We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Tensas a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Tensas thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

The most meaningful project to me is my band that helps me record and perform my original music. We just release new song called Carnival that has my bandmate Desha Martin performing the trumpet and more on the track!

Tensas, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Tensas, and I am a songwriter who writes and plays grungy Roots-Rock music with my band. We’re based out of Colorado, and currently it’s just my bandmate Desha and I performing and recording together. We mostly play and record original music that I write, and we do it as an energetic 2 piece act on the electric guitar, drums, trumpet, and vocals! We’ve been striving to beef up our live sound and performance by playing multiple instruments to try and keep things fun and entertaining while on stage! Also, I intend to feature more artists on our recordings and to have people guest perform live with us on stage to also help evolve our sound as a band.

We recently released a new song, called Carnival, that I wrote earlier this year and it features Desha in an epic performance on the trumpet. The single was released on July 21st, 2023 under Tall Tale Records, and we’re especially excited because this is mine and Desha’s 1st recording together! We also performed this new song in a special TV debut on release day during a guest appearance on FOX 21’s “Friday Feelz” morning show segment, here in Colorado. Oh and we are honored to be the 1st band featured in a live studio session and exclusive interview on their new series called The Encore,

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Having the ability to create and play extraordinary music with talented and genuine people is probably the most rewarding part of being a songwriter and having my own band! Both collaborating with, and letting other musicians interpret my melodies and words to help bring a song to life in a recording or on stage with other instruments like trumpet, drums etc.. is what helps keep me motivated and always striving for more with my music career. Our new song Carnival is a great example. As the words and melody I wrote earlier this year, and then my bandmate Desha helped create an epic recording with her studio performances on the trumpet, drums and bass guitar. Bringing that song to life with her in the studio was an absolute blast, and it gave us both the motivation to go ahead and start recording more together right away. Now we plan to release another song or two before the end of summer, and you can plan to hear Desha sing on atleast one of those songs!

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

My goal is to keep writing, playing and helping other people in music as long as I can in both this life and the next! When I was about 17 or so, I drove a few hours north up to Memphis, TN with some friends to hangout down on Beale Street. We were eating at B.B. Kings BBQ joint for lunch, and during the middle of the day a special performer was introduced and came on stage. I don’t remember his name but if I recall correctly, he was introduced as “the oldest blues player in the world” at 101 years old. He started picking and singing his ass off, and even though I couldn’t hardly make out any of the words he was saying… there I was feeling every bit of his music deep down in my soul and chills running down my spine! I knew and decided right then and there that I wanted to be like him and play music, and not stop playing until the day I die.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.TensasMusic.com
• Instagram: www.Instagram.com/TensasMusic
• Facebook: www.Facebook.com/TensasOfficial
• Youtube: www.Youtube.com/@TensasMusic

Image Credits
Megan C. Willhite