Interview: Tina Collins (Tina & Her Pony)

In Asheville, music fans are fortunate to be the incubator for so many remarkable artists. We get to watch them grow and bloom, see their posters go from bulletin boards to being plastered in windows, and watch as the venues they play get increasingly more packed and their shows turn to sing-alongs. 

Such is the case with Tina Collins, frontwoman of Tina and Her Pony. Her most recent release, Marigolds, is an incredible showcase of her sweet, earnest vocals accompanied by genre-bending instrumentation and experimentation that feels right at home at a variety of venues. 

In other words, Collins’ music is purely Ashevillian:. It’s unapologetic, deeply confessional, and reflective of the colorful city around us. Prior to the full-band Tina and Her Pony show, Sunday, June 25, at Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., Asheville Stages had the pleasure of speaking with Collins and discussing her sound in further detail. 

Violet Dwoinen: How do you feel your sound has evolved from your beginnings in 2010 to Marigolds earlier this year?

Tina Collins: When the band started, the sound leaned more toward a bluegrass and old-time sound. Through the years, it morphed into a really smooth, layered indie folk sound.  With Marigolds, I leaned into exploring bringing more elements of soul, country, and pop into the sound. Though the particular sounds have changed over time, the themes have stayed the same — nature, love, loss, and heartbreak.

VD: On Marigolds, you incorporate jazz organ, electric bass, and synth alongside your traditional acoustic instruments. What was the inspiration for this development? Should we be expecting more experimentation like this in the future? 

TC: Well, for 10 years, Tina and Her Pony was a duo with cellist Quetzal Jordan. She produced the first two albums we put out and had a very specific/narrow idea of what our sound should be. I personally like to be more explorative musically, and hope that my fans will allow me that freedom as an artist. I’ve always had somewhat of a pop diva trapped inside of me, so it feels good to finally have a chance to let it out.

I sort of felt like I’d reached a plateau with achieving the acoustic sound I wanted, so it was really fun and novel to explore more electric instruments. I’m not sure what the future holds, sonically, but I do hope to maintain a fresh sound, which means following my muse wherever it takes me and refusing to be boxed in by the expectations of a specific genre.

VD: How do your live performances differ from the recorded versions of your songs? Have you had to make any notable changes at shows to accommodate the more ambitious instrumentation on your latest record? 

TC: Well, for one, I perform solo a lot, which sounds drastically different from the recorded versions. When I play with a band, obviously it has a bigger sound that’s more like the albums, but the band is stripped down — acoustic guitar, tenor banjo, three-part vocal harmony, electric bass, electric guitar, and drum kit. The things I miss most when we play live are dobro, pedal steel, and cello. But I love my band, and I love our sound, and I think we have a really fun energy that’s a little bit different at each show.

VD: How did the recording process for Marigolds differ compared to previous projects? 

TC: The first three albums I made were all done in professional studios. Marigolds was done at Ryan Furstenberg’s home studio in West Asheville. He was one of two people I was spending time with indoors during [the COVID-19 pandemic]. Luckily, he also happens to be a really close friend, a talented recording engineer, and a great producer.

He and I co-produced the album and had a blast doing it. Marigolds is the first album I tried my hand at producing, and I found the process to be really fun and empowering. Also, in the past I’ve always overdubbed every single instrument. This time around, I took a few chances as far as recording some things simultaneously in the same room. For instance, all the songs that have both violin and cello on them were recorded at the same time. And for the song “Fly Around,” we recorded the banjo, bass, and drums all at once. It resulted in a really fun, in-the-moment sound.

VD: How did you wind up joining the Alex Krug Combo? How has working with Alex shaped your own creative output?

TC: I’d heard Alex’s name for many years before we ever met. I was always intrigued because I knew they were a queer musician. We finally ended up meeting at a benefit show we played together at the Masonic Temple. We got to talking and realized that we lived pretty close to each other, so from there we started to develop a friendship. We went on lots of hikes, nerded out on plants and birds, and of course music.

Eventually, they asked me to sing in the band and I was super excited because I’m a big fan of Alex’s music, and singing harmony is one of my absolute favorite things to do in the world.  I wouldn’t say that working with Alex has changed my own creative output at all, but I do have a lot of fun singing in the band.

VD: What have been some challenges with being a queer artist in the South? Have you seen the industry grow to be more accepting or polarizing? 

TC: I think the biggest challenge has been reaching a larger audience. Over the years, I’ve talked with many industry professionals about working together — management companies, booking agents, publicists, etc. But no one has ever jumped on board. I think even though there’s a beautiful, thriving queer community in the South, ultimately we’re still only a small fraction of the population. And so, in the end, industry professionals didn’t find what I was doing to be marketable.  

I do think things are moving in the right direction, though, and maybe now that I’m fronting the band myself as a femme presenting cis-woman — as opposed to fronting the band in a couple with my very ambiguously gendered-looking ex-wife — maybe people will be more likely to give me a chance because I’ll be less likely to be pigeonholed as a queer musician.  All of this I find to be sad but true, and I recognize my privilege here. I proudly wear the label of “queer musician,” and I will never hide my identity. But newsflash: queer is not a genre.   

VD: In many descriptions of your music, the word “Appalachian” comes up. How do you identify with the label? How do you feel Appalachia has shaped you as a musician? 

TC: Well, I’m not even convinced that I have much of an Appalachian sound anymore. [laughs] I’m curious what my listeners think about this. At any rate, when I first started making music professionally, I was obsessed with bluegrass, and I was fresh on the heels of finishing a solo thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail. I fell in love with the mountains and I moved to Asheville, cutting my teeth on the traditional music that Western North Carolina is so steeped in. While my sound has evolved away from that, I will always have a special place in my heart for the sounds of Appalachia.

VD: Have you played at Sierra Nevada before? Does anything stand out to you about it as a venue? 

TC: The band played one show at Sierra Nevada, but it was in the winter and indoors. I’m really looking forward to the show on June 25, because we’ll get to play outside in the amphitheater. I like that there’s plenty of room for kids to run and play, and space for people to enjoy the summer sun. What stands out to me is how kind the staff is there. They really bring hospitality to a whole new level.

IF YOU GO

Who: Tina and Her Pony
When: Sunday, June 25, 2 p.m.
Where: Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., 100 Sierra Nevada Way, Mills River, sierranevada.com
Tickets: Free to attend

(Photo by Paul Stebner)