Tara Thompson released her long awaited ‘Someone to Take Your Place’ EP today, Friday June 10th. The East Tennessee native has spent most of the year so far out on the road giving fans a taste of what they can expect on the release. Tara was kind enough to take time out of her busy week to answer some questions for NECM about the release and a few other fun topics.
Tara wrote on all of the songs on the EP. She tells us “it was never the plan but I’m glad it turned out that way because I love telling my stories!” One of the songs that she is particularly proud of is ‘Pregnant At The Prom,’ which tells her mother’s story. “My mom has always been my hero! I do love to tell her stories as well. That’s the beauty of songwriting, I’m able to share mine and my families experiences!” However, you can’t take all of the songs completely literally. For example, ‘Vows’ tells of the story of Tara’s sister’s disastrous wedding ceremony. The song was written as a prediction of how she thought it would go down, and not how it actually did. In the end, Tara says “I think she got scared because they went to the courthouse instead.”
While the songs on the release are personal, that hardly means they are slow, sappy songs. Tara says anyone checking out her music “should expect to see a bunch of hillbillies rocking the stage and it’s damn country!” In addition to country, she is also a big fan of “80’s Rock. I love me some Def Leppard and who doesn’t love Aerosmith.”
Tara will be the first to admit she is not a huge fan of love songs, however she included one on the album. You’ll have to give it a listen to see for yourself, but if the title, ‘Jail,’ gives you any hints, it’s not exactly a traditional love song. Tara told us that since writing the song it has become one of her favorites. “‘Jail’ very much reminds me of Johnny Cash! I love the darkness in it and it has me really wanting to do a prison tour. I figure, if Johnny Cash can do it, than so can I!” This was our second time interviewing Tara, and she is now 2-for-2 bringing up wanting to do a jail tour- I think someone needs to make it happen!
In addition to touring the country with the CMT Next Women of Country Tour, Tara also recently made her Opry debut! While the entire experience was obviously quite memorable for her, there was one extra treat that took it to the next level for her “having Vince Gill introduce me! I have been a fan of his since I was a little girl and to have him introduce me was just icing on the cake!”
Tara is not just an incredibly talented singer and songwriter, she has also been gaining popularity as a bit of a relationship expert on social media thanks to her #DatingTipTuesday where each week she gives out her own style of dating advice such as “Date someone who gives you the same feeling of when you see your supper coming at a restaurant” or “If you want a prince, act like a princess… Not a whore.” Tara admits that “it’s ironic because I’m single and probably in no position to give dating advice, so it’s really turned into more of a funny thing.” Reading through them they all seemed to make sense to me. If you want to check them out for yourselves you can find Tara on Instagram (@tarathompsonmusic).
While Tara has a busy schedule making appearances and playing shows as part of this week’s CMA Fest, she does plan on celebrating the EP release. “It’s a jam-packed weekend and I will definitely have to find some time to have me a pickle back shot to celebrate! It’s a shot of whiskey and a shot of pickle juice and it’s damn good!”
The ‘Someone to Take Your Place EP’ comes out today, Friday, June 10th! Be sure to grab a copy when it does, you’ll find it to be well written and have a genuine sound to it, as real as the words and stories themselves. If you are looking for dating tips, or just otherwise want to keep up with Tara you can follow her on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
You can purchase Tara’s new EP, ‘Someone to Take Your Place,’ on iTunes here.