Tenille Arts Reflects on Leaving Small Canadian Hometown to Make Music in Nashville

Tenille Arts is unafraid. The singer-songwriter moved from her native Canada at just 21 years of age, leaving behind her family, her boyfriend and everything that was familiar, to pursue her dream of living in Nashville and finding success in country music.

“It was just setting a date and working towards that date,” Arts tells PopCulture.com. “If I wouldn’t have done that I probably wouldn’t have moved because I think there were a lot of things keeping me [in Canada]. “My grandparents are back home and my whole family. As people grow and get older that’s when it’s really difficult for me, and I feel like I struggle with that. I need to make my time here in Nashville count, because if I’m taking away from those moments with family then I needed to work extremely hard to make this all worth it and to make them proud.”

Arts’ mother came to Music City for two weeks, to help her daughter get settled, so the enormity of her move didn’t strike Arts until the two said goodbye.

“I wasn’t emotional until I got to the airport,” says Arts. “I was letting my mom get on the plane and I just completely broke down for the first time. I’ve never ever done that before when there’s just a wave of emotion. I was really scared but my mom said that I could do it.”

Do it she has. In addition to performing her original song, “Moment of Weakness” on The Bachelor, Arts released her debut single, “Cold Feet,” from her freshman Rebel Child album, which instantly earned her plenty of new fans.

“I love that song so much,” says Arts. “The very first time that I heard it I just saw this whole movie playing out in my mind, and I really wanted to record that song. I think it’s been a song that for a lot of people, it’s their favorite song that I’ve ever released. It just causes people to think about what happened in the end because you don’t find out at the end of the song what happens. It’s left up to people to decide.”

Arts quickly earned a large, and growing, fanbase, both among music lovers and fellow artists. Her welcome into Nashville, and country music, is something Arts is still absorbing.

“It’s been incredible,” says Arts. “I moved here two years ago, but I’ve been coming to Nashville for years since I was 15 years-old. I just feel like you never know who somebody is or who they’re going to become, so I’ve just always tried to be really nice to everybody. I think that surrounding myself with a good team of people that I actually love to work with has been a huge part of that. Everybody is as excited about my music as I am. I feel like everybody just goes out and they spread that word that I’ve had some good music and that people should come out and see the show.”

For Arts, her best moments don’t happen when someone asks for an autograph or applauds her music. Instead, it’s when she realizes her songs are connecting with her fans that make all the struggles worthwhile.

“Seeing people sing the words to my song back to me – I’ve never experienced that until just recently,” says Arts. I did a show back home. My home town is so supportive, and everybody knew every word to all of my songs. It was so special. You can’t describe that when you see a song come from a small writing room just from an idea and see it work it’s way all the way up to being on stage and people knowing the words.”

Purchase Rebel Child on iTunes.

Photo Credit: Facebook/Tenille Arts