BEST OF: How To Follow God Into a New Creative Passion with Teea Goans, Singer / Songwriter

Allen C. Paul (00:00)

You're listening to an encore presentation of The God and Gigs Show. 

Ladies and gentlemen, I cannot tell you how excited I am. Now I know I've been doing this podcast thing for a while, but every once in a while people just walk into my life and it's like you were meant to be in the God and gigs community. And this young lady is absolutely the epitome of that. I have already said everything about her. can say in the, in the bio, her bio could read a country mile as they might say, but now you get to talk to her directly. So

Teea Goans welcome to the God and Gigs Show!

Teea Goans (00:37)
Thank you so much, it's so good to see you again!

Allen C. Paul (00:40)
so I see we do just the catching up on in front of everybody like instead let just let them be a fly on the wall and we're just gonna have a conversation and and forget the fact that millions of people are listening ⁓ So let's talk about this free trip to Florida that you took That how you freeloaded yourself into ...just kidding!

Teea Goans (01:01)
When I see an opportunity, I'ma take it, okay?

So my friend and I, she was going on a work trip to Miami and she called me the night before and said, Hey, I really don't want to go by myself. Do you want to go? The company will pay for it. And I'm like, yeah. So, we jumped in the plane the next day. We go to Miami. We had had dinner that night. We were just walking and we heard you playing and as a musician and she is in music, her husband's a musician. So we're like, what is what,

What is that? Like, we need to go find this. So we sought you out. We walked in the lobby and we were just sitting there mesmerized because you are so talented. And I mean, we, and you were doing things like you were playing these. was just like, my gosh, you had these arrangements of stuff that we were like, what's going on? So yeah. And that struck up a conversation. And now that we're here today talking, I know exactly why we met up. I know who was in charge of that meetup because I wasn't really supposed to be there. And it was just, it was really cool.

Allen C. Paul (02:00)
Wow, well, this is again a sign how God really just orchestrates everything in our lives. You your story is a number one. So let's know more about me. Let's talk about you. First of all, I know people might be meeting you for the first time. So I know you go through this a lot, but you have to get them the 30 second elevator pitch where they tell everything about you in 30 seconds. But just what do want people to know about you when they first meet you? Just what's that kind of thing that you just say, hey, this is who I am. This if you didn't know anything else, here are the things that are important to know.

Teea Goans (02:29)
If you didn't know anything else, I've been singing for my entire life, performing my entire life. And when the pandemic hit, I met you in 2021. So I was mid shift of my entire life. When the pandemic hit, my life completely changed. And I got into songwriting, which was something that I had never done before. I had just always been a performer and a singer doing other people's music. And when that shift happened, God spoke to me and said,

it's time to write. And I was right in the middle of that when I met you of just figuring out what that meant and how to do that and what that looked like. And that's where I am right now. My life feels like a completely, like I got a complete reboot in 2020 and it's been the most fulfilling three years so far of my life.

Allen C. Paul (03:22)
gosh, that's so magical. Okay, so now you said reboot. So now we had to go back to the boot. how did you first get into, I mean, I know everyone likes to do, okay, yeah, I was,

I was five years old and I was discovered or something like that. Like we all love that kind of story, which you've heard a million of them. But I do think it's important that people hear like what's the first chapter? Was it something coming out of school? Was it something that you dreamed of in terms of the Nashville career? I I have friends that have gone to Nashville, but I still don't know what it's like to pursue the dream. kind of take us, walk us through a little bit of the first half. Like where did it start for you in terms of actually building a career?

Teea Goans (04:03)
So I grew up in Missouri, the middle of nowhere, town of about 600 people. So, you know, it was the country, this is really where I grew up. And I started singing from a very young age, just, my mom tells me when I was two years old, I would be just humming, making up tunes and singing. And, you know, I just, liked to sing. My grandmother had been a performer in the sixties and seventies around the Kansas city area. She sang country music and...

loved country music and she had seven kids. So obviously moving to Nashville was not really ⁓ an option for her. So she had just kind of stayed around there and played clubs and whatnot. So I think that's kind of where the music came from. I think it was kind of genetically given to me through my grandma. ⁓ And so I started singing in church when I was three, did my first solo.

And then I started doing little talent shows and little fairs and things around, know, and singing in little things. And when I was eight years old, I performed at a country music show, which Missouri is notorious for having country music shows. Basically what it was, it was a 600 seat theater. They had a live band there and they did a talent show once a year. And so I was in the talent show when I was eight. I did not win that talent show because it was kids and adults and everybody was in it. But the following

like spring, they called me and said, we would like you to be a full-time part of our band and come and be a performer on the show. And you would come and, you know, sing a couple of songs and night or two, three or four songs and kind of be the kid act, you know, show that comes out as a thing. So I had my first paying gig when I was eight years old and it was great. was crazy. And I did that until I was 19. I did that until college. So I had.

Allen C. Paul (05:41)
Crazy.

Teea Goans (05:49)
the most perfect training ground that you could ask for. I was working with a live band, had a live audience, learned the whole stage thing, you know, that some people when they moved to Nashville, they'd never even been on stage. They'd just been singing in their bedroom with their guitar. You know what I mean? So I felt like I kind of had a leg up in that aspect of I was able to go and, you know, whatever. So ⁓ when I got out of college, well, I knew

from the time I was eight years old, the goal became, I want to move to Nashville and sing at the Grand Ole Opry. That became my goal was that I'm moving to Nashville, I want to sing on the Opry. I I was like writing reports in school about the Opry and country music and stuff like I was like obsessed.

Allen C. Paul (06:35)
What do want to be when you grow up was never a question for you.

Teea Goans (06:39)
Ever, ever. mean, my mom has pictures that I drew like on career day of me on the Opry stage. That was my picture I drew was I'm going to sing on the Grand Ole Opry. That's it. That's the goal. And so I got through college and moved to Nashville and didn't know one soul here. Didn't know anybody here. Had no connections, anything, and just had to kind of figure it out on my own. And that was really hard.

That was very difficult. I went two or three years where I was just sort of trying to stick my nose in anywhere I could and hear, you know, who's who and what's going on. You know, it's just learning the industry wherever you are learning, kind of starting to network. And yeah, that's really, and that's hard. And ⁓ I ended up getting a job at a radio station, which just happens to be WSM, which is the radio home of the Grand Ole Opry.

Allen C. Paul (07:19)
Yeah, the hard.

Okay, that's quite thickens.

Teea Goans (07:37)
the plot thickens. And the way that that happened randomly was I was a fan of the station, obviously, and they were doing a remote somewhere. And I went up and just talked to one of the DJs and was like, I love you guys. You're so great. And there was a girl that worked in their promotions department that was there. And she said, well, you know, we need promotions people if you ever want to work here. So I took the glamorous job. And you know this, if you know anything about radio, of working in the promotions department.

Basically that means you stand out at events in the rain, in the sun, in the heat, and you pass out bumper stickers and koozies and you know what mean? So, for glamorous radio life. And I was like, I'll do it. I'll do it for free. I don't care. Like I want to, I want to work there. I want to know more about it. So I ended up doing that for five years. And just through that time, I kind of got a different side of.

the music industry that I didn't know a lot about. I learned kind of a little bit about the radio side of things, which was nice to kind of understand that, you know. ⁓ And strangely enough, about three years into that, I ended up getting, they said, we would like to teach you some production work, some production stuff. And I said, okay, I don't know anything about that, but cool. I ended up producing the Grand Ole Opry warmup show, which is a one hour show.

Allen C. Paul (08:54)
Okay, no, those who are listening, I'm just like trying not to show my, I should have seen this coming.

Teea Goans (09:04)
wish

I could have seen it coming because my theory has always been that God opens doors that I would have never knocked on.

Allen C. Paul (09:06)
My my

Hmm

Teea Goans (09:14)
That is my motto. Because if you would have told me, ⁓ you're gonna be in radio production. And not only that, you're gonna produce the one hour show that leads into the Grand Ole Opry. So that means I was backstage at the Grand Ole Opry every Saturday night. I was also the person that rounded up the talent for the interviewer, for the DJ to do the interviews with. So I had to go door to door and get the people to come on and do, so I was having to interact with these artists that I was huge fans of.

Allen C. Paul (09:43)
You're

the stage runner, essentially the stage runner. Nothing happened on that stage that you didn't know about.

Teea Goans (09:49)
Exactly. I was the talent runner for that for the warm up show, which was just unbelievable. Again, somebody who has no idea what they're doing thrown right into.

Allen C. Paul (09:58)
God as God normally does God never Yes.

Teea Goans (10:02)
Exactly. So about a year later, they said, you know what, we need to do a show that runs in between because there are two shows on Saturday nights. There's a seven o'clock and a nine o'clock show. There's a 30 minute break in between where they, you know, swap the house out. And they said, we thought it would be cool if you hosted that show.

I don't host shows. What are you talking about? don't, that's not what I, I didn't go to broadcast school. What? And they said, well, we just think it would be cool to have like a fan's perspective because you're such a fan. And I'm like, what? Okay. So the first night that I hosted a show on WSM, this is the air castle of the South as they are known. Okay. This is like everywhere and it's online and the whole thing was the night that Carrie Underwood was inducted into the Opry.

Okay, now I couldn't score an interview with her. So I had to settle my interviews that night were Vince Gill and Garth Brooks.

Allen C. Paul (11:02)
⁓ woe is me. I don't get the interview. just have to do these other small little one-time artists. Unbelievable. That's amazing.

Teea Goans (11:15)
still don't even know how that happened and I would hate to go back and listen to those interviews because I'm sure I was just like, you know.

Allen C. Paul (11:23)
I'm sure they were so gracious like little like We get this a lot

Teea Goans (11:26)
I remember somebody, had a friend.

Thank God. So I'm like, I do have proof because I tell people that they're like, right. I'm like, no, really it happened. Like I have a picture. It really did happen. But it was, that was just unbelievable to me. And the real, the struggle that I had during this time that I worked at the station and was at the Opry every Saturday night was I didn't, I didn't feel right about telling people that I was a singer.

Allen C. Paul (11:54)
Mmm

Teea Goans (11:56)
I didn't want anybody to believe that I was using this job to get anywhere else. Because I really wasn't. I had fallen into these opportunities and I thought, boy, I don't want anybody to think that I'm trying to weasel my way in, you know, whatever. So I didn't tell anybody that I sang. So these people just do me as the girl on the radio show. that was, you know I mean? So I knew all these artists, but they didn't have any idea that I was also an artist trying to figure it out on the backside of things.

Allen C. Paul (12:01)
Yeah.

Teea Goans (12:26)
So in 2010, I had went to a club here in Nashville, the Station Inn. There's a band that plays there called the Timejumpers, highly recommend. They do Western swing music, they're fabulous. Anyway, I went to hear them play and I knew the drummer and he got me up to sit in and sing a couple of songs with them. And I did, you know, just some standards and I got finished. And after the show, this gentleman approached me and he said, I managed the Timejumpers and we need to make a record.

And I was like, and you are like, And okay. Where's, where do I, what do I sign? Anyway, um, his name was Terry Choate. He was a fantastic guy and we ended up making four albums together. Wow. And he had his own little independent label and that led to, um, I got to do a lot of TV.

things, got to travel, got to tour Norway and Sweden and do some shows over there. I did a lot of television shows, was a, it's called Country's Family Reunion and Larry's Country Diner. I was a part of both of those shows. I did numerous shows. were, was on a cable network called RFP TV. And that really opened me up to, you know, a ton of exposure and a lot of people getting to see and hear what I did.

⁓ And I did a lot of cover songs. That was what I did. We would reimagine arrangements of songs that you know and kind of do that. So that was another reason why I heard some of the things I was hearing you do that night. And I was like, these are bad.

Allen C. Paul (14:02)
⁓ I know this world where we...

Teea Goans (14:05)
Yeah, so it was cool.

Yeah, so the records that we made were a lot of songs that people already knew, you know, and so that was kind of what I was known as was this country cover artist, you know, and I did real pretty hardcore traditional country sound and stuff, you know, that was kind of the deal. And so I did that. The last record that Terry and I made together was in 2017. And this is where the story starts to make a turn. If you have another question, but I can make it. No, no.

Allen C. Paul (14:34)
I'm enjoying what I love about this is because of that. Don't worry, you're doing great. And one of the reasons why I love the story of it is because every single artist that's listening knows this feeling. Like I don't need to ask anyone else in this audience to tell you what it feels like when you're the person that doesn't want to speak up about your talent because of the fear. I mean, I could, I could ask, I mean, just in terms of, but you kind of already expressed it where you don't want people to see you in a certain light as being opportunistic.

Meanwhile, let's just bring this part into it. God was orchestrating things behind the scenes because you weren't going to get all the credit for showing up at the Grand Ol' Opry showing up in front of Garth Brooks. And like you couldn't say that you had this master plan to figure it out. Meanwhile, again, later on, we'll talk about why people think they need to have a master plan and why they have to figure it all out. So we'll get to that part. Don't worry.

Teea Goans (15:29)
Yes. in twin and I had left my job at the Opry at the WSM when I started making records. I had done that. And a lot of those artists at that point when I was running into them at these television shows and things like that, they were like, wait, you're the, we know you at the Opry. Like what are you doing? And I'm like, hey, this is, I do this too. So that was actually really cool to already know them.

but then for them to see me in a totally different light. You know what I mean? Like that was a really, that was a cool experience. So that was awesome. And in 2010, I did make my debut on the Grand Ole Opry. I played at the Ryman Auditorium and I have since played there, I think 11 or 12 times. Which is crazy.

Allen C. Paul (16:15)
So I got to ask right there, is that the mo is that was at that point at that point, I you drew this at eight years old. So just take me through, was it everything that you imagined it? would be everything leading up to this moment, all that you had gone through to this point. And obviously I know there's other mountain top moments where God has shifted even what you want in terms of the goal. But at that point, did it cause some people get to this point and then they realized, my gosh, this isn't as glamorous. This isn't as amazing. So what was it like for you?

Teea Goans (16:46)
At this moment, ⁓ I'll tell you the story of the invitation that I got to play the Opry the first time. We were going to have a snow day here in Nashville. And if you know anything about Nashville, a snow day is like a half an inch and the town shuts down. They don't know anything about the snow here. I'm from Missouri. So I'm like, dude, put the chains on. We're good. Like, it's fine. You know, it's no big deal. we, my husband had come home from work early.

We were in for the day. The snow was coming. It had just kind of started to snow. Everything was, you know, shut down. I'm in my PJs. You know, we're going to have pizza and just watch movies and no big deal. I get a call from a number I don't recognize. And what do we do when we do that? We let it ring the voicemail. Bye. Kay, don't know who that is. They leave a voicemail. check it and it says, hi Teea, this is Steve Gibson, the music director at the Opry. And we had some people who couldn't make it in tonight because of the weather. And we were wondering if you could come in and play the Opry tonight.

That's the call I get. It's 3.30 in the afternoon. The show is at seven. The rehearsal is at 5.30. Let me show you about God's sovereignty here, okay? God knew that if he had given me any more time to think about that, I would have been a nervous wreck. But I didn't have time to think about anything. I had to get ready, take a shower, grab my clothes, grab whatever I was going and go.

Allen C. Paul (17:55)
You

Teea Goans (18:13)
I didn't have time to get nervous. And I look back on that now and I'm like, I'm so glad that happened the way that it did, you We jumped in the truck, we head downtown. Of course the town is just quiet because you know, the snow and whatever, we get down there. I have rehearsal with the band and I know a of the band members, which was just amazing. And I'm like, what's up

Allen C. Paul (18:33)
Hey, guess who's back?

Teea Goans (18:35)
You know, like I'm hanging out with the, with the crew. Like I love the stage crew there. Like, cause they knew me cause I was always back there running around with them. So I'm like, what's going on? So anyway, so we do that and the show starts and they introduced me and I walked out on that stage and it was literally like walking into a dream that you would have had. You know what I mean? It really was. I did have that experience of you're here. This is what you've been thinking about. This is what you've been dreaming of.

here it is, you're here. And I can remember exactly what the gallery looked like. you know, and it was pretty full for the weather we were having because we have so many tourists, you know, they, they show. So I was like, this is amazing. And so I do my songs, they came off well. have video proof that like, I didn't just get up there and botch the whole thing. It was good. And when I walked off the stage, I remember Ricky Skaggs and the whites and

Allen C. Paul (19:17)
Yeah.

Teea Goans (19:34)
Jean Shepherd and they were standing on the side and they all just like hugged me and

I don't remember anything past that, I really don't. But I do remember walking off the stage and them all being there like, you did it, like you did this thing, you know, and it was just, it was amazing. That, yes, that moment was exactly what I had hoped that it would be.

Allen C. Paul (19:57)
gosh, I love so much of this began because and I loved it as a second chapter because there's so much of what we look for as artists and creatives and people who, know, faith, right? We say, you know, faith, faith, you know, we want to see by faith, walk by fight, walk by faith, not by sight. But then we see and here's the part where I'm going to pivot. I know you pivoted to see the success. We see you made it to your dream. We see that all that happened.

But that's not all there is to you. Like if you say, you made it to your dream and now we plateau and now we just say, okay, God, thanks. There's so much. Right. We're good. So tell me a little bit about this shift because obviously we all had a big shift in 2020. We all had one, but, um, I guess. Was there anything that was missing? Was there anything as you're doing the, the, getting more recognized, right? Now you're doing the thing.

Was there any indication that hey, maybe there's something else that I'm supposed to be doing or was it just like hey meet my dream Let's just keep it going

Teea Goans (21:04)
Well, like I said, this all kind of kicked off in 2010 and we made these four records all the way up through 2017. mean, it was just, you know, we were doing this work, working, doing it, you know, loving it, everything else. And we made the last record in 2017 and I got a, here we go. I'm going to tell you about how Jesus comes in here. So, um, I get a message on Facebook from a person that I've never met. His name was Jim Moose Brown.

Allen C. Paul (21:13)
Yeah.

Teea Goans (21:33)
Okay. And if you saw, he's like eight feet tall. That's why he's called Moose. But seriously, but anyway, ⁓ I didn't know him, but I knew his name. He is a Grammy award winning songwriter. ⁓ He's part of the ⁓ Bob Seger Silver Bullet Band. He's kind of a big deal. Yes. Yeah. And he messages me on Facebook and he just said, I just saw a video of you. Who are you? Why do I not know who you are? Like,

What are you doing? What's going on? And I was like, what? So I called him and we talked for a little while and he said, well, I would love to write with you sometime. And said, well, I don't write. I said, I typically just do other people's music. said, I've tried writing, but it just doesn't, it's not really my thing. And I said, so I don't do that. And I said, and I'm working with a producer now and we've kind of got this thing going and whatever. And he said, well, that's cool. said, well, I'm just, a fan and I'm going to follow you. And I just think that's cool. I was like, well, thanks, man.

Great to know you. That's awesome.

Allen C. Paul (22:33)
Okay?

Teea Goans (22:34)
So from 2017 to 2020, was kinda, you know, was on the hamster wheel, I was doing the thing, and I think you sometimes can get so doing the thing that you realize, what is the thing I'm doing?

Allen C. Paul (22:50)
Yeah, what is it for? Yeah.

Teea Goans (22:51)
Why,

what, what, wait, what's going on? Like nothing was, nothing was really happening. And I was just kind of just keep it on, keep it on because it was what I'd always done, you know? And I was like, man, this is, and I started to feel like this isn't, I don't feel right. I don't feel like maybe, maybe I should just quit. Maybe I should just start doing something totally different. Like maybe I should just, maybe I've, you've, you've, like you said, I've reached the goal. Let's go be a, you know, door greeter at Walmart, like whatever, you know what I mean? But I was like.

Even what I'm saying, I think we've all gotten to that point where we go, well, is this all there is? Because, ⁓ okay, cool. And I was there. And I think what 2020 did for a lot of us when the pandemic hit is it made us all sit back and we had to reassess. We didn't have a choice because we didn't have anything else to do.

Allen C. Paul (23:39)
we were. Had no choice.

No, all of it like, okay. We're out. We're going to stare at Netflix. We're going to do our little live streams. And we're going to say, what am I doing with my life? Like, cause exactly. so many of us, including me realize, and I know this is probably what I'm not, I'm guessing what you're going to say. I might be totally wrong, but you don't know what you're capable of until you're put into that crucible. You do not know what God is like.

I have skills. What I'm doing right now, literally us talking, is because, and I had started the podcast before the pandemic, nowhere close to what I'm doing now. Like all those skills, everything was developed in, my gosh, there's no choice now. I have to make this work. I have to figure out what's inside me that I haven't been using. And so it sounds like that. That's where, you know, God was like, uh-huh, that's why for 10 years you were using just one piece.

of the grace that I gave you, but there was a whole nother section that you hadn't even utilized yet.

Teea Goans (24:43)
Yes, yes. And so when all that happened ⁓ in July of 2020, the gentleman, Terry Choate, who had been my producer and my manager for all those years, he became very ill during it wasn't COVID. He had had diabetic issues throughout. He got ill. He had to move back home to North Carolina. And so not only was I not working and not that then the one thing that the person that I had kind of relied on to

to man the ship was out of the picture. So I was literally just out there floating, you know, just out there. And I thought, okay, maybe I am going to go to Walmart and be a checker. Maybe that is what's about to happen.

Allen C. Paul (25:14)
Yeah.

It's so funny that Walmart is like, keep saying like, she put them in slow Walmart.

Teea Goans (25:31)
I to work at Walmart, okay? There you go, you knew it. I know how to do the Walmart.

Allen C. Paul (25:36)
We're gonna get some sponsorships out of this. Okay, keep going.

Teea Goans (25:39)
Right? So it was July of 2020. I was driving in my car. I know exactly where I was. was a road not far from where I live. And I was just driving and I heard God say to me, it's time to write.

And my initial reaction was, you have the wrong person. I'm sorry. I don't do that. You know, I don't do that. Yeah, you know, I've done that. You know, I didn't like that. You know, that wasn't my thing. What are you serious? No, I'm not doing that. And if you've ever told God, no, about something, you know how persistent he can get, right? And drive you completely insane about it. Okay. So I let it go. was like, it's fine. Whatever. I'm not.

Allen C. Paul (26:05)
Wrong number, God.

Teea Goans (26:27)
No, I'm not even going to think about that. And of course you can't stop thinking about that. And I had a few things that I thought of and I've kind of jotted some stuff down. No, that's dumb. That's not even, no, I'm not doing that. I'm not doing it. I'm just not doing it. So a friend of mine released a record in the middle of 2020, bless his heart. His name's Mo Pitney. He's a great artist. And when he came out that day, I was listening to it. I thought I'm going go for a walk and just listen to his record top to bottom.

just I want to hear the whole thing, you know, and got finished. thought, man, that is so good. And like it really captured him and he's songwriter. And I thought, man, that's just so good. So I messaged him and said, Hey, it was great. You know, whatever. And I looked up who had produced the record and it was Jim Moops Brown.

from 2017.

Allen C. Paul (27:15)
Yep, full circle.

Teea Goans (27:17)
And

so I messaged him on Facebook, said, man, I just listened to that record you did on Mo. So good, awesome. You really captured who he is. And he messages me right back and said, thank you so much. I appreciate that. And if you ever want to do anything together, even if it's just right, let me know.

Allen C. Paul (27:39)
Okay. Yep. Drops in your lap again and God is not letting go.

Teea Goans (27:43)
No.

And I was like, you know, okay. So I messaged him, I'm gonna listen. I haven't written in thousands of years and I tried it and I didn't like it. And he said, you know, I haven't written in three years. He said, I've basically retired. I don't even really, he said, I don't like the music that's coming out of Nashville. And I didn't feel like what I do fit there anymore. said, so I've just kind of given up too. He said, so we'd both be rusty if we tried to write. I was like, okay, fine.

So we meet up, it was the 20th of August, three days before my 40th birthday, okay? So when you're gonna start over, why not start over then? So I was like, all right, I'm like, hey, Moses wandered for 40 years, maybe I've been wandering too. Okay, let's go.

Allen C. Paul (28:21)
Exactly.

That's a good company. Hey, Moses. No, John Moses Joshua is real. It turned out pretty well for them

Teea Goans (28:34)
I

think they were okay. So I thought, know, okay. So we got together, met. I mean, this was the first time we'd met in person and we talked for about an hour, just kind of got to know each other, where we were from, whatever, you know. And he looked at me he goes, what do you want to write? And I go, well, I've been locked in the house with my husband for the last eight months. And I've come to the realization that I really like him a lot. And I said,

And he makes life easy. As wild as everything has been, as long as he's there, it's fine, you know? And we started and finished the song that's on this album, Easy, that day. I mean, and you talk about something just falling out of me. there are lines, there are particular lines in that song that I know didn't come from me. Like I felt them come in.

and come out and I was like, that was good. OK. Like. OK. Right. Yeah. And so I was like, OK. And so we get done and Moose and I were both just like looking at each other like, did that just like what do we just wrote us like, OK. So we continued to get together every couple of weeks and we ended up writing. We would start and finish a song every time we got together, which.

You know this, that's not-

Allen C. Paul (30:02)
Yes, I know 100%. I'm usually the one in the room that is scared that I'm the reason why nothing's happening.

Teea Goans (30:12)
Always. But there were days and he's such an incredible musician, which that's something that I was not. I've been a drummer. I was a drummer all through high school. That's what I did. So I don't have an instrument per se that I play. That's coming later. anyway, he's got all these great melodies and things and I'm like, we're writing it. And was magical.

And we made a few demos of some of the songs and he was like, what are we doing? What are you going to do with this? And I was like, I don't really know. And he goes, I mean, we've, we've got a record worth of stuff. And I was like, yeah, we kind of do. And as we were writing so many of these songs, this had become my therapy. I had no idea that was what I needed. That was why I was writing.

Allen C. Paul (30:46)
Yeah.

Teea Goans (31:08)
That was why God said you need to write. At that time, it was for me because I didn't realize how locked up in things that I had become and how much of a slave to just being an artist, if that makes sense, of it and the, you know, and not only that, but I had been under this management for so long.

Allen C. Paul (31:26)
100 %

Teea Goans (31:34)
and I had kind of let the control completely go to someone else and I didn't realize how out of control I was. Yeah. If that makes sense.

Allen C. Paul (31:42)
how little of a voice, I just have to say this because only because it's fresh in my mind, I know podcasts are totally different and it's not back to back. I literally just had a conversation with someone, maybe this has already come out by the time they hear this, about just being able to be as an artist versus having to create something to be produced like.

The analogy in that particular interview was why does everything have to be a tomato and corn and something that somebody creates makes for a purpose instead of just being a beautiful flower? And I think what you are saying is that your artist's career up to that point, heck, from eight years old, were doing it, but you were doing it for somebody else's expectation.

Yeah, so that must have been incredibly freeing to realize this is if you want to release it, you can if you don't. But was the ball was in your court now.

Teea Goans (32:43)
It was freeing and terrifying at the same time because of the expectation because I thought now wait a minute everybody that does know who I am not that I have a huge fan base I don't mean that but the fan base I have they know

Allen C. Paul (32:57)
you

feel responsible for them? No, for sure. doesn't matter how much the one person that bought your record is still you're still saying to them, Oh my gosh, what are they gonna think? What are you gonna think?

Teea Goans (33:05)
Yes. And they knew me as the little old country girl that sings all of the songs that they can sing along with that they already know. And that wears these little dresses that looks just the same every time you see her and has the same little thing. Okay. I had let myself become, I had put myself in that pigeonhole. You know what I mean? Like I had kind of let myself get pigeonholed into that, but I didn't realize it until this time when I'm going, what?

There's so much more to me that no one is even aware of. I know it, I know it's there, but no one is aware. And what if they all turn on me and hate me? You know what I mean? So as freeing as it was, I was terrified at the same time. So there was a big internal struggle. And the devil loves to play there. That's where he sits and wants to pull out and go, mm-hmm, they're gonna hate you. Don't you do that. That's what he does. When God calls you to do something, what's the first thing you do?

You doubt, go, mm-mm, I can't do it. Nope, nope, you know, I've got 15 excuses, nope. And that was the thing. And so I was really, there was a major struggle going on as I'm writing these songs. So this therapy was coming out in this music because the lessons that I was learning were coming out in these songs. And I didn't even realize that until later. And so in 2021, we decided,

let's make a record. Okay. And so we, a lot of these songs that are on the album were just the demos. We just added a few things to them and just kind of like, you know, whatever, but it's a pretty, it's a pretty raw record. Like there's not a lot of super high tech production stuff.

Allen C. Paul (34:47)
That's what makes it. ⁓ I'm sure without again, we're contrasting these two seasons, right? It's like, gosh, I'm so sorry to you. I'm going to do this to you. I do this to everybody. It's like. Your Moses and Pharaoh's house getting all the benefits. they're. And you're.

Teea Goans (35:10)
studying

that right now FYI so please bring that on up

Allen C. Paul (35:15)
My gosh, look, that is, I mean, Moses needed everything he got in Pharaoh's. You needed it. It was, it was, but it wasn't until the Egyptians, I can't believe this, the Israelites pushed him out when he was in Pharaoh's house. Cause he's like, who are you judging? But then when he comes back, he's like, I'm one of y'all. I've been out here on this desert for the last.

for the last whatever years with Jethro. And now when he comes back to lead, it's because he's coming back authentically the way that God has him, not as this of from the version. Okay, so I'll leave that there.

Teea Goans (35:57)
You are speaking life into you just brought like a whole other like I'm that's so good. That's so good.

Allen C. Paul (36:04)
Oh, gosh. No. So exactly. We're pointing everybody. I know it's not for those who listening. We're pointing up because that's that is OK. So so now you're you said it. It's raw. It's authentic. It's not overproduced. And I want to draw the one other thing I was going to draw is just like in the Opry, you weren't looking for that. You weren't looking for the prestige. You looking for it was like this is what it is. It sounds like you and and him both. He had he had he had credits up to here.

But he wasn't looking for that either. He didn't really need it.

Teea Goans (36:37)
No, no, this came down to fulfillment over fame.

Allen C. Paul (36:43)
hashtag that and

Teea Goans (36:45)
The said that to me yesterday. He gave me a vision of fulfillment and the greater than thing.

Allen C. Paul (36:48)
Wow.

Please make sure you have that on the t-shirt so can buy it from you.

Teea Goans (36:56)
I

think I'm going to because honestly, what it that's what it that's it. That's it. Yeah. So in 2021, we were like, OK, we're going to make a record. I'm like, how do I do that? And he's like, I don't know. I'm just a producer. I don't know.

Allen C. Paul (37:03)
Hmm

Somebody's like, what do we do? I don't know. This music industry thing? I'm new to this.

Teea Goans (37:18)
Yeah, that's the one thing if I could go back and learn something that I didn't know would be to learn the industry side. I didn't know anything about that. I had always relied on somebody else to make those calls and do that part and I just sang the song and that was fine.

Allen C. Paul (37:26)
I was going to ask that question.

And let me tell you, there are so many, every single, I'm so grateful for this community of artists like you, because there have been Grammy winners, there have been stellar winners, Dove winners, every single one of them has said the same thing. They said, I wish I had paid more attention to this part because they get so into just the grind of creating for other people. They're always saying the same thing. So you're not alone. You're not alone. And then if you're listening and watching this, you're not alone if you missed that. But now you've heard why you need to just

Don't let that become your mindset of just, just do this to make the masses or my bosses or the producer happy. God has something specific for you. So I love this so much.

Teea Goans (38:15)
Yes. And don't just don't let it become your excuse that you don't know. Because that's what I was like, why I don't know what to do. And I have an incredible husband that I'm very, thankful for. And he said, we'll figure it out. We will figure it out together. We'll figure it out. So you talk about online learning. That's what we did. How do you make a real girl? I don't know it became, but I ended up

I started my own little independent label. I had to start my own publishing company because I knew nothing about publishing. had no clue what that was about, what that world looked like. You know, I didn't know anything about royalties or anything like that. I had no idea because I had never received royalties because I'd never written anything I'd sold. And in fact, I had never made any money off of any of first four albums that I'd sold.

Allen C. Paul (38:45)
Mmm

Yeah.

What? gosh, please. Okay, I'm gonna play this back for so many other artists that, gosh, this is gonna save some people so much heartache.

Teea Goans (39:16)
And I don't want, I'm not.

Allen C. Paul (39:19)
No, no, no, we're not. I already know what you are. We're on the same page. I'm ahead of you. I'm ahead of you. This is not bad mouthing anyone.

Teea Goans (39:27)
Make sure that you sign things. Make sure that there's paperwork that needs to be signed, even if you have to be the one to write it. Sign paperwork. That's all. That's my takeaway in things of that nature. Make sure. And if you don't know a lawyer, you find somebody that can read that stuff over for you. There are nice people that you can go to a lawyer's office and go, can you just glance at this for me and see if this looks crazy? I mean, it's okay.

to do that, and I didn't. I'm a very trustworthy person. Now I'm more discerning about things of this nature. ⁓

Allen C. Paul (40:03)
Why would the harmless is dub is wise as serpents.

Teea Goans (40:07)
Yes.

And again, I don't feel like I lost anything. I feel like I had a lot of great opportunities and I was getting paid for shows and things like that. So it wasn't like I wasn't making any money, but I did not make anything off of record sales. So that was just a world that I didn't know anything about. So I created this label. I created this publishing company. I created all the artwork for the album.

did all of that graphic design, learned how to do that, learned how to make music videos, learned how to make lyric videos, learned how to navigate through Spotify and all of that kind of stuff and iTunes and all of that kind of stuff. So there was this whole like three months, the album came out in September of 2021 and this was probably, we decided to make a record in like May.

Allen C. Paul (41:00)
Wow. Yeah, but look, let me, once again, this is just where my brain goes. Same thing as a call at 3.30 that you have to be on stage by 7.30. God, it's like, don't waste time. Just put your feet in the Jordan and go. I wanted to say this real quick because it is so powerful that you just said it. I'm wondering what was your

Teea Goans (41:01)
Talk about a crash course.

Exactly.

Allen C. Paul (41:29)
What was God teaching you about yourself as you're doing this crash course? Cause I'm just seeing this kind of butterfly effect that you're having where it's like you're coming out of this cocoon. I'm just wondering, like, are you like realizing that is it at every moment that you say, my gosh, we're going to record. Is it that God is kind of giving you that pound of back? it that, that kind of, okay, God, I'm scared. But like what was happening in terms of your faith journey right then, because so many of us struggle right at that moment to say, okay, God, it seems like it's you. I think it's you.

this, but or is this just me, like praying that it's you and going off a cliff?

Teea Goans (42:05)
Yeah. You'll never walk on water till you step out of the boat. And if you don't take that first step, you're not going to know what the next step is. And if there is a next step, the thing is, is God doesn't tell you the whole plan because you'd try to do it tomorrow. You know what I'm saying? God doesn't give you the whole plan in advance because you'd go, okay, I got this. And you'd go try to figure out how to get it done. No, he gives you the first thing. And if you question the first thing, step out. First of all,

consult him, consult his word. It lines up, you know what I mean? Cause there's certain things that you may have pop in your mind that you're like, you know what? That doesn't really line up with what God says. So that's definitely, that's not, that's not good. So weigh it there first. And then if you feel like, okay, this is what I'm supposed to do. Take that step. If there's a next step, it will be revealed. If there's not, it will not. You know I'm saying? I mean, you just have to hold his hand. That's what trust is. That's what faith is. Is it's just,

Allen C. Paul (42:36)
Right,

Teea Goans (43:05)
taking that first step and don't get so far ahead of God. One of the songs that I wrote is called Enjoy the View. ⁓

Allen C. Paul (43:12)
Just, ⁓ thank you. I was bumping that last night.

Teea Goans (43:18)
But I wrote that because from the time I was eight years old, okay, my goal was to get to Nashville. I'm going to go to Nashville. That was it. I don't remember birthday parties. I don't remember school dances. I don't remember. I have very, very, very little memories of my years growing up because I was so thinking about the next thing.

Allen C. Paul (43:44)
Yeah.

Teea Goans (43:45)
that I missed the thing happening right there. And that was maybe the biggest lesson I learned through all of this transition in 2020 was you better make, you better start paying attention to what's going on right now because you've probably missed out on a lot of little things, even little things that God needed me to do then that I missed out on because I was, ⁓ no, this is this, you know, and I just, that is something that if it, that I've learned through performing these songs that I wrote,

where they were therapy for me getting them out. People don't walk up to me after a show anymore and go, you have a pretty voice. They walk up and go, that song made me think about what I need to start doing. Or that song I felt like was talking about a situation that I'm in right now. Again, it's fulfillment. That makes me feel like I helped somebody.

Allen C. Paul (44:41)
Yeah.

Teea Goans (44:42)
What I'm doing, you paid money for a ticket to see me perform. Okay. You paid money for something. I want to give you something more than just tickling your ears. I want to give you something that you can walk away with and go, that was worth my money because I'm going to go home and live a different way or do something different or tell somebody I love them or thank somebody for that, you know, or forgive somebody, whatever. But, and I didn't realize that when I was writing the songs that that was what it was going to become, but

I have always said that if music didn't work out, I would be a therapist. Well, I can do both now. I can do both now.

Allen C. Paul (45:16)
I can't

Are you already are both like, feel like that right there. mean, there's so much look, let's not again. We could do this a two. could do a three hour podcast. Watch out. Yeah. get ready for the joke. But David and Saul, what was his port? What was his, what was the point of the harp? David had an evil, I mean, David Saul had the evil spirit and, David comes and sings in place and what was tormenting, tormenting Saul.

And by the way, by his own fault, So even people that are bound up and buy that ticket to come see you, you're just offering them the... I love the way you said it. You're giving them more than what they paid for. That's the giving part, I think, of the industry. Like you said, sometimes we get so, I got to make a living, I got to pay the band, blah, blah, blah. But you always end up giving more than you take.

And that that whole giving and receiving thing that the Bible talks about is absolutely as an artist, like you are always giving more than you take, like always. And I love what you said about that therapy. That's something that money can't buy. Like they can't, they can't get that connection that they have with you just from, any other source other than the music that you produce, because it came from, like you said, from another source.

Teea Goans (46:39)
Right. And I actually spoke to a group of teenage girls just a couple of days ago. There's a summer camp just outside of Nashville. And they had asked me to come and just play some songs and talk to them and whatever. And I had never really done anything like that before. And I was like, okay, I'll figure it out, you know. And when it was finished, one of the leaders came up and she said, you told them things that I could tell them and they wouldn't hear it. But because the way you told them,

and the way you worded it or whatever, from your perspective, they heard that. And they wouldn't have heard it if I had said it to them, but they heard it differently. And I thought that's what music can do, is it can take something that you might not just walk up to your friend and go, listen, you need to try to work on this thing or whatever, but you can put that in a song. And when you hear that, you know that, because we hear songs like that that make us go, I need to get.

Allen C. Paul (47:30)
I'm sorry.

Teea Goans (47:32)
I need to get right about that. Cause that's something that I need to work on. You know what I mean? And I just feel like, again, it goes back to that fulfillment over faith or over fame. said faith, fulfillment over fame. And I think when, I don't know, when you're speaking, when you're singing and talking to people, you and you're not bringing it to them going, I'm going to preach at you.

Allen C. Paul (47:43)
the fan

Right. No, because yeah, it's, it's not top down. It's not, I'm the guru and you're going to listen and follow. No, we're all in the same journey. the song puts us.

Teea Goans (48:02)
You're selling my story.

These

things that I'm thinking about, I'm still having to every day pick up my cross and go, okay, you've got to get this. It's just happen. It's like, I'm still learning. So yeah, it's been a pretty amazing run. And then in the midst of all of this, last July, yeah, so it's been almost a year ago, strange.

I had been playing some writers rounds with Moose and luckily Moose of course plays guitar. So when I do writers rounds, he was always there to play with me, but I had kind of wanted to do some things on my own. And again, having to rely on someone else. That's something else that I really want to tell people. can rely on people and have help in your life and have other people, but you do need to.

to know that you can't fully rely on everybody else. You know what I mean? Cause it can get difficult. And that was always hard for me when I was performing because I always had to call somebody to play guitar for me or call somebody to come and play piano for me or whatever, you know. And ⁓ Brandon and I were walking through the mall in Franklin, Tennessee last July. We walked past this little, like a gift shop, like a, you know, souvenir Nashville gift shop, right? And they had these ukuleles in the window. And Brandon goes,

You know, you should get a ukulele because you have tiny hands, which has always been my excuse as to why I can't play an instrument because I do have really tiny hands.

Allen C. Paul (49:44)
So he wasn't just taking a shot at you. I'm

Teea Goans (49:45)
He wasn't, but he goes, you can probably play a ukulele. And I'm like, why would I want to play a ukulele? Like that's dumb. And we went in there and I like picked it up and I was like, that's dumb. And I hung it up. We walked out. I could not stop thinking about that ukulele. And the next day I ordered a ukulele, just a little cheap ukulele. And I thought if that thing comes and if I can learn one song on it, like, okay. So it comes in the mail. I sit down with the YouTube, you know, the teacher of all things. Yeah.

Allen C. Paul (50:13)
YouTube University,

Teea Goans (50:15)
And I said, okay, so I pull up some, think it was Dreams by Fleetwood Mac. Okay, okay, okay, I'm gonna, I'm gonna see if I can win this. And like within a couple hours, I was like, look at me playing a song. Look at me playing a song, you know? I was like, okay, that's weird, whatever. And so I kept messing with it a little bit here and there. And then I started trying to figure out my own songs. Now I didn't know, and I still don't, okay, just know this.

Allen C. Paul (50:21)
Yeah, okay.

Teea Goans (50:45)
If you say play me a G, I don't know how to do that. I don't know what that is. Okay.

Allen C. Paul (50:50)
I'm not, I'm not, The music theory nerds of me that grew up with every single scale known to man in our heads, wish we could get some of that stuff out of our heads. Because.

Teea Goans (50:52)
The music.

Yeah, this is not me. This is not, I'm like, But I know where to put the capo and how to move my hands to make the notes go. I know what I know. And that's all I need to know. like, it's good. Okay. It ain't for everybody, but it ain't for everybody is for me. So I'm like, okay. So I start doing that and I start messing around. I'm like, huh, I get a email from a woman who I've yet to ever meet in my life. Her name is Shirley.

Allen C. Paul (51:10)
You know when you know when you need to dance.

Teea Goans (51:31)
That's literally all I know about the lady. And she said, I have another artist and he's doing a writer's round in pigeon Forge, Tennessee, which is about three hours from here. Okay. And she said, he's doing a writer's round and we were wondering if you would want to be a part of it. And I thought, well, I'm not going to, can't pay afford to pay somebody to come with me to pigeon Forge for a couple of nights to play two nights there. And I can play three or four of my own songs on my ukulele.

And I thought, I don't know anybody in Pigeon Forge. I can get up there and make a total fool of myself. And I don't know these artists that have asked me to come along and play. And I thought, I'm gonna do that. Okay. So I tell this lady, yeah, I'll do it. And like, I mean, I think we made like $8 in tips that night. it was not like, was, you know what I'm saying? Like, is not some big life-changing gig, but it was like, this was the start of me starting totally over and a totally new place. So I take my ukulele, I go to Pigeon Forge.

And I mean, I was like, okay, it wasn't perfect, but I made it through and I played my uke and I did these two rounds and these guys were so nice. I'd never met them. Still never met Shirley. And I came home and well that night the sound man came up and he said, I have a friend who has a small Taylor guitar and she just has it with four strings on it, but she plays it like a ukulele. And I go, huh, okay. So the next day.

I go over to the guitar center and I buy me a Taylor Mini and it still has four strings on it because that's what I know and that's how I can play it and that's what I can do. But now I can go out on my own. I can go to the summer camp and play for the girls and sing the songs I need to do. I'm playing, I played Puckets in Franklin last weekend by myself with my own thing. I played at the ⁓ Johnny Cash.

his old farmhouse that they have renovated and made into a songwriter store. It's called Storytellers. It's so cool. I played there last weekend. But myself, but I'm doing it. I did it. Like God put that in me and gave me the ability to figure out a way to do it to where I felt comfortable doing it. And I can get through it. And I'm not Chet Atkins or, you know, I'm not like some fabulous guitar, but I can strum and I've got rhythm because I was a drummer. So I'm like, I can do it. I can do it. You know, I mean,

So like now my whole world has just opened into all these opportunities that I would have never had. And they mean so much more to me than anything I've ever done before.

Allen C. Paul (54:04)
gosh, this is too good. I am so thankful that you decided to hang out with me at the Betsy and a couple of those couple of minutes, because I never would have known the depth of how your story and how you follow your faith or that fulfillment over fame. That part, which is so gratifying to people who like me, who sometimes start to chase the fame. We sometimes get, and it's like, no, wait, I'm on the right track.

I'm on the right track. I'm on the right track. This is how God wired me so I could pick up a ukulele and just say, you know what? I'm going to try it. I'm, I want to ask this one question because I know we got to go, but I'm loving this so much. And I'm asking you, I asked this at usually at the end of interviews and everybody like says, gosh, I really don't want to this. Okay. Let's take you back to that eight year old and she's writing out.

pictures of singing at the opera and she's getting ready to do these gigs and stuff like that. What would you tell her now? Now that you know all that you know, what would you tell that little eight year old that, you know?

I'll just leave that there. What would you say to her?

Teea Goans (55:18)
I would say always be yourself.

God made you exactly how you are. There's nobody else like you in the whole world.

be who he made you to be. Don't stray. Don't try to figure it out on your own. And just let him guide you because where you're gonna end up is you're gonna be so happy there. And it's not gonna be about singing at the Grand Ole Opry. It's not even about that anymore. You're gonna get to do the things.

but that's not even the good part. That's not, again, I think it's so weird that that whole fulfillment over fame thing, that just, I think that's what I would say. Like you're gonna find joy beyond the happiness that you get when you're on stage. There's a joy that goes beyond that because the stage,

There are bad nights. There are times when you don't want to sing. There are times when you don't feel like performing, but the joy of doing what God wants you to do, what he needs you to do, that doesn't go away. That's deep within and that the peace and the fulfillment and the just, don't know. Nothing can top that.

And if there's anybody out there that's listening that is still in a struggle about that, man, just keep listening to God. He is not going to steer you wrong. He's going to point you exactly where he needs you to go to do the things he needs you to do. If we look at it like that, if we don't, we take ourself out of the equation, instead of what do I want, instead of what do you need me to do? That's it. I mean, that's where it's at. If you really want to know, that's where it's at.

Because when you go to that part, your cup's gonna be full. You don't have to worry about that. You know what I mean? When you're taking care of other people, your cup will be full because that's what we're called to do. We're here to spread a message. We're here to be Jesus on this earth. And I'm like, let's do that. Let's be Jesus and show people that through what we do.

He gave us these talents. He gave us these things.

Allen C. Paul (57:59)
You know, let's be light on the hill. Gosh, it's so beautiful. And somebody just heard that. I know somebody was just blessed by that. Someone is blessed by all of this. So much light and love is coming out of this podcast. We can't bottle it up. But for those who want more of what you have just shared, who want more of the light that you share, all the stories and everything that's coming out of your music. And by the way, I, by the way, I'm going to do our creativity works. I don't, I don't want you to gloss over this. I want.

point 00001 part of the credits when you write a song called The Good Part because I caught that and I'm like, that's a lyric right there. What you said about go, go listen to this again and tell me there's no song somewhere. I love that. As soon as I heard that, like, my gosh, that's all right. And I'm ready to play if you need, if you need tracks, let me know. I got you. I got you. Great. You need to make that happen. But for those who want to find more about you,

Teea Goans (58:49)
I am here to collaborate.

Allen C. Paul (58:55)
Get the album who want to listen to more of what you have to share. Tell them how to find you. they're not old, if they're old school, they're writing it down. They should just tap the links.

Teea Goans (59:03)
Here, watch this. Watch me be, you wanna see me be real fancy?

Allen C. Paul (59:08)
Come on with the QR, y'all scan it right there.

Teea Goans (59:10)
You are that you just scan that that'll take you to every which way you can find me. That'll take you to all the socials that'll take you to all the Spotify's and the iTunes and the website and the things. OK, this is something I would highly recommend, y'all. I invented this, I think I've never seen anybody else. Taking full credit, but you can get on the I think it's like this to print or whatever. This is the front. This is the front of my album. And this is the QR. So when people come up and go, I don't have a CD player in my car, you can go.

Allen C. Paul (59:32)
Yes.

Teea Goans (59:40)
Here you go. But yeah, but yeah, TeeaGoans.com that's got all the links to everything. I'm on YouTube, I'm on Facebook, I'm on Instagram. would, if you find me on Instagram, DM me, like I would love to stay in touch with you guys. Cause I love this podcast. In fact, I listened, I think it was what a couple of weeks ago when you were talking about ⁓ the pod match and that's.

Allen C. Paul (59:42)
Exactly

Yeah, guesting. I saw you! saw you!

Teea Goans (1:00:12)
That was because of you! See how it all goes around?

Allen C. Paul (1:00:15)
Wow, look, this is again, this is how God, adds, he adds and multiplies because we are sharing in each other's struggles and helping each other. Wow, that's so amazing. This is why, again, this is why we are fast friends. Even though I can't get over there to go chill out on the porch with you, but whenever you're back in Florida.

You have a place and a home right here where we can continue to grow together. I love this so much. My sister, thank you so much for being a part of this show of the podcast. this won't be the last time, I guarantee you.

Teea Goans (1:00:50)
Absolutely not.