The best Country songs are ones that exist at the intersection of where emotions meet experience. For rising Cali-bred Country star Tanner Adell, she has plenty of both. Last year, Tanner cemented her stardom presence within the industry with the release of her debut mixtape “Buckle Bunny”, garnering praise from the likes of The New York Times, NPR, Billboard, MusicRow and more. With tracks like “I Hate Texas,” Tanner lays down the candid reasons why she hates Texas after a bitter breakup, and the equally cutting “Throw It Back” and “FU-150,” along with the TikTok darling “Buckle Bunny.” Each track showcases Tanner’s undeniable knack for crafting witty anthems. And that is Tanner Adell’s superpower: her modern take on Country music mixed with unapologetic honesty is what will propel her straight to stardom. In July 2023, Tanner released her debut mixtape, “Buckle Bunny”, another first for Country music, and has seen exponential growth and discovery since its release as she promises to keep reimagining music with unbridled innovation.
Tanner moved to Southern California with her adopted family at birth. Her father was born in the highly rural town of Springfield, Utah, while her mother spent her life bouncing between Santa Barbara, California and Star Valley, Wyoming. “My mom grew up doing rodeo, and she showed horses all over the world. She was really, really good,” Tanner explains. “And so it was just always kind of a thing.” Tanner was homeschooled, yet spent her summers in Wyoming, learning how to drive a four-wheeler at 8 and a car at 10, living what she calls a “free-spirited” childhood in the country, all while clad in hand-me-down cowboy boots – a testament to her unconventional upbringing straddling two different worlds.
Music became a part of her life very early, as she was belting out songs from Phantom of the Opera at 6 a.m., even as a little girl. At 4 years old, she learned how to play the piano and later the guitar - she has written songs for as long as she can remember. Genre never really entered her mind, as artists like Josh Turner were just as big of a deal to her as Beyoncé. Her accelerated homeschooling led Tanner to graduate high school early, and she enrolled in Utah Valley University in their Commercial Music Program.
In 2021, after the pandemic hit, Tanner moved to Nashville to pursue music. While a few opportunities fell through, her label meetings taught her some valuable lessons as a biracial female Country artist fighting the Nashville stigma. Staying true to herself, Tanner continues on her meteoric ascent to stardom as an independent artist. After unleashing her debut mixtape, “Buckle Bunny”, in 2023, Tanner continues her massive 2024 full of new music and touring, gracing the stage at some of the biggest domestic and international festivals including C2C, Stagecoach, Faster Horses, Golden Sky and Hangout Festival.
You’d be hard pressed to find another star whose life mirrors Tanner Adell’s, and that’s why her music is so beautifully raw. Here is an artist who has experienced more in just a few decades of life than most will in a lifetime and has set those experiences to music. At the heart of it all, she stands firm in her individuality: “No one is ever going to question if I am being myself or not.”