Tanya Turner was brought up in a musical household in Middlesbrough. Her dad could sing although he didn’t do so professionally. Her mum was a professional acrobatic dancer and performed with artists like Cliff Richard and Marty Wilde. Tanya told me, “we very rarely had the telly on; it was always the record player.” She said, “As a child my mam listened to a lot of Marty Wilde, Cliff Richard and Neil Diamond but apart from them the main music in our house was traditional Country.” “I grew up with the classics of country; mam had them on all the time; artists like Jim Reeves, Patsy Cline, Merle Haggard, Billie Jo Spears and Don Williams.”
At the time, the teacher didn’t say anything but when Tanya was sitting cross legged in the assembly hall the following morning the headmistress announced to the school, ‘I’ve got a little treat for you today; we’ve got a young lady who is going to come up and sing’. The music teacher was at the piano and as she started playing Amazing Grace, Tanya stood up and sang to the school.
When she got home and told her parents, her mam asked that she sing for her. Having heard her sing she immediately got in touch with a local talent agency, Joe and Norman Vipond. Norman agreed to take on the nine year old and started booking her into numerous charity events and venues, including care homes. At these events she always sang Country songs.
When she got home and told her parents, her mam asked that she sing for her. Having heard her sing she immediately got in touch with a local talent agency, Joe and Norman Vipond. Norman agreed to take on the 9 year old and started booking her into numerous charity events and venues like care homes. At these events she always sang Country songs.
After her performance at school, Tanya was immediately given a prominent position in the school choir and would sing lead vocal in the school’s Christmas shows. It wasn’t long before she was booked into local clubs .Her first club was the Ranch House in Middlesbrough where she sang with the resident band. She also sang at the Eston & Normanby Social Club in Middlesbrough where they used to have a Country night. Tanya stuck to traditional Country music from artists like Patsy Cline, Skeeter Davis and Billie Jo Spears. All her bookings at this time were around Teesside and she wasn’t allowed to sing after 9pm because of her age. Tanya really enjoyed singing but when she went into the seniors at school it started interfering with school work and this forced her to give up singing completely.
Tanya finished her schooling and went on to bring up her family. The only singing she did for the next 15 years was the occasional karaoke evening.
Tanya’s return to singing happened purely by chance. One evening around 2007 she was driving to Middlesbrough for an evening out when a song came on the radio that she really liked and she started singing along to it. Her partner Alan looked at her in amazement and she quipped, ‘Didn’t you know I can sing?’ He didn’t! When they got to Middlesbrough there was a karaoke session and Alan persuaded her to get up and sing. What she didn’t realise at the time was that it was a singing competition and at the end of the night Tanya was announced as the winner of that evening’s heat. There were other heats and to Tanya’s surprise she got to the final. She didn’t win but Rach, who came third, was a professional singer on the north east cabaret circuit. She and Tanya got talking and Rach offered to help launch her into cabaret and made a list of all the equipment she would need and offered to help her get backing tracks once she was ready. Rach put her in touch with her own agency and it wasn’t long before Tanya started a new career as a cabaret singer. Although she wasn’t singing Country she always included some Country songs in her set and people would regularly tell her she had a beautiful Country voice.
In 2012 she decided to move away from cabaret onto the Country circuit. By this time she had learned to play rhythm guitar; although primarily a singer, some clubs insist on having a singer with an instrument. It wasn’t long before she developed a wide repertoire of old and new songs to suit both Country and line dance clubs. Although working largely as a solo Country singer, in 2015 Tanya teamed up with another local soloist, Brian Gibson forming the duo, Alabama Rose. They continued working together until Brian had a stroke in December 2022.
Having launched her Country career in 2012, Tanya quickly built up a loyal following thanks to her rich Country voice and ability to communicate with her audience. A number of club awards quickly came her way, culminating In a CCN nomination for Female Artist of the Year in 2023. This came as a surprise to Tanya because until then she had only been working in the north of England. She lost out to Nikki Jo Brown, another singer from the North East. During lockdown Tanya continued to sing with live streaming from her kitchen at 7pm every Monday.
Although most of her bookings are now Country, Tanya continues to take some cabaret work although she hopes these will drop away as she continues to build up her career on the Country circuit.
In 2023 and early 2024 Tanya spread her wings, travelling away from the north of England with bookings in Essex and for 2025, one in Hampshire. She is not worried about travelling around the country because she and her roadie\partner Alan have a ‘TentBox’ which makes overnight accommodation free. TentBox is the brand name of a roof rack mounted tent contained in a box that collapses for travel.
Tanya has released four cd albums: You’re Looking At Country, The Country Rose, Country Songs and Highway To Country, which are available through her website.
Research by Nick Catford.