On The Row: Tigirlily Gold Embodies The ‘Blonde’ Mentality With New EP

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Tigirlily Gold. Photo: Courtesy of MusicRow.

Tigirlily Gold, made up of sisters Kendra and Krista Slaubaugh, has been cultivating their craft for over a decade. Their latest EP Blonde is due out June 23.

Today (March 24), the duo unveiled the gilded title track and its music video. Ahead of the single’s official debut, they stopped by MusicRow after wrapping up their “Introducing Tigirlily Gold: The Tour Presented by Lee” to share a little bit about themselves and Blonde. Partially inspired by Dolly Parton, the project presents the idea that being blonde doesn’t just mean having a specific hair color, but having a fun, bright outlook on life as well as a kind presence. The EP will transform into a full record later this year.

Growing up, Kendra sang in church and participated in music competitions. Krista began playing guitar and writing songs at the age of 10, and accompanied her sister to various shows. The girls, who are two years apart, then started writing and singing together, and officially formed Tigirlily Gold (formerly known as Tigirlily) when they were 14 and 16. Influenced by Sugarland, Lady A, Taylor Swift, The Wreckers and more, the pair found themselves accumulating a collection of original music and began uploading videos to YouTube and playing county fairs in addition to local gigs around their home state of North Dakota.

Tigirlily Gold eventually began making trips to Music City, recording independently, until they moved full-time to attend Belmont University in 2017. They immersed themselves in the bustle of Broadway, playing at bars such as Nudies and booking a weekly residence at Dierks Bentley’s Whiskey Row, developing a loyal fanbase along the way. When referring to their forthcoming album, the sisters noted, “We didn’t cut anything we didn’t want to play out live, just because we’re so live-focused.”

In 2020, they graduated from Belmont and began posting their tunes to TikTok when the pandemic hit and live shows paused. They amassed a ton of attention and signed with Monument Records, helmed by established industry executives Shane McAnally and Jason Owen, and released their self-titled EP in 2021. Tigirlily Gold remained Broadway regulars for a year after their Monument signing, landing a publishing deal with McAnally’s SmackSongs and Kobalt. To this day, they still plan to keep making appearances downtown.

“That was what we depended on for so long. That was our life, so it’s really hard to give it up,” the two noted.

Their hit single “Shoot Tequila,” was the second-most-added single, tied with Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night,” when it impacted country radio this month.

“[‘Shoot Tequila’] is a song inspired by playing in the honky-tonks for a long time. You play down there for so long that you think ‘What is it about ‘Man! I Feel Like A Woman!’ and ‘Friends In Low Places’ or those kinds of songs that make people light up whether they’re a country music lover or not? How do we capture that?’ That’s how ‘Shoot Tequila’ came to be.”

Written by the girls alongside David Mescon and Kevin Griffin, the salt-rimmed track is featured on the four-track EP.

“As sisters who’ve been playing for so long, what we want to bring to country music is that girl group energy and fun vibe, but there’s also a time to be vulnerable,” shared the girls. Vulnerability will really come into play in the latter half of Blonde with the heartbreakingly captivating “I Tried A Ring On,” which they wrote with Josh Jenkins and Pete Good, who co-produced the record alongside McAnally and Alex Kline.

“The whole idea behind the music is to be empowering and bold, and know it’s okay to poke fun at yourself and that if you’re going through a hard time, you’ll make it through. We say blonde is a state of mind, you don’t actually have to be blonde.”

Blonde EP Track Listing:
1. “Blonde” (Kendra Jo Slaubaugh, Krista Jade Slaubaugh, Alex Kline, Scott Stepakoff)
2. “Hometown Song” (Kendra Jo Slaubaugh, Krista Jade Slaubaugh, Alex Kline, Scott Stepakoff)
3. “Move On” (Kendra Jo Slaubaugh, Krista Jade Slaubaugh, Alex Kline, Scott Stepakoff)
4. “Shoot Tequila” (Kendra Jo Slaubaugh, Krista Jade Slaubaugh, Kevin Griffin, David Mescon)

Liza Anderson
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