Country-meets-R&B newcomer Tiera ended 2020 with a new publishing deal (with the all-women Songs & Daughters, as their flagship songwriter), a spot in CMT’s Next Women of Country class and her own Apple Music Country show, The Tiera Show. In short, she’s starting 2021 on fire.
Tiera quickly added new music to that list of adventures and accolades in the new year: She recently dropped “Miles,” a collaboration with singer and songwriter Breland.
“It’s basically a metaphor for love, the whole song,” Tiera shares in an interview. “When we finished it, Cameron, my producer and also co-writer on this song, he just, like, added in this rap part after. We always knew that we needed somebody like really cool to be on this song, and I just thought Breland would be perfect.”
Although Tiera had never met the budding artist of “My Truck” fame, she decided to send him the song with a request to join her on it. He was all in.
“Tiera is an incredibly talented young artist in Nashville, and I am honored to feature on “Miles” with her,” Breland shares in a press release. “It means a lot to me to have two Black country singers drop a song during Black History Month.”
Tiera drew this playful, lighthearted and harmonically rich, romantic tune from her current season of life — she’s newly engaged — and hopes others feel the love when listening, too.
“It’s a love song. I’m so in love right now, and that’s what I love to write about,” Tiera says, oozing with excitement. “So, I hope people think of their person whenever they listen.”
Tiera experienced the ultimate “pinch me” moment in New York City following the song’s Feb. 12 release — a moment she couldn’t just see in a photo, but had to absorb in person. “Miles” was being advertised on a Times Square billboard.
“I feel like I get emotional when I am with my fiancé, but that’s pretty much it,” Tiera admits. “But when they called me and told me [about the billboard], I was crying, because it’s not something I would have ever expected, especially since I’m an independent artist. It was just such a surreal, crazy moment.”
She’s building on all that momentum early in 2021. “Miles” is the third song from Tiera’s forthcoming EP, following “Found It in You” and “Shut It Down.”
“I’m just trying to release as much music as I can,” she says. “I feel like I’m making so many changes in my personal life, and it’s fun to reflect that in my music as well.”
Tiera has earned fans in fellow artists including Carly Pearce and Kelsea Ballerini, who have rallied for the singer’s success. She’s hoping to be a similar source of encouragement for those who look up to her.
“I always tell anybody, it was really important for me to figure out who I was as a person before I moved to Nashville. There’s so many voices around you that — and not intentionally — can influence you in a different way in your music that may not be who you really are,” Tiera muses. “I always tell people stay true to yourself, always stick to your gut, and always make music that you’re proud of and that you want to make.”
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