Tara Tinsley

TRACY -- Like her musical hero Tom Petty, Tracys Tara Tinsley is running down a dream: Shed like to appear on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine.

Thats the moment an artist has arrived, both commercially, in terms of record sales, and artistically, in terms of impacting public consciousness.

I want to be on the top of whatever charts, Tinsley said.

Tinsley, 22, who moved to Tracy from Pinckney, Mich., at 18, will get one step closer to that goal later this month when she records an album in Tokyo.

A follow-up to 2005s Come and Go, which was primarily an acoustic album with Tinsley playing guitar, the new album will have a morefull sound with piano, violin and electric guitar.

I feel like Ive developed as a writer, Tinsley said.

Her songs are mostly about love and heartbreak -- Ive immortalized every single guy Ive had feelings for -- and says she now writes fewer, but better, tunes.

She may release the new album in its entirety in the United States, or she may use three of the albums songs to record a demo. She then hopes to get a manager or agent who will help her land a record contract with a major label.

Or she could find success or her own terms.

Tinsley liked the way the Dave Matthews Band did it -- the group toured the college circuit, generated buzz and then had the record companies coming to them.

And once shes found success, she hopes its not just for one or two hit songs. Shes a big Petty fan because hes a 30-year rock veteran whos still touring and attracting fans of all ages.

I want to last, she said.

But the path to success, as shes well aware, is often difficult. She works at Starbucks Coffee, teaches guitar and performs about eight gigs a month in the Central Valley and Bay Area.

Gosh, its so hard, she said, but I look back -- Ive come a long way.

Especially from the 14-year-old girl who taught herself to play. Tinsley is still the girl next door but projects a dont mess with me vibe on stage, she said.

Other musicians already are watching and taking notes.

I learn from her every time I go (on stage), said Joe Cornell, a solo acoustic vocalist with whom Tinsley sometimes plays. Its just called it,'" he said of her stage presence.

Cornell, 25, of San Ramon said Tinsley knows how to capture and control a crowd with the way she uses her eyes and the way she moves.

Tinsley herself is studying other musicians. She pays particular attention to what other people do wrong, such as Alanis Morissette, who stood ramrod straight with her hands clasped in front of her for an entire concert.

Tinsley said the audience was almost falling asleep.

Tara Tinsley will perform with Joe Cornell at 9 p.m. today at Meenar Music Club, 349 Hartz Ave., Danville. Call (925) 8... or visit http://www.taratinsley.com for more information. The CD Come and Go is available at Main Street Music in Tracy and Tower Records in Concord. - Oakland Tribune, Jul 3, 2006 by Cheryl Winkelman, STAFF WRITER

Local artists converge for a night of blended passions
By Tony Sauro
Record Staff Writer
May 21, 2009 6:00 AM

Tara Tinsley has gone from one extreme to the other.

The Tracy folk-rock singer-songwriter no longer is racing her motorcycle.

Her what?

"I'm kind of worried I would crash," said Tinsley, who grew up racing motocross bikes in Pinckney, Mich. "I've never broken a bone, but what if I fall or crash and break my arm and can't play my guitar? That worried me really bad."

Tinsley, a 24-year-old Tracy resident and promising musical talent, will be on safe ground Friday night when she and guitarist Dan Quigg join fellow singer-songwriters Erin Odessa and her band and Ryan Toth for a show at the Matinee in Stockton.

Tinsley, Odessa and Toth are part of an active Valley scene that continues to expand.

Odessa, 30, a Stockton resident who grew up in Linden, also plays in the After Naps, a children's group. Toth, 29, who was born in Tracy and lives in Turlock, plays a mix of original and cover tunes.

"It's more informal here," said Tinsley, who's also part of Bands 4 Bands, a Bay Area collective that named her group its best band in 2006 and nominated her for three awards this year. "It's kind of just more natural to help each other. There are a lot of really cool people to hang out with."

Then there's the motocross thing.

Tinsley was only 6 when she rode her dirt bike to the motocross nationals - and started singing in public.

"I was really shy when I was little," she said. "So my parents made me sing the national anthem at local races. I'd sing it and then run off and get on my bike."

She eventually performed the national anthem at major motocross events in Pontiac, Mich., Angels Stadium in Anaheim and Las Vegas' MGM Grand Hotel.

After trying clarinet and piano, her parents got her a guitar as a Christmas present when she was 14.

When her family moved to Tracy in 2002, she sold her Kawasaki KX-80 - not her guitar - and "never got a new one."

She continued to race, though, borrowing her then-boyfriend's motorcycle. When they broke up, that ended that.

Members of her family - father Terry, brother Mark and sister Malori - all race motorcycles, except mom Pam, who rides race-free.

Tara, who's 5-foot-2 and 105 pounds, kept racing on weekends at Tracy's Carnegie OHV Park with friend Jen Lima, until her romantic breakup and music-career revelation.

Now, she's busy preparing to record her second "official" album for her own new label (Golden Hill Records). Quigg, 26, will produce it in his Tracy home studio.

She's expanding her scope to include a "fictional" story-song inspired by Byron's Hot Springs Hotel, some "happy songs and one I wrote about one of my friends when her dad died and how I felt she felt about it."

So far, nothing about motorcycles.

Odessa, a mother of two who helps manage Stockton's Blackwater Cafe, also is eager to finish recording her first full album.

She wants to wait for Stockton musician-producer Mike Klooster to reassemble his recording studio in his new home.

"I'm really, really hoping in less than six months," Odessa, a singer and ukulele player, said of "Over and Again." "I'm waiting. I really want to record with Mike Klooster."

She learned to trust the Smash Mouth keyboard player's talent and judgment 10 years ago when she was in Sugarfoot, a group that had "many and different incarnations."

She described Odessa, her current band - Jona Ramirez (guitar), Doug Jacobs (drums), Esteban Aguila (guitar, vocals) and Ray Tuitavuki (bass) - as "indie folk-rock-soul with a heavy soul and heavy Latin influence."

"It's growing," Tinsley said of Friday's show and the development it represents. "I feel more comfortable and people are more supportive of people who get out there. They help you with what you want to do. So it's not too competitive. That's what's cool about it."

It also doesn't involve crashing a motorcycle.

Contact Tony Sauro at (209) 546-8267 or tsauro@recordnet.com. - The Record

She's a home-grown talent, but Tara Tinsley got a chance to truly shine on an overseas journey.

Tara Tinsley returns home to Tracy after she brought Japanese fans to their feet during a two-week summer tour of the Orient.

Tara Tinsley does little else than hold a guitar in her hand and a microphone to her lips. She considers her guitar her best friend and is usually found entertaining coffee-sipping audiences in the Central Valley and Bay Area.

Tinsley, 22, got a taste of a different music scene when she took her pop/folk sound to Japan for a two-week tour during the summer.

She didn’t expect her tour to breathe life back into her music.

Japanese audiences’ were on their feet during each of Tinsley’s five performances, and the crowds’ reaction ignited her music, Tinsley said.

“They were the best shows I’ve ever played,” she said. “Every time I played, I got chills.”

When she arrived in Japan in mid-July, Tinsley was coupled with a bassist and drummer who had practiced her songs and were ready to perform. Tinsley said the band’s first performance made it seem as though the musicians had been playing together for years.

Tinsley’s agent, Sonoko Fawaguchi of DAA, found the two musicians, booked the shows and promoted Tinsley before her arrival.

Tinsley also shot a music video, recorded four songs and was interviewed on two local radio stations and a TV program.

Tinsley returns with stage experience and a sense of musical maturity, but she misses the energy of the Japanese music scene.

“I felt like I grew while I was there,” she said. “I like playing shows no matter where I am. If there’s a stage, I love it.”

Tinsley plans to return to Japan for a three-month tour in spring.

Meanwhile, local fans can hear Tinsley perform with her new guitarist, Dan Quigg, on Sept. 10 at the 2006 Tracy Dry Bean Festival.

- Tracy Press 8/26/2006

If she doesn’t initially win you over with her looks, you’ll definitely fall victim to Tara Tinsley’s infectious voice and sound. The female-fronted acoustic band, based in Tracy, California is currently accomplishing more than many people do in a lifetime. In July, the young musician packed a suitcase and her guitar to tour Japan in a string of Navy Base shows. As if performing at multiple bases wasn’t enough to take on, Tinsley is also managing to record a new album and video while overseas, proving that there’s no slowing her down, especially when she’s out of eye’s view. Alongside her band, which is comprised of Rumaldo Torres (drums) and Sean Wolfe (bass) she’s been making the rounds at Bay Area clubs and festivals since a young age gaining fans and support in every corner, performing hits such as “Jaimie” and “Physically Impossible.” Many have described her as our very own (local) version of Jewel, and the talented singer/songwriter regularly sings the National Anthem at motocross races including the U.S Open at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, a feat many should hope to achieve. Catch Tara Tinsley live on August 12 at Band Fest in Union City where she is continuing to take over the world, one stage at a time.
- Zero Magazine August 2006 Issue

Ian Hill
Record Staff Writer


Tracy singer-songwriter Tara Tinsley was busy during her recent two-week trip to Japan. Her days were filled with interviews with Japanese media, a video shoot and recording sessions for a new album to be released in Japan. Her nights were spent onstage performing.

The stressful schedule didn't dissuade Tinsley from future touring. Instead, it left her hungry for more.

"I want to be touring for the rest of my life," she said. "My next goal is Germany and the U.K."

Tinsley, 22, said she enjoys experiencing different cultures and their attitudes toward music. In Japan, she said, music fans focus on performers; they don't talk over performers as can happen in U.S. bars.


"In Japan, it's their life," she said, adding that the Japanese shows were "the best experience of my life. I can't wait to go back."

Her Web site shows that Tinsley has played about 60 concerts throughout California this year, an impressive number for a local musician. She has seven performances scheduled this month in Northern California, including a show at 11 a.m. Sunday at the California Dry Bean Festival in Tracy.

Tinsley plans to record a follow-up to her 2005 album, "Come & Go," a forceful collection of short acoustic-based tracks. Her longest song clocks in at just four minutes.

The lyrics on "Come & Go" cover the emotions that come with different relationships, from the sadness experienced when a friend moves away in the song "Jamie" to the frustration of being trapped by attraction in "Controlling Me."

"You were everything/but you weren't anything/you were everything/but you just like to take your love away," she sings on "Controlling Me."

A Michigan native, Tinsley said she's been writing poetry and lyrics for years. Her life changed when her parents bought her a guitar at 14.

"It kind of fueled the passion," she said. "It really helped me develop the songs and realize I wanted to do this with my life."

For more information, check out www.taratinsley.com - The Record 9/5/2006

Tracy's Tara Tinsley off to Japan Musician hopes to top the charts
Oakland Tribune, Jul 3, 2006 by Cheryl Winkelman, STAFF WRITER

TRACY -- Like her musical hero Tom Petty, Tracy's Tara Tinsley is running down a dream: She'd like to appear on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine.

That's the moment an artist has arrived, both commercially, in terms of record sales, and, artistically, in terms of impacting public consciousness.

"I want to be on the top of whatever charts," Tinsley said.

Tinsley, 22, who moved to Tracy from Pinckney, Mich., at 18, will get one step closer to that goal later this month when she records an album in Tokyo.

A follow-up to 2005's "Come and Go," which was primarily an acoustic album with Tinsley playing guitar, the new album will have a more full sound with piano, violin and electric guitar.

"I feel like I've developed as a writer," Tinsley said.

Her songs are mostly about love and heartbreak -- "I've immortalized every single guy I've had feelings for" -- and says she now writes fewer, but better, tunes.

She may release the new album in its entirety in the United States, or she may use three of the album's songs to record a demo. She then hopes to get a manager or agent who will help her land a record contract with a major label.

Or she could find success or her own terms.

Tinsley liked the way the Dave Mat-thews Band did it -- the group toured the college circuit, generated buzz and then had the record companies coming to them.

And once shes found success, she hopes its not just for one or two hit songs. Shes a big Petty fan because hes a 30-year rock veteran whos still touring and attracting fans of all ages. - Oakland Tribune

HOME BASE: Tracy

PLAYERS: Tara Tinsley, vocals/guitar; Captain Jones, lead guitar

SOUNDS LIKE: Tinsley's music has the acoustic feel of Jack Johnson and Jewel, mixed with the female edge of Avril Lavigne and is "fueled by concept of Tom Petty," she said.

BACKSTORY: At age 14, Tinsley self-taught herself to play guitar and wrote her first song. At age 18, she moved from Michigan to California to pursue her dreams to be on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. In five years, she has come a long way. The 23-year-old singer/songwriter has toured in Japan, across much of the United States and is planning her first full U.S. tour for the spring of 2008. She also has released two albums and in 2006 won the Modesto Area Music Association award for best unplugged artist. In 2009, she plans to tour in Europe.

QUOTE ME: "My motto through life has always been 'Do what makes you happy,' and I couldn't live any other way."

-- Tara Tinsley

NEW MUSIC: "Sail Away" (2007) and "Come & Go" (2005) are both available on www.taratinsley.com/merch and on www.apple.com/itunes. Ringtones are available at www.groupietunes.com/artists/taratinsley.

NEXT GIGS: 8 p.m. Sept. 12 at Kelley Brothers Brewing Co., 112 East Yosemite Ave., Manteca. 7 p.m. Sept. 14 at Red Vic Sessions, 1665 Haight St., San Francisco.

FIND ONLINE: taratinsley.com, myspace.com/taratinsley
- Modesto Bee "The Scene" August 24, 2007

Tara Tinsley's hit song "No Escaping You" from her new album, "Sail Away" will be featured on Six Hits Radio in the United Kingdom October 6th, 2007 at 8am (UK time) as the RECORD OF THE WEEK! You can tune in where ever you are via their website www.sixhits.com. She will be on her way to tour Europe in 2009. - Six Hits Radio 10/3/2007

Tracy’s Tara Tinsley is hoping local fans will make the trek into the Bay Area next month to hear her first album in person.

It’s not that she didn’t want to have a release party locally, said the 20-year-old singer-songwriter — there just isn’t a good local venue for such an occasion.

“So it’s for whoever wants to go,” Tinsley said. “Plus, they come to share the fun and make a whole night of it with great music.”

Tinsley will headline a four-act show at Blakes, in Berkeley, with her new album, “Come and Go,” the reason for the get-together.

The songs were written over several years, but it was only in the last year, Tinsley said, that she put together the recording session for the album’s nine songs, all done at Audio Voyage studios in Livermore.

At the release show, she said, she’ll probably play all of the album’s songs, with the help of band members Sean Wolfe-Justice on bass and backup vocals, and Rumaldo Tores on drums.

Her goal in music, she said, isn’t making the cover of Rolling Stone or heading a world tour, but getting her music out as far as possible.

“I want people to come to this party and go home and take something with them,” she said.

Opening for Tinsley are Soundboy, The Sevenmillionaires and The Burmese Crowd.

Formed in 2003, Soundboy is a Central Valley-based band featuring members of Longshot and Tracy band UVR. The band describes their sound as modern rock with original lyrics.

The Sevenmillionaires, based in Rio Vista, emphasize rhythm and call their music infectious.

A six-member band, The Burmese Crowd features members from Bay Area cities such as Burlingame and released their debut self-titled album in June.
- TRACY PRESS 6/30/05