Tenney Shares the Stage

Table of Contents

• A New Sound
• Be Professional
• Mud Pie and Melodies
• Out of Tune
• Sing Your Mind
• Facing the Music
• Where Are You?
• Silence
• When the Music Stops
• Duet for One
• The Search
• Alice
• Secret Plans
• The Gathering Place
• Healing Music

A New Sound

Tenney always feels the same way at the end of a show: her feet ache like rocks from standing, her fingers throb from picking strings, and the back of her neck goes sweaty under her leather guitar strap. It’s how she feels as she and Logan Everett finish their set in the amphitheater at Cumberland Park, a one-day festival raising money for Nashville’s parks. She scans the crowd spread across the lawn, remembering that she’s been to shows here before, but never as a performer. A few months ago, she only dreamed of playing her own songs on a stage like this.

Tenney’s parents once thought she was too young for a real music career, but hard work and good timing changed their minds. She also caught the attention of Zane Cale, a producer at Mockingbird Records who wanted to manage her, then decided her sound would be stronger with a partner. He teamed her up with Logan, a fourteen-year-old drummer with plenty of talent and an ego to match.

With a flourish on her guitar and a crash of Logan’s cymbals, the song ends, and applause rolls over her like a wave. “Thank you, Nashville!” she calls into the mic. “We are Logan and Tenney!” Logan hollers from behind his kit. “We’re also Tenney and Logan,” she adds, and the crowd laughs as Logan slides out from his drums to join her for a bow.

Backstage, Tenney tells him the set sounded good. Logan shrugs, muttering that they could have been snappier on “Reach the Sky.” Since they signed with Zane, they’ve rehearsed twice a week, and while they usually get along, Logan loves sneaking new twists into a song without warning her, which drives her crazy. Still, when they truly listen to each other, there’s no question they sound great.

Tenney’s little sister, Aubrey, barrels up in a whirl of pink sparkles for a hug, insisting the show was missing only her, on accordion. Aubrey is just seven, but she’s already skilled on the instrument and begs to guest-star at their next gig. “It’s not that simple,” Tenney says gently. “We’d have to ask Mom and Dad, and Zane.” Logan softens the blow, promising it isn’t impossible, and Aubrey squeals and hugs him, leaving him looking startled, as if he’d been ambushed by an overexcited baby bear.

Zane bounds over like a jackrabbit, grinning ear to ear, and raves about their set, hinting that a Tenney and Logan record could be in their future. He then asks after Logan’s mother, and when Logan explains she had to work last minute, Zane says he has something to discuss and leads them toward the parking lot to find Tenney’s parents.

Food trucks line the lot, with Mom’s sky-blue truck parked in the middle, “Georgia’s Genuine Tennessee Hot Chicken” stenciled across the side in red cursive. Dad, who runs a music shop in East Nashville but helps Mom out when he can, leans out the service window and calls, “Hey, Georgia, the Gruesome Twosome is back!” Mom sweeps a few loose tendrils of red hair under her bandanna and waves them over. She’s saved trays of hot chicken, cheddar biscuits, and watermelon, plus watermelon lemonades from Dad, and Logan digs in like he hasn’t eaten in days.

Zane praises them for four free shows in the past month, but when Logan pushes for paid gigs, Zane explains they still need to build a following. Then he drops the real news: they need to start writing songs together as Tenney and Logan, developing a signature sound instead of just playing well together. Tenney insists she writes better solo, and Logan agrees, but Mom points out they’re partners onstage and off, and Dad adds that they won’t climb a mountain by walking around it.

Tenney’s excuse about not writing to a drumbeat falls flat once Zane notes that Logan also plays guitar and bass. Zane assigns family friend and songwriter Portia Burns to guide their sessions and lays out a plan: an EP of three to five songs, needing three rehearsals a week plus time with Portia. Logan balks, insisting he can only manage two rehearsals a week and refusing to practice at Mockingbird, which is too far from his house in Rosebank. Mom suggests Dad’s shop instead, and Dad offers a spare drum kit. Logan finally agrees, setting a plan to meet Tuesday and Thursday.

Walking Logan to his mother’s idling truck, Tenney tries to reassure them both that writing together will work out, but Logan snaps that his dad’s a professional musician who knows what success takes. Stung, she watches Mrs. Everett, still in fuchsia scrubs from the pediatric ward, lean over for an embarrassing goodbye kiss on his forehead. As the truck pulls away, Logan glances back, almost nervously, and Tenney realizes there’s a lot she still doesn’t know about him, which is part of why she doesn’t quite trust him yet.