Tealand Smith

Tealand Smith aka T.Smith is an American Singer / Songwriter from Atlanta, Georgia USA. His dazzling and melodic vocal style is comparable to all of the greats. Tealand has been a singer since the age of 5. He started out singing in his grandfather’s church choir. As he attended high school, he joined the chorus and he never looked back.
Shortly after graduating high school, Tealand signed a record deal to Super Producer Dallas Austin’s Atlanta Based Rowdy / Arista Records. Tealand completed his first studio album that was produced by Grammy Award winning producer Dave Cobb. Tealand wrote and performed several songs with music Producer Dave Cobb and he landed songs on several movie soundtracks along with writing a hit single in Japan Produced by Dallas Austin called “Something About the Kiss”.
After falling prey to the serious changes of record labels staff changes and A&R industry meltdowns, Tealand had to regroup and write more songs to grow a national and global brand. He teamed back up with songwriter and Label Owner Anthony Wainwright of Vibant Music Group along with Super Producer 7even Lindsey to record over 30 songs.
On October 13, 2020, Tealand Smith released his first holiday single “Christmas Day In America” and he will continue to release new music and new videos for the entire 2021 year.
In April of 2021, Tealand Smith plans to release another single titled A-List to spark the ears of his fans. Going forward, Tealand plans to release a new single every 90 days to keep his fans engaged. By promoting his music globally, Tealand is asking for the support of his fans to purchase his merchandise via his website www.tealandsmith.com

Have you always been interested in music? What is your story and how did you start making music?
I have been interested in singing, dancing and performing since I was 5 years old. Hearing the many voices in my grandfathers church choir sparked my ears to hear the beauty of music through the different tones of singing vocals.
I started making music shortly after my stinch in my high school chorus. I immediately started singing in a rock band and from there I started my solo career.

What are you working on now? Any future releases we can look forward to?
Well, in this disaster of a pandemic, I have been in the studio with super producer Sevon Lindsey and Vibant Music Group Indie Label Owner / Songwriter Anthony Wainwright. We have written over 40 songs during this time, I love all of the work that we have put together and we are going to release a lot of new originail music in the very near future.
Right now, I really wish that I could tour, but the pandemic has most of the venues shut down. I will start some virtual tours once I get all of my new recordings completed. Right now, I just want to record as much music as possible while I have some free time.

What Is Your Ultimate Goal In The Music Industry?
My ultimate goal is to compete with all of the major artists such as The Weekend, Sam Smith, John Legend, Jason Derulo, Ed Sheeran and a few others and hopefully one day soon land a tour with some of these great guys. I admire them all and their contributions to this thing called music! I want my music to make a positive impact on music lovers of the world.

What Has Been The Biggest Challenge In Your Career Thus Far?
The biggest challenges in my music career has been the super changes as to how artists are discovered now a days. There is a lot of great talent out there, but there are also 44,000 songs released daily. With that being said, the influx of music can often bury others and can slow the process of how fans can discover music. I believe that we now have to be very strategic in the musical content that we put out and how we put it out as this process is tedious as an indie artist.
I am confident that my Vibant Music Group / Tealand Smith Team is now in position to properly present me to the world. Music is a grind which is a challenge within itself, so I have learned to trust the process and I have gained the confidence that my team will make sure that I am where I need to be in order to get me to where I am going. I am in this for the long haul and I want my fans to know that the grind is real and that I do not take the grind for grantite. I appreciate every fan who likes my music and I want to let them know that the grind is challenging and yet humbling. I am here to be of service to them because the grind makes it mandatory to value all who appreciates what I do.

How do you go about writing a song? Do you have a melody in your head and then write the other music for it or what’s your typical songwriting process?
When I am writing a song, there are several ways for me to start a new song. Often times melodies, subject matter and song ideas will just come to me while I am on my daily move. Other times, I will strum the piano or guitar to come up with melodic chords and move that way. The other way, my Guys Sevon Lindsay will create a track and Me and Anthony Wainwright will ride around the streets of Atlanta and have a writing session in the car. This Pandemic has put us in a space where as we can’t move how we want to move, therefore; we will often try to create a vibe in a parked car and bounce song ideas off of each other. I am thankful for the pandemic in regards to it putting limitations as to when and where we can go to be creative. This has truly been a learning experience as to how to create a vibe while creating new music. We might just see something that makes us think about how we can paint a picture of heart felt great musical content that fans would love.

How do you feel the Internet has impacted the music business?
Ahh, as mentioned earlier, this has been a challenge and great at the same time, As we all know, cream rises to the top. I am very appreciative of the internet as it affords independent artists like me the opportunity to establish my own fans without the red tape and beauracracy and politcs of others making decsions about how and what I release. I have been on a major label previously and I got caught up into the inner office fighting of guys within the label jocking for position as to how and when I release music. Although I am very appreciative of having previously being signed to a major label before, the internet gives artists one up. It allows artists to create a ground swelling organic fan base and the fans are attracted to what I release.
The internet has been very productive for me. Although it is a slightly slower process in growing my fans, it has been proven to me that all of my new fans ride with me and my music. I get daily dm’s through social media inquiring about when I am going to release new music. The internet has also afforded me the opportunity to grow my fanbase in countriest that I could never have imagined that I could reach. Africa, India, Asia, Europe, London, Brazil, China, Australia, Russia, Canada, The Ukraine and many many others have reached out to me and that has been humbling and amazing that I have received the warmth of spring from them. Thanks to my fans all over the world by way of the internet, I am able to live in my musical aspirations.

List some famous musicians currently on your playlist
Here you go, I am a lover of all types of musical genres. If it is creative, melodic, well written and well performed, I am buying and streaming it. Here are some of the guys that I currently have on my playlists.
Mariah Carey
Michael Jackson
Adele
Taylor Swift
Ariana Grande
Katie Perry
Darrius Rucker
Chris Stapleton
The Jackson 5
Prince
Lil Baby
Da Baby
Future
Sam Smith
John Legend
Elton John
Babyface
Boy George
The Weekend
The Dream
Cardi B
Nick Minaj
Megan the Stallion
Phil Collins
Sting
Justin Bieber
Jason Derulo
Ed Sheeran
Sam Smith
Drake

What Did You Do Before You Started Making Music?
Well to be quite frank and honest, I have never done anything other than music as I breathe, sleep and eat music as king in a musical paradise. I tried a few little jobs here and there, but I found out quickly that I want to make work into something that I love doing. I figured, why pour into somoene else’s dream of owning a business when I can work very hard to create my own dream of owning my own business. Music is my business and I would not have it any other way. I will eternally make music and grow my brand as God gave me the ability to make music and he will surely create a lane for me remain successful within his will.

Would you have any advice for young people wanting to follow in your footsteps?
Yes, but who am I except a person who believes in God and the abiliteis that God has granted me. I would let others know that they should believe in themselves even when other’s don’t believe in them. Find your niche’ and know that if you truly believe in your talents and that you consistently pursue your dreams, that others will eventually start to believe in you and that energy becomes reciprocal. The world will grant you the energy to keep moving as long as you continue to put that same energy out to them. We are all connected through musical creations and music heals all whom have been damaged. Music soothes the soul and from that perspective, if you believe in yourself to the point that you are able to make connections with others, then your beliefs have made it’s way to helping someone. We are all connected to music and aspirations of others.

If you could change anything about the music industry, what would it be?
Unfortunately, it is not up to me to change anything, but if I could, I would definitely ask that we create lanes for all creative people and allow the world decide as to what they like. I know that this is a very complex idea, but when you turn on the radio and certain internet stations along with different playlists, they only allow what flows for them. The variety of music that came out in the 1990’s allowed and tolerated a very mixed style of music. The Atlanta scene was on fire because of the diversity in styles of music that was released back then. At this point we live in a trap music, pop music and country music world, but R&B, hip-hop and rap should still be heard by the masses.
Although the internet wave has changed the way music has been presented to others, I still see and here a lack of diversity in genre’s to all through certain bigger platforms.

How do you feel about originality?
I feel that Originality has been lacking lately because of what artists have go through in order to be heard by industry heads, playlists curators, radio stations formatting, etc.
Lately, we have quite of bit of content that sounds a like and historically it has been that way, so when someone who is able to be original and mix what is working for the now crowd, they come up with an acceptable formula as to how music is presented to the world. We need more orginality as music is an expressive art that not many are able to master. So if we as artists have strong song ideas and strong content, it is up to us to keep it in is most original form, but at the same time make it so that others can vibe to it.

Is there anything else we should know about you? or Something that you would like to add?
Just know that I am ball of positive energy and that one of my goals is to push positive energy into the world. My body of work will always exude positivity. I believe in being an upstanding and loving person who will always be respectful and kind to others. A simple gesture of kindness can bring a smile to someones face as we never know what others are going through.
There is a lot of natural pain in this world and the world does not need anyone else jumping on the bandwagon of adding more pain. I believe that I am here to help others find their way through my creations of music and at some point in their lives they will figure out their next life mission. I am simply a music lover from Atlanta, Georgia and Atlanta has historically helped the world through the civil rights movement for equality and I stand by my city in that regards. At the end of the day, we have to face adversity with a heavy hammer and we are responsible for filling the gaps of pain.
Tealand Smith
Atlanta, Georgia Baby~!!!!