Teni Rane
Tennessee singer-songwriter Teni Rane will release her debut album, ‘Goldenrod,’ on Thursday. Leading into the announcement, she released the liltingly bright soliloquy, “Firefly” and is readying its anthemic follow-up, ‘Small Steps,” a bridge to the future bounded forward July 19. Teni Rane will be in Chattanooga on Wednesday at 11 a.m. at WUTC, Richard Winham Show and then at Yellow Racket Records at 6 p.m.
Review for Teni Rane:
A folk-country singer-songwriter with a vintage vocal edge and a knack for capturing common scenes of everyday life in a way that is at once specific and widely relatable, Rane isn’t afraid to explore musical territory and synthesizes vocal and sonic influences into her own brand of country-infused, Americana-folk-pop with a jazzy vocal lean that feels simultaneously familiar and brand new.
Several years in the making, the bulk of the recordings took shape at a time in Rane’s life when everything seemed to be up for re-negotiation. The arc of the album focuses on what it means to allow change to influence a life without eradicating the individual. Inspired by the transition in seasons between summer and fall, each track has a reflective bent that calls attention to the lessons, both cruel and kind, that are learned simply by looking around.
"Penned at a time when a multitude of changes made life feel like every piece and part of me was up for re-negotiation, the collection of songs presented in “Goldenrod” explores what it means to make progress through life without erasing the lessons and emotions of the past and present. Holding space for knowing and loving myself for who I am and where I am, while also leaving room for all the places and versions of myself that have existed in my life up to now and will exist in the future. With imagery inspired largely by the shoulder season “as the summer fades into fall,” the conversations, stories, and emotions explored on the tracks of “Goldenrod” are relatable: change, loss, fear, identity, loss of identity, strength,” said Rane.
Lyrically led, each track on “Goldenrod” builds on the backbone of Rane’s acoustic guitar. The sonic landscape of the album boldly leans into cinematic, orchestral cello sweeps and gritty electric guitars while maintaining a balanced ability to tap back into intentionally crafted solo cello work and specifically placed acoustic guitar melodies. The body of work displays a strong cohesion of vision as well as an ability to sonically craft for each song’s storyline.
Blooming in Bristol, Va., ‘Goldenrod’ came to life at Classic Recording Studio with Grammy-nominated engineer, Mike Stephenson co-producing alongside Rane. Additional collaborators include Grammy-nominees Dave Eggar (cello, piano) and Phil Faconti (acoustic, electric, baritone, classical guitars and ukulele) as well as past collaborator Roger Gustafsson (bass, steel guitar), and Rane’s own partner Jonathan Shumaker (bass).
The lone cover on the album is a transportive reading of “Killing the Blues,” a frequently-covered classic. Eclectic versions include renditions by John Prine, Shawn Colvin, Shooter Jennings, Madison Cunningham, and Billy Ray Cyrus, but perhaps most famously by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss on their album, ‘Raising Sand.'
Rane reflects, “This song has lived in my life for as long as I can remember. The John Prine version was the first one that I knew. As I was writing for this album and arranging the stories that felt relevant to the arc, “Killing the Blues” kept playing in my head. Of course the opening imagery was on point for the summer/fall landscape “Goldenrod” was living in, but there is also this melancholia of being herded away from familiarity and certainty.”
“Like many songs, this one has its roots in love gone wrong - but loss and lost-love aren’t only in human relationships. Having lost some of ourselves and our identity to something that ended up taking everything and giving very little back is common in many realms of life. Then we are left to pick up and rebuild something of ourselves and our world. All while keeping a good face on it and pretending to have the world by the tail. For me, “Goldenrod” marks a rebuilding and a re-negotiation of what my life is and can be. “Killing the Blues” tells a piece of that story.”
Comfortable in everything from overalls to full-body sequins, Rane grew up in and around a community of Chattanooga musicians who helped nurture in her an early love for musical expression. Her vocals carry power and finesse rolled together with perfect balance to evoke the emotional feel and imagery of her lyrics. Twangville likens her vocals to “a favorite Cardigan” while Guitar Girl Magazine was enamored with her “dreamy velvety timbres.”
As a child she was often found belting out lyrics in the back seat of a minivan on the way to just about anywhere. That six CD changer exposed her to the writing of Nanci Griffith, Carol King, Beth Woods, John Prine, The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, Pierce Pettis, Buddy Mondlock, Cosy Sheridan and many other greats. The resulting flavor of her original work is an eclectic mix influenced by the earliest writing she encountered as well as by the contemporary music scene.
Performing live since the mid aughts, her recording journey began in 2020 with the release of ‘Heart in Tennessee,’ a heralded 6-song EP that Americana Highways anointed as “the mesmerizing sound of a burgeoning and singular talent who is prodigiously steeped in the ability to express herself in a fresh and original manner.”
In 2022, she took up a musical residency at Kneippbyn Resort Visby on the beautiful Swedish island Gotland in the Baltic Sea. During that time, she recorded four singles at Sandkvie Studios, with “Meet Me in Stockholm,” a bilingual invitation from a homesick Rane to her best friend, a lasting legacy.
The other singles, “Cozy Inside,” “Rosemary & Evergreen,” and “Tennessee Snow” focus on the winter and holiday season from a fresh perspective with The Big Takeover recognizing the “exquisite nature of her songs, their understated honesty, their deftness and delicacy, their combination of musical elegance and lyrical eloquence.”
Rane offers insight about Goldenrod, the album, “The in-between moments in the seasons are my favorites. There is a small magic when the heat of summer is fighting giving way to gusty autumn evenings and bright crisp mornings. As much as I enjoy the tension of those moments in nature, I am less of a fan of that tension in my own life. Change - even chosen, planned for change - is incredibly difficult for me. My fears always center on what else might change subsequently, and who or what I might lose. Explored through different landscapes and lenses, the tracks all come back to this: what does it mean to allow change to move through life without losing who we are?”
Live, she thrives in listening room and house concert settings where she feels the most connected to the audience through the conversation and story lines of her music. Rane also loves playing in parks, botanical gardens, and other outdoor venues. She’ll be on the road to support ‘Goldenrod’ throughout the summer and fall.