Sound and sight: Tina Turley – Heart and Soul

Although Tina Turley loves all forms of music her heart is steeped in country music. She has made a life of touring and recording her form of ‘high and hurtin’ country since her earliest days playing with her father’s band Maple Street—a favourite in Huntsville, and her own Canadian travelling band, Loose Boots.  

Tina admires female country singers—from Dolly Parton and Patsy Cline, to modern greats like Melissa Lambert and Trisha Yearwood. “If you listen to Gretchen Wilson, whom I am a big fan of, she’s so versatile. She can sing you the saddest country song that you have ever heard and then she can go belt out the most southern rock country song that you ever want to hear.” That range and dynamic distinctiveness can also be found in Tina’s performances. Tina gives everything she’s got when she’s on stage.  She gravitates to the unmistakable unique style that country artists, classic to modern, have perfected over the years.

“What I look for in a performance is how it affects me. You’re listening away and then all of a sudden, it’s like wow, wow, and you get that feeling inside of you that that person has connected with you. That to me is special.” Tina has made that belief a cornerstone of her artistic life—connecting to other people through song and lyrics, bringing emotional truth to life for her audience.

Tina picked up the guitar when she was only eight years old and was soon singing her way through local talent contests. With special permission from the LLBO, she was able to join her father on stage playing drums when she was only twelve. The only stipulation was that she had to stay in the beer cooler during band breaks, where she would have to wait, reading magazines, until she got back on stage.

She continued to play drums on the road with her father’s band until she was sixteen. After a successful run with the Toronto band Denam and Lace, an all-woman country pop band, Tina returned to Huntsville in 1990. With a few local musicians, she started up ‘Loose Boots’, with whom she worked tirelessly, locally and throughout Ontario.

True to her country roots, Tina made the traditional pilgrimage to Nashville to master song writing and try her hand at joining the mainstream country establishment, but once the money ran out she returned to Huntsville taking “Loose Boots” out on the road. With her bandmates choosing other pursuits, she used pick-up musicians and toured successfully throughout Canada. She performed with such well-known artists as Valdy, Linda McLean, Wendell Ferguson, and Ronnie Prophet, notably opening for Tim McGraw at Maple Leaf Gardens in 1995.

Returning to Nashville, Tina made her EP This Could Be It in 1997 and three of the videos she made in support of the album went into heavy rotation on CMT – Country Music Television. Meanwhile, Tina worked steadily, wherever she could land a gig.

I GOT EVERYTHING  – YouTube Video – Tina Turley 

While on the road, her father, Ed, became critically ill and she decided to take time off and returned home to work at the Huntsville Forester and be with her ailing parent. Tina continued to play locally. In 2006, Tina began the Family Traditions HOOT, an acronym, for ‘Help Out Our Town,’ an annual music festival held at Stisted Agricultural Fairgrounds every June. Featuring local and regional bands, the event not only celebrates the Turley family love for music but also raises funds for the Muskoka Animal Rescue and other non-profit local charities. After the pandemic this year, HOOT was a particularly special day with a little of every kind of music, from bluegrass to rock n’ roll, on display throughout the daylong concerts.

For more info: https://www.tinaturley.com/

These past few years have been challenging for Tina with so many changes including the passing of her beloved parents. Despite setbacks, Tina has begun a recent collaboration with pianist Billy MacPherson, who she describes as “wonderful, wonderful man.” She says fate has brought them together. Along with her duo with MacPherson, she is also playing drums again with a band she worked with in the 1990’s and Tina Turley and Loose Boots are back up and running. So needless to say, Tina is very excited about her prospects for the future.

Music for Tina Turley is about touching each other’s hearts—recognizing how we all have troubles and a song can, if only momentarily, relieve our heartache. Tina tells a classic story about what and why country music is so meaningful to so many.

“I get all stage fright and everything, even to this day. Once you get out there, it’s in my heart and you look out and see people singing along, you just pour your heart out. I remember this one night, I was playing JT’s, (historic bar in Huntsville), years before it burned down, I was doing a single, me and my guitar, and this older gentleman asked me during the break if I could play “I Fall to Pieces” by Patsy Cline. I introduced the song and I looked over and noticed that this person was alone and teared up. I came down off the stage and he waved me over and I sat down with him and he started to get very emotional. He proceeded to thank me so much. He had just lost his wife two weeks prior and that was their favourite song. You can’t put a price tag on things like that.” For Tina Turley it’s all “heart and soul” and she’s right, you can’t put a price tag on that. 

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