Tigirlily Gold bring a 'Blonde' state of mind with debut album

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“We are full of sass.  We want to make you feel confident.  We want to make you feel heard. We’re bringing girl group energy to country music and we are full of sister harmonies. We do not want to filter the human experience.”  - Tigirlily Gold’s ‘mission statement’ expressed at their album launch party for Blonde

When you hear that an act is releasing their debut album, you might picture hopeful newbie artists who are just arriving on the music scene. When that act is Tigirlily Gold, you couldn’t be more wrong.

For the past ten years or so, Tigirlily Gold (say it: Tie-GIRL-Lily) has worked nonstop, playing venues large and small across America, branching out from their native North Dakota where they built a loyal fan base.  Landing in Nashville, they scored a residency at Dierks Bentley’s Whiskey Jam on Lower Broadway where they wowed both tourists and music biz insiders. They were playing three- or four-hour sets several nights a week, adding original songs into the mix along with crowd-pleasing covers.

In 2021, legendary Nashville songwriter-producer Shane McAnally signed Tigirlily Gold to Monument Records, the label where he is Co-President along with Jason Owen. Both McAnally and Owen recognized the talent and potential of Tigirlily Gold and acknowledged the sheer hard work they were devoting to achieving their career goals.

Two critically-acclaimed EPs followed, along with a debut radio single – “Shoot Tequila” that peaked at 47 on the Billboard Country Airplay charts, followed by “I Tried a Ring On” earlier this year.

In May, Tigirlily Gold was recognized with the New Duo or Group of the Year award at the 59^th Academy of Country Music (ACM) Awards. They are only the second female duo to ever win that award (Remember The Kinleys in ’98?) and marked the occasion with their award-show debut performance of “I Tried a Ring On.” Watch their ACM Awards performance here. 

All of which brings us here…

On July 25, I joined the music media at the launch party at Monument Records’ Nashville offices to celebrate the following day’s national release of Tigirlily Gold’s debut album, titled (appropriately) Blonde.   Listen/play/download Blonde everywhere here.

It was heartwarming to catch up with sisters Kendra and Krista Slaubaugh who comprise the golden-haired duo Tigirlily Gold and whose progress I have followed and supported over the years. In addition to their sibling harmonies, I have always been impressed by their determination and persistence as they keep their eyes on the prize and are willing to put in the sweat equity. 

During the media Q&A at the launch party, Kendra and Krista quickly revealed the objective of their debut album, Blonde: “To tell the whole story!” they said together. “On an EP, you have maybe four or five songs and you get double that on an album, so it’s explaining who Tigirlily Gold is. Every song is a different subject matter, a different sound so it’s exciting to just dive into who we are as sisters, as people individually, and who we are as artists.”

Kendra explained the evolution from the EP (also titled Blonde) to the full-length album. “The EP was really just a good starter pack for who we are,” she said.  “We had ‘Shoot Tequila’ and ‘Move On’ and ‘Blonde’ on the EP.  The rest of the songs really dive into more of our journey.  ‘We have a song called ‘Stupid Prizes’ which I’m so excited about and it’s my favorite song to perform. There’s ‘Only Once’ and that song is inspired by Faith Hill and Aerosmith. The album is really encompassing this whole girl group energy that we’re trying to portray in country music right now.”

Wait, what? Faith Hill and Aerosmith? Please explain.

“We were driving home from a venue called the Dusty Armadillo in Rootstown, Ohio,” said Krista, “Opening for a guy named Cooper Alan. At the time it was just Kendra and I and we were listening to a lot of music on the road to keep us busy to keep us awake.”

“It was just the two of us traveling around the country in our Chevy Impala,” noted Kendra, with Krista adding, “Our parents were terrified for us.”

Kendra continued: “We love a dramatic song.  We sometimes miss the drama of '90's early 2000s country. So dramatic! Especially the women. Their vocals were so strong and you just listen to them and you’re like, ‘I feel powerful’.” 

“So we listened to Faith Hill’s ‘Cry’ and Aerosmith’s ‘I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing’” added Krista. “And we just decided at that point as we were driving home that we need something like this on the record and we wrote ‘Only Once.’  It’s a love song. It’s an intense song about meeting the right person with a love so intense this can only happen once.”

Describing their strengths in the writers’ room, Kendra said, “Krista is so great at phrasing and constantly spitting out words and ideas, and I look to her a lot in the writing room. Then since I’m the lead singer, I’m a little more melodically driven and conceptually driven, so between the two of us we are so aligned on what we want. We fight in other areas of our lives but when it comes to the music, we are pretty much on the same page.”

Blonde was produced by Alex Kline and Pete Good and executively produced by Shane McAnally. “Blonde” was the first song that Kendra and Krista wrote for the album and there is a reason why it became the title of both the EP and the full-length album.  “It really set the tone of this girl group energy, being confident, not being afraid to poke fun at yourself,” said Kendra.  She noted that they wrote between forty and sixty songs before settling on ten tracks that they felt “nobody else but us could do.”

Tigirlily Gold is intent on bringing their brand of sass and girl group energy to country music.  As Kendra and Krista tell us: “Blonde is a state of mind – and anyone can join the blonde party!”  It’s a party you’ll want to join as soon as you listen to their album Blonde. As they sing on the album’s title track: “You can’t buy happiness, but you can buy hair like this/ It’s a Dolly Parton state of mind.” 

Listen to Blonde here where you can also order the vinyl LP and watch numerous Tigirlily Gold videos. Upcoming tour dates and more about Tigirlily Gold here. #TigirlilyGold @tigirlilygold

PHOTO CREDIT: Preshias Harris