{"id":15318,"date":"2016-05-26T05:01:45","date_gmt":"2016-05-26T09:01:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/huntsville.dopperonline.ca\/?p=15318"},"modified":"2018-10-01T13:18:50","modified_gmt":"2018-10-01T17:18:50","slug":"you-cant-take-the-country-out-of-this-girl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/you-cant-take-the-country-out-of-this-girl\/","title":{"rendered":"You can’t take the country out of this girl…"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every week, I will be profiling an extraordinary human being who lives in our community. If you know someone who is doing something interesting with their life, I want to hear about it. Send me an email at <\/strong><\/em>laura.maclean@doppleronline.ca<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

A lot of people are asking Tina Turley what the hell she\u2019s still doing in town. She should be on the road making millions as a country singing superstar.<\/p>\n

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But the country crooner, who was born and raised in Huntsville, wouldn\u2019t change a thing with how her life turned out. So far, so good, she will tell you. She\u2019s always been one to grab life by the horns. She tried hard and gave it her best, jumped at opportunities, made sacrifices and even moved far away. But she always came back. She\u2019s deeply rooted here. Without the support of people from this beautiful little town, maybe Tina would have never discovered her true country self.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs difficult as some of it was, I wouldn\u2019t change anything,\u201d she says. \u201cI have no regrets. Not one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Music has been a part of Tina\u2019s life for as long as she can remember. Her father, Ed, who was a well-known man in the community, was in a country band called the Muleskinners. Tina\u2019s mom sang, too. But not in a band or a choir or anything like that. Usually it was when Mrs. Turley was cooking in the kitchen.<\/p>\n

The apple doesn\u2019t fall far from the tree\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tina found her voice at a young age. She performed in her school\u2019s talent show singing Merle Haggard\u2019s classic hit Okie from Muskogee<\/em> when she was just eight years old. By the time she was 12, after teaching herself how to play the drums, she had received a special licence to play in bars with her dad\u2019s band. Things were a lot easier to get away with back then.<\/p>\n

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With a one-of-a-kind country sound, it’s no wonder Tina has garnered quite a following of fans. She is truly humbled when someone asks her for an autograph.<\/p><\/div>\n

To this day, Dolly Parton\u2019s Coat of Many Colors<\/em> can bring a tear to Tina\u2019s eye. She can rock out like the best of them to any AC\/DC song. She doesn\u2019t wear the white gloves, but you might see Tina moonwalk to a Michael Jackson tune. But it\u2019s always been country, whether old or new, that truly speaks to her. It\u2019s the story in a good country song that catches her ear.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always loved music\u2026 it\u2019s hard to explain but it\u2019s like a desire inside. I taught myself how to play. There was just something that drew me to it. And when it\u2019s there, it\u2019s hard to get rid.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the early 90s, she left her hometown and headed to Toronto in search of something new and different. She lived there for four years and was the drummer for an all-girl band. It was in the big city that she released her first album. A song from that album was a Top 10 hit on the Canadian country music chart. She followed her heart to Nashville with high hopes that she would make it big. She had taught herself how to play the guitar. She met so many amazing musicians who shared the same big dream. She learned to write from the heart and had the world at her fingertips. But an encounter with a not-so-gentle man deterred Tina from pursuing a musical commitment with him.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I couldn\u2019t do it on my own then I didn\u2019t want to do it at all,\u201d she says. \u201cIf that\u2019s what it takes to make it in Nashville, I didn\u2019t ever want to be famous.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even though she left Nashville somewhat disillusioned by that encounter, she could never abandon the one thing that made her feel so alive. She formed a band and, in a short time, Tina Turley and the Loose Boots had garnered quite a following. She played everywhere and anywhere she could. In 1995, she took the stage at Maple Leaf Gardens in front of 12,000 people as the opening act for Tim McGraw. That experience, summed up in one word, was exhilarating.<\/p>\n

It was surreal in some respects. You can\u2019t believe you\u2019re there. You\u2019re thinking, \u2018Wow. This is so cool.\u2019 I thought I was going to choke and I turned my back to the audience. I said to myself, \u2018You know what, Tina? You better get your shit together here.\u2019 And then I turned back to face the audience and was ready to give \u2018er.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Tina soon started touring solo out west. She played from Merritt Mountain in British Columbia to the Calgary Stampede and Edmonton, frequently stopping at various radio stations along the way to promote her album with an interview. It was one of the most memorable times of her music career.<\/p>\n

She released three music videos that received medium rotation on the Country Music Network and, at the time, was the only independent artist without a label to achieve that.<\/p>\n\n\t\t