Tenille Arts has had lots to celebrate this year. The 27-year-old country singer originally from Weyburn, Sask., recently saw her hit song Somebody Like That climb all the way to the top of the Mediabase/Country Aircheck chart.
She’s the first Canadian female country singer to do so since Terri Clark in 2004.
The song was also performed, produced and written by all women, a first for a No. 1 song on the charts.
Arts said she found out about the milestone from her fans on Twitter.
“I found out we were No. 1 on Twitter with the fans actually tweeting pictures of the charts.”
“They are so invested and just so incredible. They share their stories with me and they are very open about things they’re going through.”
Arts said that special connection with fans is what helps push her forward in creating music fans can relate to.
Another milestone for the country singer was made in February when she nabbed her first Academy of Country Music award nomination for new female artist of the year.
Recently announced, Arts will also be joining country band Lady A on their What A Song Can Do tour.
Growing up in Saskatchewan, Arts said she’s always loved country music, especially the storytelling that goes along with the genre.
“I write about my hometown and the people from there a lot because I just write about what I know. I grew up in a very small town where everybody knew everybody.”
“I think that teaches you a lot about yourself, about how to continue great relationships in a small town. You can’t always run away from your problems. You have to face things.”
Arts added that growing up in Saskatchewan gave her more drive to move to Nashville.
“It wasn’t just another U.S. artist moving to another state. I was trying to move to an entirely different country,” Arts said.
The move wasn’t without its challenges.
Arts was able to get a visa after signing a publishing deal with Noble Vision Music Group. But when it came to turning her power on at her new home, Arts showed her Canadian passport to the local power company who told her she would need United States identification.
A way around this is to get a local fishing or hunting license, Arts was told, whether or not she intended to use it for its purpose.
Arts then made her way to a hunting and fishing counter at Walmart and registered for her fishing license.
“(The employee) said ‘do you want one day with trout, one day without trout, two days with trout, two days without trout,’ and I was like ‘one day without trout should probably do the trick,’” Arts laughed.
That story is one of Arts’ dad’s favourites as a former employee of SaskPower.
With all of the milestones Arts has achieved over the past year and a bit, she hasn’t been able to celebrate with family like she normally would, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I always imagined some of these moments happening with my family around and getting to celebrate with them. It’s definitely been weird to only be able to celebrate over Zoom and FaceTime.”
A new family member also recently joined the Arts’ clan after Arts’ sister had a baby a few months ago. Arts’ hasn’t had the chance to meet the new baby yet in Canada.
“That’s just a little heartbreaking to me. That’s the stuff that’s been breaking me up a little bit. All of these good things to celebrate can wait but some of that stuff that I’ve had to miss out on this year has been really tough.”
Despite travel restrictions, Arts’ says she is hopeful that things are looking up and she’ll be able to see her family soon.
Her mom, Glenda Arts, said FaceTime and texting have been keeping the duo in touch in the pandemic. Glenda said there will be lots to celebrate when the family can see each other in person, including Tenille’s third Grand Ole Opry performance.
Tenille made her Grand Ole Opry debut on Sept. 21, 2019, a performance her family was able to attend.
“A lot of things to celebrate, I think her champagne is open very often,” Glenda joked.
Out of all her daughters’ accomplishments, Glenda considers hitting No. 1 in the country charts the biggest.
“To have the very first number one song written and produced by all females I think is pretty incredible. I know I didn’t even realize that that hadn’t been achieved already. It’ll be history forever. I’m so happy for her and her team,” Glenda said.
Glenda says despite Tenille living in Nashville for six years and having such a successful career, she hasn’t forgotten her roots.
“She’s still very humble,” Glenda said.
Tenille still helps out with local charity events in the area, whether it’s sending videos or donating merchandise.
Tenille still maintains her local fan base back home, too. She had people reach out to her that she hadn’t talked to since elementary school to congratulate her on hitting No. 1.
“Everybody that knows me from my hometown knew this was my dream since I was seven, eight years old. “
“I just feel so grateful to have that home support because I always knew even in Nashville, I still had hometown support. That really kept me motivated and kept me going.”
As for advice for other aspiring female country artists, Tenille said saying yes and taking advantage of every opportunity was important for her.
She says others should not be intimated by male artists, producers and writers in such a male-dominated industry.
“There’s plenty of room for women in country music. I think we’re seeing that shift happening right now.”
Tenille also encouraged young artists to write their own stories in their music, something she thinks makes music more relatable to fans.