Songs I Grew Up On with Tiera Kennedy

Up-and-coming artist Tiera Kennedy sat down with The Nash News on Instagram Live On July 6 to talk about her song, “Found It In You,” and five songs that she grew up on. “Found It In You” is Tiera’s first song to be released on country radio, and she is thrilled to experience such success. This song helped her find her sound in the most romantic way possible, writing about her husband. Finding her sound has been a journey of finding the perfect blend of R&B and country, which can be seen in the songs she chose as her top 5 that she grew up on.

“Rock the Boat” by Aaliyah

Aaliyah made huge strides in R&B during her career, and she apparently had a great influence on Tiera’s career. This song was well-known to Tiera even in her youth, “Aaliyah was my mom’s favorite singer and she would always play that particular song.” Tiera explains that she feels connected to Aaliyah’s music and takes great inspiration from her, “I just feel like it’s kind of in me.”

“Teardrops On My Guitar” by Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift is easily one of the biggest names in music, to the point where she has crossed over to multiple genres. It is no wonder that Tiera looks up to her. “She was the main person that inspired me to start writing, and as a result, my first few songs were all about boys even though I hadn’t been in a relationship yet,” she says. Tiera followed in Swift’s footsteps and wrote her own music. “She made songwriting cool,” Tiera admits.

“Ring of Fire” Johnny Cash

Johnny Cash is one of the most well-known names in traditional country music, so it’s no surprise to find him on this list. What is surprising is the way that Tiera fell in love with Cash’s music. “When I was living in Birmingham, I ran into this group of bluegrass guys that would sing at the guitar store and the Chicfil-a…that was where I learned what the traditional country music was.” “Ring of Fire” in particular really stuck with Tiera and she still holds it very close to her heart. “I still put that song in my shows to this day," she states.

“Bless the Broken Road” Rascal Flatts

Tiera has a sound that she describes as a blend of country and R&B, which she partially attributes to Rascal Flatts, as she finds that the band has a sound that also takes inspiration from R&B. This particular song helped Tiera find her voice when she was younger and demonstrate her skill to her peers. “I remember when I was in middle school/high school and people found out I could sing, they would always ask me to sing right there and I would always sing ‘Bless the Broken Road,’” she recalls.

“You’re Still the One” Shania Twain

Tiera had the honor of getting to work closely with Shania Twain as a member of her team on the show Real Country as she says, "It’s just a part of my life that I can’t believe happened, I got to be so close to Shania and she was so kind and so sweet.” In typical Twain fashion, she inspired Tiera in more ways than just musical, she gave Tiera and the rest of the team the advice to stay true to who they are. Twain was often told that her music wasn’t real country, but she stuck to it and is now considered one of the biggest names in country music. Tiera took that as a sign that her music could go against the grain where it needed to and she let R&B become a huge influence in her music and her sound.

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