Reigning CCMA Entertainer of the Year and two-time JUNO Award winner Tenille Townes is returning to Manchester in a couple of weeks to tour her new introspective, stripped-down project Train Track Worktapes which was was conceptualised, written and recorded entirely on a two-week charity train trip throughout southern Canada. She’ll also be headlining The Long Road Festival and playing in Glasgow and London.
Tenille, who recently opened for Stevie Nicks in Toronto after she included her single-take cover of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Landslide’ on the new EP, also released ‘I Know’ with pop-rock band Train and Bryce Vine in June and ‘The Thing That Wrecks You’ with Bryan Adams in February, following a chance encounter on a stairwell. Tenille shares more on how that collab came about here. Bryan Adams directed the official video.
Tenille’s new Train Track Worktapes is a collection as unique as the experience it was born from. A tradition in her native country, the CP Holiday Train benefits local food banks when their need is greatest, as each attendee brings donations to catch the free concert. Train doors fold down to create a stage, where Townes entertained crowds ranging from dozens to thousands, sometimes in temperatures as low as -31°C. She performed 65 shows during her 15 days on board, all helping to contribute to the C$1.3 million that was raised in 2022.
With acoustic, roots-driven sonics that call back to her debut release, Living Room Worktapes, Townes’ transcendent vocals shine with raw emotion across the EP’s five tracks – ‘Home to Me’, ‘Coming Together’, ‘Pieces of My Heart’, ‘Wheels’ and ‘Landslide’. Throughout Train Track Worktapes, the gifted raconteur explores concepts such as what defines home, living life in motion, fulfilling a troubadour spirit, and feeling joy so all-consuming you fear its end. Each song is accented in its own way with the rattle and rhythm of the train, from the hum of the wheels against the track to the clang of the bells from a crossing.
To create the distinctive sound, Townes, a producer on the project alongside guitarist Jaxon Hargrove, and her band embraced the environment, getting resourceful with their setup. A suitcase turned into a kickdrum. Tin foil and paper bowls became a shaker. Teacups made the perfect substitute for a triangle. They used boxed wine to cover air vents, so the sound didn’t bleed into the recordings. They borrowed equipment and microphones from the train cars housing the stage and gear and recorded mainly in the train’s caboose, sometimes capturing takes in 20-minute spurts between shows.
This was an initiative close to Tenille’s heart as at the age of 15, she organised a fundraiser called Big Hearts for Big Kids, which has since turned into an annual fundraiser and to date has raised over $2 million for a homeless youth shelter, Sunrise House, in her hometown of Grande Prairie, Alberta. According to Tenille, “Sunrise House has served over 12,000 bed nights for youth ages 12-17 looking for a safe place to turn to, where people believe in them and help them get back up on their feet.”
Mon., 28 August – Stoller Hall – Manchester, UK
