When Tanya Tucker was just thirteen, she had something most teenagers couldn’t even imagine: a recording contract with Columbia Records and the studio guidance of Country’s leading producer: Billy Sherrill. In 2019, over 45 years later, Tanya returned to the studio with the help of singer Brandi Carlile to record While I’m Livin’, an album filled with songs that speak to her personal history. Tanya Tucker’s road to Nashville started in Wilcox, Arizona, where she lived with her parents. Her dad worked as a welder, following jobs across the Desert West but he always dreamed Tanya would become a country singer, encouraged her talent, and sought opportunities to share his young daughter’s tremendous voice. I asked Tanya about those early days singing on stage.