Where did you grow up?
TGB: I was born in Hamblen County Hospital. I grew up in my mother’s home, which was in Halls Cross Roads, and visited my father quite often in Jefferson City.
I consider myself to have grown up in The Hills of Tennessee.
How did you come into playing music?
TGB: I have been singing since childhood. My father taught me a little on guitar when I was young but it was never pushed and I was never given an instrument or put into lessons. I always knew I loved music and loved to sing but it wasn’t until after I earned my Master of Fine Arts degree that I got “hooked” on music.
After that moment there was nothing else that appeased that craving.
It only took a couple of years and here I am… I don’t know how I lived without it for so long!
How would you describe your music?
TGB: The majority of folks would call it Americana. I would call it Appalachian roots music. I am drawn to the music of our mountains and the people that survived in them long enough to hand it down to us.
It is a true melting pot of cultures, peoples, music, and traditions.
That is what I try to encompass when I go to making music!
What sort of impact do you hope that your music has on people? On the world?
TGB: I hope that it helps to broaden the ideas and minds of the listener as well as bring them right back home to where it all comes from.
I want to relate to their upbringing and help them remember that we are stewards of our own culture and without that it can all be lost. We must nurture and instill culture within our society and our youth.
Music can so all of this! It is very powerful.
Why were you interested in doing this benefit concert for Highlander?
TGB: The Highlander Center stands for much of what I stand for when it comes to my music. They help to empower and instill cultural diversity and understanding within our society and our youth to bring about more sensitive and intelligent generations. They set out to raise the stewards of our world to have the best possible skill sets and moral structures to take on the future.
I am so happy to help with their goals and future endeavors!