll ask him all my questions\/And he\u2019ll answer with a smile\/I\u2019ll tell him how I love him\/And I\u2019ll thank him for my life,\u201d she sings. She calls the song the \u201cmost raw\u201d form of expression on the album.<\/p>\n<p>That vulnerability is also reflected in \u201cJersey on the Wall (I\u2019m Just Asking).\u201d The song is inspired by Townes\u2019 visit to a local high school reeling from a fatal car accident involving five of its students. One of them was a star basketball player and valedictorian who had her whole life ahead of her.\u00a0The singer gets candid on the track, her reflections on the tragedy expanding into existential questions she&#8217;d pose to the powers that be if she ever got the chance. Her humility is reflected in the song&#8217;s parentheticals, but ultimately it&#8217;s about the life-altering events that can test the faith of even the most devout. \u201cThat felt like a very raw place to dig into,\u201d Townes says, admitting that she wrestles with the idea of being able to ask those questions, but affirms, \u201cI think we&#8217;re allowed to.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/79TC7281xnU\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Townes continues her soul-searching journey with poetic closing number, \u201cThe Most Beautiful Things.\u201d Written by Townes, Josh Kear and Gordie Sampson, the song is based on the famous Helen Keller quote &#8220;The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched, they must be felt with the heart.\u201d The songwriting trio felt compelled to write a song around this idea, channeling it into such lyrics as \u201cSo why do we close our eyes, when we pray, cry, kiss, dream? Maybe the most beautiful things in this life are felt and never seen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Townes brings these heartfelt words to life with her voice soaring over a serene melody of twinkling piano. The song also features the voice of seven-year-old Amelia, the daughter of sound engineer Jason Hall, which Townes says captures the child-like innocence of the song\u2019s message. \u201cIt felt special to really put some music around that idea and capture that wonder and innocent-hearted way of actually noticing the beautiful things around us,\u201d Townes observes. \u201cI really believe they&#8217;re always there; it&#8217;s just having the eyes to see them and feel it and recognize that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/BItXsrjiuGU\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>For Townes, one of the most beautiful elements she\u2019s experienced in life comes in the simplest, most pure form \u2013 love \u2013 a feeling that she hopes fans gravitate to in her music as the world continues to battle the COVID-19 pandemic and flood the streets for racial justice. \u201cI hope that people feel like they can come and be filled up with this music and be reminded of the kid that they used to be, standing at some lemonade stand and dreaming of their place in the world, not afraid to notice the beautiful things around them and just show up and be who they are. I hope that they feel like they&#8217;re not alone and that they&#8217;re filled up with the idea of their dreams,\u201d Townes says. \u201cThis record definitely is the dream that I had as a seven-year-old kid. I hope that people feel that when they hear these songs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/tenilletownes.com\/shop\/\">The Lemonade Stand<\/a> <em>is out tomorrow, June 26th. Follow Tenille Townes on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/tenilletownes\/\">Facebook<\/a> for ongoing updates.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tenille Townes\u2019 The Lemonade Stand is more than a major label debut album \u2013 it\u2019s a safe space. On it, Townes asks big questions and expresses even bigger emotions, her compassionate worldview on full display as her childhood dream of making it big in country music takes root. The title itself stems from a line [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":103,"featured_media":34025,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[305,9113],"tags":[4783,6769,1570,2274,9545],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/TenilleTownesfeatimg.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34024"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/103"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34024"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34024\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34040,"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34024\/revisions\/34040"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34025"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}