 Paula Teebow lives in Nashua and appears at county fairs and mall openings, but aspirations of making it as a singer and songwriter in Nashville remain strong. |
And then there was Paula Teebow, in the living room of her house listening to Patsy Cline with her father.
So, the next time you’re at Michael Timothy’s in Nashua, or Buckley’s in Merrimack, and you hear the woman on stage singing bluegrass and country songs, you’ll know why. This is how Ross Miller raised his youngest child.
While the other four kids in the family listened to what was popular at the time, Paula Teebow was at the side of her radio disc jockey father — he was known for his “Jukebox Jingles” in the ’50s as Ross the Boss or Ross the Musical Miller on WTIC in Hartford, Conn. — listening to music from another era.
The one singer that really took a hold of her was Patsy Cline, the late country singer who died in a plane crash in 1963, two years before Teebow was even born.
Teebow has always been an entertainer, singing in choirs, dancing with a jazz company, and performing in scholarship pageants through college, but those early influences of country and bluegrass remained strong, evident in the songs she wrote, and eventually started performing on stage.
She now lives in Nashua, having moved to New Hampshire nearly a decade ago. She got married and started a family, but aspirations of making it as a singer and songwriter in Nashville, Tenn., remain strong.
“One day I want to be part of the Grand Ole Opry,” Teebow said. “That’s my dream.”
It’s not easy making the dream come true. After all, you can’t be a star in Nashville and live in Nashua.
Teebow’s husband Dave is part owner of a service station in town. They have two young children of their own and a stepchild from Dave’s previous marriage. Their roots are in the area.
Teebow has already been to Nashville, met songwriters there and even played the Bluebird Cafe, where Kathy Mattea and Garth Brooks started out. “When I was introduced, I heard someone in the audience ask where New Hampshire, Tennessee, is,” Teebow recalls.
She earned notoriety by winning several prestigious honors at the North American Country Music Association International competition in nearby Pigeon Forge, Tenn., including Most Promising Bluegrass Female Entertainer in 2007, and Rising Songwriter of the Year in 2006.
“When I started going down there, some people didn’t take me seriously, then they started hearing me sing,” Teebow said. “They said I sounded like a Yankee when I talked, but I didn’t sing like one.”
These are steps toward the ultimate success Teebow craves, but she understands she needs to spend more time in Nashville, banging on doors and getting her face seen and music heard.
 Paula Teebow lives out her Gand Ole Opry dream as she works and waits for the time she will perform there for real. (Courtesy photos) |
But Teebow isn’t 19; she’s 43 with a family. She has no real manager. Instead, she and her husband handle publicity, promotion and bookings. She is still looking for her first record deal.
She left a job in sales to start her own house-cleaning company, Trust in Us, so she can have more flexibility to practice, play and spend time with her family. Her husband encouraged her to spend a summer in Nashville, finding gigs and getting seen.
In the meantime, she remains in Nashua, appearing at county fairs and mall openings. She will be performing at Building 19 in the East Side Plaza in Manchester for a special event there Oct. 19. She says there is an audience for her music at Michael Timothy’s and Buckley’s, but limits the bars and restaurants she plays because she thinks most people aren’t there to hear the music, and many wouldn’t know the difference between bluegrass and country.
Teebow has embraced bluegrass, playing less country because “it’s more pop sounding. Bluegrass tells the story more. It’s more lyrical, more roots.”
She is intent on making someone in Nashville notice her sound. She qualified to go back down to Pigeon Fork for the 2009 NACMAI competition in March, and has scheduled two days in Nashville. She will return with a new demo of five original songs she is working on with producer Seth Connelly at Humming Lake Studio in Brookline. She’s also working on a press kit.
She even took a stage name a few years ago (her married name is actually Thibault), started a Web site (paulateebow.com) and learned how to play mandolin to be, in part, more marketable.
“I want to be well-prepared,” Teebow said. “My hope going back to Nashville is to get in touch with more people.”
She may not have a record deal, yet, but one of her earlier demos did get airtime on a country station. It was in Connecticut.
Ross the Boss would have been proud.
Union Leader staff writer Jim Fennell's email is jfennell@unionleader.com
