Country western artist Jenny Tolman performs at the Stockyards grand opening
As originally published in The Denver Gazette here.
Country western artist Jenny Tolman kicked off the National Western Stock Show early with a concert Friday night at the grand opening of the Ron and Cille Williams Yards and the HW Hutchison Family Stockyards Event Center.
This is her first trip to Denver and the NWSS.
“It’s amazing. It’s huge. It’s so, so awesome,” said Tolman in an interview with the Denver Gazette Friday. “And I’m really excited to be here at the grand opening of the new stockyards. It’s just such an honor.”
Tolman was looking forward to the formal opening of the stock show on Saturday.
“Hopefully, I think we’re going to do a few different fun events tomorrow,” said Tolman. “I’m actually singing the National Anthem to open the rodeo tomorrow night. So that’ll be really, really special.”
Tolman, 26, was raised in Nashville, Tennessee. The youngest of two daughters of Stephen and Kathy Tolman, she found her way to country music at 16.
“So, I have always sung, since before I can remember, and played music and wrote stories,” said Tolman. “It was when I turned 16 and I got a guitar for my birthday that I had a light bulb moment that I was like, wait a second, I can put all these things that I love to do together, and it’s called being a country artist.”
Tolman inherited a generational attraction to country music. Her father passed his love of music down to her.
“I grew up in Nashville. My dad was in the music industry,” said Tolman. “He was a country singer back in the day. And so it was very much instilled in everything I do already. It was just kind of a very natural progression.”
Stephen played with the Indian River Boys in the 1980s and sang on Garth Brooks’ second album “No Fences.”
Tolman got the band back together to play with her on her video “Something to Complain About,” featured on her album, “There Goes the Neighborhood,” released in 2019.
She performed the title track as her opening number at the stockyards concert Friday night.
Her second album is due out in March.
Tolman isn’t just a singer and guitar player.
“I write all of my own music. I have lots of co-writers in Nashville that I like to write with, but yeah, everything that we do is original. We might throw in a cover here and there, but generally when we do covers, we like to do some throwback country, because that’s my favorite.”
Tolman’s second single, “Afraid,” written on her own, is about her fiancé, GRAMMY® nominated Nashville producer Dave Brainard, and is set for release February 4.