By Dixon Bledsoe
Tiffany Kuenzi has not slowed down since her whirlwind singing and songwriting career began in 2010.
A Silverton resident, Kuenzi is heading into overdrive with an extended play record being released in the spring of 2012 that includes a song she penned, Tonight.
The song is currently going viral on social media sites, with “likes” coming in from around the globe. Her manager is predicting it will be a major hit along with her songs Not to Be You and Hate This Town.
Kuenzi is the featured guest on Oregon’s country music station, KWJJ -99.5 The Wolf, on Jan. 4. The show begins at 8:40 p.m. with an interview and a song. She will appear on Fox Premier Radio, and has plans to be on Armed Forces Radio. Tonight is scheduled be released Jan. 20 on i-Tunes.
Next she plans to record Hate This Town in a Nashville studio.
Her mentor is Sharla McCoy, renowned in the country music industry as a media trainer and radio tour icon. She can also tell great stories about a young man who once told her, “Someday you are going to remember Tim McGraw, Ms. McCoy.”
Kuenzi trained with McCoy in Nashville and worked in Reba McEntire’s studio.
Despite the team of experts eager to promote her singing and songwriting talents, the young Christian woman is taking it all in stride. She wants to be a positive role model in country music.
“I am doing what I am doing because I love children,” Kuenzi said. “Children are so special, and coming from anything but a cookie-cutter life, I just want to help them. My own childhood was not easy by any stretch of the imagination, so I am especially sensitive to kids growing up in a healthy, wholesome environment.”
In January of 2011, Kuenzi was the runner-up for the best overall actor and won the Crystal Award in the Actors, Models and Talent for Christ competition in Florida. That experience lead her to Nashville and New York City.
In New York, Kuenzi worked with a manager in the music industry whose clients include Dolly Parton. Then she was invited to Nashville to work with industry stalwarts from musicians to songwriters. One, Liz Rose, has co-written some of Taylor Swift’s hits such as You Belong with Me.
“She is so nice. Genuinely nice. She flew in from Dallas to work with me. I am so blessed to be an independent artist that these incredible people want to work with,” Kuenzi said.
Keith Follese, who has produced and co-written songs for Tim McGraw, Lady Antebellum and Lonestar, is another supporter. Kuenzi will return to Nashville this year to work with other country music industry veterans.
Last year in an interview, the 24-year-old Kuenzi said her goal was to get to record in Nashville. Done. Now her goal has moved up several notches.
“I would like to get a publishing deal as both a singer and songwriter, and be on tour by age 26,” Kuenzi said. “I am so thankful the Lord gave me the ability to write and sing, and I want to share it with others.”
You can follow her career on reverbnation.com/tiffanykuenzi, Facebook, Twitter, and on her website, www.tiffanykuenzi.com.
