Tenille Townes Recorded New Album While Living on a Train

Tenille Townes created her new EP, Train Track Worktapes, in a unique way and also for a good cause! She stopped by The Bobby Bones Show to talk about the process of making the record and perform!  

For each project, Townes gets a new art covered “time capsule guitar” that she decorates with images that relate to the theme of that record. She came into the studio today with a new guitar that has just begun getting filled with artwork. Townes is very passionate about her work and is always looking for new ways to be inspired, and the latest came from her living on a train for 15 days back in December.  

The new five-song collection was written and recorded on a charity train trip that covered nearly 3,000 miles across her native country, Canada. It was part of the CP Holiday Train that benefits Canadian food banks. One of the boxcars would transform into a stage, and Townes and her band would go from town to town and perform for free and the attendees would bring donations to catch the show that occurred right on the train cars. At the end of the 15 days, she played 65 shows, sometimes doing 5 shows in one day with weather in negative temperatures. 

Living on the train was sometimes shaky, but she got used to it. She said there was a lot more space than being on a tour bus. They could spread out and they had their own lounge car. While on the journey, she started getting song ideas and would write before the shows. She wrote so many songs that she wanted to capture in the moment, so she decided to borrow some gear from the train stage and record them on the train.  

The last track on the project, titled “Wheels,” she recorded while the train was in motion. When you’re listening, you can hear all the creeks and bumps of the train in the background. And they finished it at the perfect time because the second they stopped recording the bells went off. Townes songwriting is honest, as she admits she struggles with the high of being on the road and then coming home to normal life and doing laundry and it being quiet. While on the train, she was dreading the end of the trip, which she said was a weird feeling to be in the middle of something and already dreading the end, so that’s what inspired the song. There is one covering song on the project, her rendition of Fleetwood Mac’sLandslide.”  

While in studio, Townes answered some uncomfortable questions from listeners. One asked if she is sad all the time, to which she replied yes but she tries to put out positivity. Her secret talent is water skiing because her dad was a competitive water skier, so she learned from him. When asked what the worst part of being a country singer was, she said it was the photo shoots, and always getting her photo taken. That’s not why she got into this business, she did it for her love of making music and wishes that was all she could focus on.  

While in studio, Townes performed her new song “Wheels” and a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide” that you can watch below!


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