Up and coming musician, Tanya Gallagher, lives a double life. The Pensacola, Florida-native is also a folk/Americana singer/songwriter (who also once was an intern at NASA) – as well as a cartographer for Santa Rosa County where she lives. She celebrates the release of her brand new EP, One Hand On My Heart (Daniel Menzez).
The EP opens with the country-tinged track, “Dark Side,” reminiscent stylistically of artists like KT Tunstall, Sheryl Crow, Fiona Apple, and Jewel. On “Dark Side,” Gallagher showcases her exceptional songwriting abilities, musicianship, and vision through the production, lyricism, and maturity. She sings, “…just be honest if it’s not something you want…with my head high I will move on, so darling do not waste my time,” she sings on “Dark Side.”
The EP came at a time when she was engrossed in earning a Ph.D. in forestry in Vancouver, in addition to a split from a long-term boyfriend. Between the stress of her education and the recent breakup, she found it difficult to carry on at times. “There were so many times I wanted to quit,” she says.
“When I describe myself as a scientist and a songwriter, I think people immediately assume there must be this right brain-left brain dichotomy between these two passions but for me, they’re almost symbiotic. I don’t think I could have one without the other,” she says.
The track “A Little Effort” is a smoky, alt-country-tinged song that compliments Gallagher’s voice so well.
“you say, it’s not your fault/you were cautious and all/and I threw my filter to the wind/and said fuck it/you said it’s hard/letting go/well, don’t you think I know/I’ll be lonesome for a long, long time to come… well back where we started/and this is how it’s always been/tried to be lovers, but we couldn’t be more than friends/and I know/this whole time/she’s no better woman than I/you’re satisfied/looks like you’re makin’ moves/a little effort looks good on you.”
The third track on the EP, “Barren Land,” is definitely one of the standout tracks, which showcases Gallagher sings about the spiritual side of her breakup (“Come down off of your mountain, because I don’t quite understand how you can take me high as heaven and bring me down to barren land”).
Her timeless voice, superior songwriting, and the emotional vulnerability she displays on the EP makes her a standout, up and coming musician that is just getting started in the music industry.
