Ask any young country singer from Alberta what the dream is, and the answer is likely a record deal in Nashville.

Tenille Townes lived that dream. Until she decided to end it.

Eight years ago, when she was 23, the Grand Prairie singer rode a wave of indie success into a deal with Sony Music Nashville. It didn’t take long for the move to pay off — “Somebody’s Daughter,” the emotional first single with the label, hit No. 1 on the Canadian country chart. She was soon opening shows for Miranda Lambert and Little Big Town.

But last summer, Townes released a video saying she had entered her “freedom era.” She had finalized a deal to leave the label and she was “a newly independent artist.”

A year later, she says while there have been some “disorienting moments” since the decision, she had

See Full Page