Last night Tenille Townes played a packed Bonnetts Energy Centre, the first home town show in quite sometime for the 5x CCMA Female Artist of the Year. A day that meant a lot to the Grande Prairie native as she embarks on once again being an independent artist, and earlier in the day had the renaming of 107 Avenue to Tenille Townes Way, to pay tribute to the positive impact she’s made through her music and philanthropic efforts. The road leads to the Grande Prairie Sunrise House, which has been the focus of her annual Big Hearts for Big Kids annual fundraiser event in her hometown.
The show which was opened by Robyn Ottolini, a talent from Ontario who found herself an independent artist not to long ago when as she put it, “dropped/left her label.” The F-150 singer delighted the crowd with her original songs as well as the a melody cover that included songs she said inspired her. That melody included Robyn spitting some bars, as the kids may say, something I did not expect. It was also great to see the arena packed for the opening act, something that seems to be a rarity, especially if people know what time the main act is performing.
Tenille would hit the stage to great fanfare from the crowd with many youngster holding up signs for their hometown hero. Tenille would have the crowd going from start to finish wearing a custom made gift jacket to honor the occasion and a sparkly, stoned Grande Prairie Storm jersey for the encore. Tenille would interact with the fans and their signs including bringing up some fans for autographs and to sing happy birthday to a fan who just turned 7 years old. Tenille doing these things, especially in her hometown are not surprising given her history of making a sign and getting called up on stage with Shania Twain when she was younger. The show featured Tenille playing her catalogue of songs including a rocking cover to end her set before the encore. Tenille would even bring her dad onstage to have a special moment playing a song together, just the two of them.
Tenille during her set did bring up being once again an independent artist, something she is excited and nervous about, citing the freedom to choose her songs, how she promotes her music and even play the shows she wants to play including shows in Alberta. While some of that is not news the addition to playing the shows she wants was, and might just be a reason why, outside of her annual charity event hasn’t played in GP much over the last number of years.
I for one cannot wait to see Tenille play GP again, hopefully in the near future, and hopes she finds similar success as an independent as she did when she was on a major label.
Check out some photos from the show below:
– Everett
