Tina & Her Pony
Tina & Her Pony are an American indie folk duo based in Asheville, North Carolina, United States, consisting of Tina Collins and Quetzal Jordan, who began making music together in early 2009. They deliver a gentle folk music that inexorably swells into a powerful wave.[1] They spent two years in the high desert mountain town of Taos, New Mexico making music and friends. After an 18-month album release tour spanning the United States and Canada, they established a new home base in Asheville and released their album, Champion.[2] Their approach to music feels at once old-timey and totally modern. They exhibit an enviable versatility on several instruments—Collins on tenor banjo, tenor ukulele, and guitar, and Jordan on cello and guitar—and they blend their voices to create harmonies that wrap listeners in sound.[3]
Tina & Her Pony | |
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Origin | Asheville, North Carolina, U.S. |
Genres | Folk, Americana |
Years active | 2009–present |
Website | tinaandherpony |
Members | Tina Collins, Quetzal Jordan |
Biography
Tina & Her Pony was formed in 2009 in Asheville after the chance meeting of Collins and Jordan. Collins had grown up on the periphery of the Appalachians and Jordan was raised in Florida by her Guatemalan mother.[4] They released their first full-length album in March 2012, which was mixed and mastered in Oakland, California, with Myles Boisen (The Tiger Lillies, Kronos Quartet) and features the trumpeter Chris Grady (also featured on Tom Waits’ Mule Variations). They also released a six-track EP titled Walkin’ in My Sleep at the same time.[5] After completing an eighteen-month album release tour that took the band through the entire USA and Canada, they moved to Asheville to work on Champion, released in fall 2017.[6] Champion was recorded at Echo Mountain Recording Studio and features musicians from Rising Appalachia, The Honeycutters, Holy Ghost Tent Revival and Cicada Rhythm.[7]
Musical style and influence
Both classically trained musicians,[4] Collins and Jordan are known for their tight, sweet, smooth vocal harmonies and simple, exposed, crafted instrumentation on cello, tenor ukulele and guitar.[8]
They could draw easy and favorable comparisons to The Indigo Girls. Like their forebears, Tina & Her Pony's harmonies are deep in the pocket. The songs themselves carry a gentle wisdom that invigorates the listener.[1] The music draws inspiration from both Appalachia and the high desert, in addition to "bluegrass and old-time melodies that have been sung by generations of women before".[9]
Tina and Her Pony is contributing a unique sound to the American folk tradition. With warm smiles and honest simplicity, they offer original songs that echo familiar melodies, infused with radical, queer lyrics and uncommon instrumentation.[5]
Discography
- Walkin' in My Sleep (2012)[10]
- "The Ghost Tree" (2:40)
- "Sweet Love" (2:35)
- "Burning Mother Mary" (3:12)
- "Walkin' in My Sleep" (2:09)
- "Back Home" (3:44)
- "Rough and Rocky" (4:50)
- Tina and Her Pony (2012)[10]
- "Sweet Love" (2:43)
- "Far Away" (2:37)
- "Little Bird" (3:10)
- "Rain and Snow" (5:00)
- "Ana Bai" (3:42)
- "Never Had You" (2:42)
- "I'm So Lonesome" (4:22)
- "Winter in the West" (1:56)
- "Burning Mother Mary" (3:11)
- "Crash and Burn" (0:17)
- "Medicine" (3:08)
- "Snow Covered Mountains" (3:10)
- Champion (2017)[11]
- "Back in Your Life" (4:21)
- "I'm the Same" (5:53)
- "I Can Love You Better" (1:47)
- "Folly" (3:19)
- "Good Man" (2:15)
- "Come Here" (5:06)
- "Long Iron Chain" (3:10)
- "Champion" (5:07)
- "The BBQ" (4:01)
- "Bat" (2:57)
- "Lion Teeth" (5:48)
- "The Wind" (2:41)
References
- "Tina & Her Pony Honor Loved Ones in Champion". No Depression. December 14, 2017. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
- "PREMIERE: TINA & HER PONY – GOOD MAN". Folk Radio UK. October 26, 2017. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
- McGhee, A (November 1, 2017). "TINA & HER PONY'S CHAMPION CELEBRATES LOVE, LIFE, AND EVERYTHING ELSE". Asheville Grit. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
- "Tina and Her Pony: 5.19.18". Folk All Y'all. May 12, 2018. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
- "TINA AND HER PONY: A BENEFIT FOR QORDS". The Grey Eagle Music Hall. July 1, 2017. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
- Kramer, Ariana (November 20, 2016). "Tina and Her Pony ride back into town". The Taos News. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
- "Tina & Her Pony release a dreamy, forward-facing album". Mountain Xpress. October 30, 2017. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
- "TINA & HER PONY". Blue Moon Saloon & Guesthouse. November 1, 2017. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
- "Mountain Xpress and Sherwood's Music Present: Tina and Her Pony". Mountain Xpress. February 20, 2014. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
- "Tina and Her Pony". March 9, 2012. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
- "Tina and Her Pony". November 16, 2017. Retrieved March 18, 2018.