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Tammy Destined to Be… "It’s just a magical place. To stand where so many of my heroes stood, and look out those same stain-glassed windows at the back, see the same pews they saw when they were singing, it almost took back in time to those days. I love country music so much, a part of me wishes I was born back then." ~ Tammy Cochran (on performing at the Ryman)~
Tammy’s destiny seemed to have existed from the very moment of her birth in the small midwestern town of Austinburg, Ohio. "Mom was actually going to name me Kimberly, and she was in the hospital with another lady who had just given birth to a boy that she’d named Kimberly." Not wanting to name her baby girl with what she now considered a ‘boy’s name’, the name Tammy Lynn Cochran was chosen. "You know," she adds with a warm laugh, "with parents who have the names of Mabel and Delmar, I’m pretty happy with Tammy." Joined by burgeoning musical interpretation and appreciation, her destiny began to take form, when, as a young girl, Tammy learned to sing the music of Tammy Wynette and Loretta Lynn, performing exclusive, impromptu concerts for her parents, while assigning her brothers the duty of collecting admission fees at the bedroom door. As a teenager, destiny's journey was integrated with determination and persistent, focused decision-making. When given the choices that typical teenagers would face, Tammy chose the path less traveled. Band equipment won out over a car for her sixteenth birthday and moving to Nashville was an easy decision over attending college.Tammy’s approach to pulling an album together isn't complicated. "I just want to cut songs that mean a lot to me, and I hope that if they mean a lot to me, they’ll mean a lot to other people. I just want to keep the music real." On her self
titled debut there’s nothing more real than Tammy’s touching lyrical tribute
to her brothers, Shawn and Alan, who sadly passed away after battling cystic
fibrosis. It was an emotionally trying experience for Tammy, so much so, that
she sought the assistance of songwriters Jim McBride and Stewart Harris to
help complete the song. "I tried for a year and a half to write the song." she
shares "Because everything in the song is so literal, we really did camp out
on the living room floor with a tent made of covers, we would get to that
point and I would just break down, all these memories would come back."
With the determination to create an enduring remembrance of her brothers, Tammy and her co-writers finally created the mesmerizing tribute, 'Angels in Waiting'. "If you lose someone that you love, and keep them alive in your heart and in your everyday life, and don’t forget about them and talk about them, and keep them ‘here’ its better for everybody." A unexpected premium was the creation of something that managed to reach past Tammy's own personal heartache, to universally articulate the intense emotions that losing a loved one can bring, for many a painful experience that up until that point had been inexpressible. "I really wanted it on the album for selfish reasons, it was a form of healing and comfort for me," she confides "I had no idea other people would relate to it so much but I get a lot of e-mail with people sharing their stories with me, of the loss of someone they loved, its incredible that the song could move people like that and give such positive healing." With a powerful voice that has been compared to such exceptional artists as Tammy Wynette and Shelby Lynne, the self titled contribution to record shelves offers a collection of music that is indisputably mature. "Growing up with two brothers who are ill, it puts a whole new perspective on what’s important. When you’re growing up and you are in high school and everybody (and its normal, every kid does this) compares how good you are or how popular you are by if you’re wearing the right jeans or wearing the right brand of shoes and what kind of car you got when you were sixteen, and with my brothers around it put everything in perspective. Its not about what you have and its not about what you do its about your family, because your family is the most important thing and if you have your family and the love and support of your family then everything else will fall into place." And fall into place it has. Tammy has already achieved many of the dreams she had as a young child. Having played the Opry a number of times, she recalls her latest performance as something particularly special. "It was extra special because it was actually at that Ryman, the original Grand Ol’ Opry. It’s just a magical place. To stand where so many of my heroes stood, and look out those same stain-glassed windows at the back, see the same pews they saw when they were singing, it almost took back in time to those days. I love country music so much, a part of me wishes I was born back then." Tammy also recently traveled to California to participate in the Academy of Country Music awards show, where she was nominated in the new female artist category. "I’ve watched those awards since I was a little girl and always dreamed of being there, and so the fact that I was nominated and had a chance to go to the awards and be a part of the whole ceremony was a dream come true. Who knows how long I’m going to have a career, I hope to have a career for a very, very long time, but if for some reason I don’t, at least I can say that I’m at least living my dream, I’m getting a chance to do what I’ve dreamt about my whole life." With Fan Fair just around the corner, she's ready, recalling last year's experience fondly. "Last year was the first year I did Fan Fair and it was such a rewarding experience. I really thought that with "If You Can" just coming out, no one was going to know who I was and I'd be standing in the autograph booth giving directions to the ladies room." she laughs. "But country music fans are so smart, and they keep up on every new face that comes out. Standing on the stage in front of about 15,000 I just couldn't believe it. They were so welcoming and treated me like I had been there my whole life." Fortunately for her fans, Tammy has no plans on stopping here. Tammy Cochran is just getting started, and as she looks to the future, while still honoring and respecting where she and her music have been, she's bound to continue her destiny. Expect great things. May 2001 - Laurie Joulie - Take Country Back |
