Gene Watson Peer's Quote from Teea Goans: June 2011
Gene Watson's peers within the country music industry believe in the sheer talent of this unassuming man from east Texas, so much so that Gene is regarded by many of them as 'the singer's singer' - and rightly so!
All of Gene Watson's Peers who were contacted during 2011 were most gracious with their time and words. It is here, within this special part of the Gene Watson Fan Site, that you have an opportunity to read a quote from Teea Goans, which she submitted to this site on Saturday 25 June 2011.
Sean Brady would like to take this opportunity to say 'thank you' to Teea Goans who made a special contribution to this unique part of this online 'celebration of a Lone Star Hero'.
Teea Goans
This quote was submitted on Saturday 25 June 2011.
'Gene Watson is my definition of a genuine country singer.
His voice is one of a kind and cannot be duplicated.
He is real, authentic and legendary in our industry and a hero to everyone who aspires to sing real country music'.
Thank you, Teea Goans, for your support of Gene Watson.
About Teea Goans...
Teea Goans grew up in rural Lowry City, Missouri, not far from the Kansas border.
Teea Goans' family listened to an AM radio station that played classic country music. When she started school in the 1980s, Teea wasn't aware of Michael Jackson or Madonna.
Although she was singing in church by the time she was three years old, it wasn’t until Teea turned eight that she got her big break. That's when the producers of the nearby Truman Lake Opry spotted her wowing a crowd in a talent contest.
With her mother’s cautious approval, Teea became a fully-fledged member of the Truman Lake Opry a year later. She continued to perform there every week until she was seventeen years old, frequently opening for such Grand Ole Opry acts as Bill Anderson, Little Jimmy Dickens and Grandpa Jones (Monday 20 October 1913 - Thursday 19 February 1998).
Teea Goans’ primary musical influence during those early years was her maternal grandmother - the late Della Lee Faulkner. A locally popular singer in the 1960s, Faulkner might have pursued a career in Nashville had she not had seven children to care for.
After high school, Teea earned her associate’s degree at Longview Community College in Kansas City. She remained there after graduation, supporting herself by selling phones for Verizon.
Then, in September 2002, Teea Goans decided that it was time for her to go to Nashville. Aided and encouraged by her mom, dad and grandmother, Teea packed a U-Haul and set out for Music City. On Thursday 31 October 2002, she moved into her apartment.
A week after Teea Goans arrived in Nashville just happened to be 'CMA Week', during which the Country Music Association presents its annual awards. At the time, Teea continued her job with Verizon.
In 2003, Teea Goans married her high school sweetheart. In 2005, he persuaded her it was time to stop selling phones and start following her musical star. Teea began writing songs as soon as she left her job and she sang demos for other writers. As a consequence, doors began to open for Teea in Nashville.
Teea Goans had been obsessed with the Grand Ole Opry on Nashville's Country Legend WSM 650AM since she was a child; she used to listen to it every Saturday night.
In 2006, Teea Goans was at the Wilson County Fair and noticed that WSM was broadcasting from there. She got to talking to one of the girls manning the merchandise table and offered her services on a volunteer basis, answering telephones, selling T-shirts, or whatever.
A month later, Teea received an email from WSM, asking if she'd be interested in helping out with some radio promotion work.
The first thing Teea Goans worked on was a Ray Price show at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville in 2006; she sold t-shirts for Ray Price out in the lobby of the Ryman Auditorium.
In 2007, Teea Goans received a call from WSM, asking if she would work with Keith Bilbrey, who was doing the Opry warm-up show and who needed somebody to book the show and run talent - that is, go to the Opry with Keith every Saturday night and work backstage bringing him the artists he wanted to interview. Teea jumped at the opportunity!
Suddenly, Teea Goans was backstage at the Grand Ole Opry every weekend with people she just adored. She never, ever mentioned to them that she was a singer. Teea never wanted to use her connection at the Opry as a way to get her music out there. So no-one knew she sang; they just knew Teea Goans as the girl that worked at the Grand Ole Opry and Nashville's Country Legend WSM 650AM.
Once Teea Goans was inside WSM, the breaks kept coming. About a year and a half into Teea's job with Keith, she was brought in and told that executives at WSM had an idea for a show, which would run between the first and second show on the Saturday night Opry and they felt that Teea could host it.
Teea Goans became the host of WSM's 'Inside the Opry Circle' in 2008 and gives listeners an 'All Access' pass to the Grand Ole Opry with backstage interviews, Opry news and the traditional country music WSM was built on.
Even as her Grand Ole Opry responsibilities expanded, Teea Goans continued to write and demo songs. Steel guitarist John Hughey (Wednesday 27 December 1933 - Sunday 18 November 2007) played on one of her demos.
A disc jockey at WSM alerted Teea to the fact that John Hughey was in a band called The Time Jumpers who played every Monday night at the Station Inn, Nashville’s foremost bluegrass club. Teea went to the Station Inn and fell in love with The Time Jumpers. Besides John Hughey, she knew some of the other Time Jumpers from her work at the Grand Ole Opry.
One night, they got Teea up to sing a couple of songs and that’s how she met Terry Choate; he'd been working with The Time Jumpers for years.
Thus began the journey that culminated in the release of an extraordinary album, 'The Way I Remember It' (Crosswind Records, 2010), an album with a distinct point of view. Teea Goans feels that she owes it to country music to respect its traditions and get it out there for people to hear in its purest form.
After Teea Goans recorded the first four songs, Terry Choate took them around to people and the enthusiasm spread like wildfire. People like Little Jimmy Dickens and Bill Anderson were cheering her on.
Teea Goans' saw the release of her debut album, 'The Way I Remember It' (Crosswind Records, 2010), on Thursday 1 April 2010; the producer of the set was Terry Choate, while the associate producer was Joe Spivey.
Terry Choate was the Director of A&R for Capitol Records during the phenomenal rise of Garth Brooks and was also the producer of Larry Gatlin and The Gatlin Brothers' album 'Pilgrimage' (Curb Records, 2009), as well as the Grammy-nominated and Emmy award winning 'Jumpin' Time' CD/DVD by the eleven-member Western Swing ensemble, The Time Jumpers.
Joe Spivey, a multi-instrumentalist and long-time leader of John Anderson's band, is a stalwart in The Time Jumpers crew of Nashville super-pickers.
Teea Goans, Terry Choate and Joe Spivey spent more than a year selecting the eleven songs on the album. They turned to master country music composers, most of whom are members of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.
All the musicians and singers backing Teea Goans are standout musicianss too. In addition to Joe Spivey, who provides acoustic guitar, fiddle and mandolin, there are three other Time Jumpers in this magical mix: steel guitarist Paul Franklin and fiddlers Aubrey Haynie and Kenny Sears.
Then there’s the legendary electric guitarist, Leon Rhodes, an alumnus of Ernest Tubb’s fabled Texas Troubadours, plus drummer John Gardner, pianist Dirk Johnson, pedal steel guitarist Mike Johnson, bassists Larry Paxton and Matt McKenzie, electric guitarist James Mitchell, harmony vocalists John Wesley Ryles and Cindy Richardson Walker and string arranger Kristin Wilkinson.
Teea Goans' 'The Way I Remember It' (Crosswind Records, 2010) was easily one of the finest traditional country music releases of 2010 and includes the following classic country tracks:
Willie Nelson's 'I'm Still Not Over You'
Ernest Tubb's 'Walking The Floor Over You'
Hank Cochran (Friday 2 August 1935 - Thursday 15 July 2010), Red Lane and Dale Dodson's 'He'll Be Back'
Rick Holt and Red Lane's 'Same Old Song And Dance'
Joe Allen's 'Lying In My Arms'
Bill Anderson's 'Walk Out Backwards'
Jim McBride, Don Poythress and Jerry Salley's 'I Don't Do Bridges Anymore'
Curly Putman and Sonny Throckmorton's 'Made For Loving You'
Jim Owen's 'Two Arms, Two Lips, Too Lonely, Too Long'
Merle Haggard and Red Lane's 'I Didn't Mean To Love You'
Angela Kaset and Rob Crosby's 'Letter From God'
Ernest Tubb (Monday 9 February 1914 - Thursday 6 September 1984) recorded 'Walkin' The Floor Over You' and included the track on 'Ernest Tubb Favourites' (Decca Records, 1951).
Bill Anderson recorded 'Walk Out Backwards' and included the track on 'Country Heart Songs' (Decca Records, 1962); the track reached No.9 on the Billboard country music singles chart in 1962.
Willie Nelson recorded 'I'm Still Not Over You' and included the track on 'Good Ol' Country Singing' (RCA Camden Records, 1968).
Mel Tillis recorded 'Two Arms, Two Lips, Too Lonely, Too Long' and included the track on 'Mel Tillis' Greatest Hits, Volume 2' (Kapp Records, 1971).
Merle Haggard recorded 'I Didn't Mean To Love You' and included the track on 'Serving 190 Proof' (MCA Records, 1979).
Dan Seals (Sunday 8 February 1948 - Wednesday 25 March 2009) recorded 'Made For Lovin' You' and included the track on 'Love On Arrival' (Capitol Records, 1989).
Clinton Gregory recorded 'Made For Lovin' You' and included the track on 'Music 'n' Me' (Step One Records, 1990).
Doug Stone recorded 'Made For Lovin' You' and included the track on 'From The Heart' (Epic Records, 1992).
Justin Trevino recorded 'Two Arms, Two Lips, Too Lonely, Too Long' and included the track on 'More Loud Music And Strong Wine' (Heart of Texas Records, 2005).
Dan Tyminski, of Alison Krauss' Union Station, served as Teea's vocal partner on the track 'Made For Lovin' You'
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