Once upon a time, I had a new single to promote called Good Ride (Mechanical Bullshit).

As a fully independent artist, I was doing my usual task of pitching the song over email to DJs at my local radio station, KEXP, based on this guidance that KEXP DJ John Richards wrote.

I had consistently been pitching my music to KEXP DJs since 2018, and I’d been lucky enough to have my songs played by DJs here and there, but none of my music had ever made it into official rotation. In fact, when I pitched my music to the station’s music director in 2019, I got this pretty devastating response: “Hi Tinsley -- I checked out the songs and passed -- a little too mainstream for us, sorry. Take care.” [insert emoji melting into a puddle] It was a big ol’ blow to the ego, but it also lit a fire within me. I was more determined than ever to keep growing as an artist and musician, and I told myself I WOULD get my music into KEXP rotation someday.

In 2024, it happened: my single, Distract Me was added into official rotation. Distract Me was also the first song of mine John Richards noticed and played on-air during the morning show multiple times. He even added it to the KEXP Runcast podcast, which was a huge deal for me. It felt like all of the stars were starting to align.

Then, in response to my email about my latest single, Good Ride (Mechanical Bullshit) I got an email back from John Richards that changed my life:

“Are you doing a full length release? Vinyl?”

My mind started to spin.

I frantically texted the screenshot to my mom and boyfriend asking for their opinion on how to respond. I didn’t have any plans to do a full-length release anytime soon, let alone press it on vinyl. I had just been writing and releasing songs when I had the time, inspiration, and extra money to do so. So in the spirit of honesty being the best policy, I told him, “I would love to release a full album and press it on vinyl, that’s definitely the goal. Right now I’m building up my collection of songs and trying to save up funding for that.”

Then, he said, “Well if you plan on vinyl and are focused on this year for a release, I can help. I have a vinyl record club. I wanted to pay for an artists vinyl, up to 500 copies,” and when into more details.

WHAT?!?! I was trying to pick my jaw up from off the ground. I felt how I imagined it would feel to ever win the lottery. It was the most incredible offer I had ever received, and I honestly couldn’t believe the words I was reading.

At the same time, the realization that I would have to write and record an entire album to get it ready to be pressed on vinyl before the end of the year started to sink in, and it was already nearing the summertime. It was going to be an INSANE turnaround time. Could I even feasibly make it happen? I decided I’d do whatever it took to make sure I could. There was no way I could turn down such an amazing opportunity, so in spite of not knowing the how, I wholeheartedly accepted.

What followed was a string of frantic texts, emails, and FaceTime calls to round up my trusted producers and fellow musicians to share the big news. It was time for my type-A, eldest daughter organizational skills and days as a PR executive to shine, creating a color-coded workback schedule in Google Sheets to bring this vinyl record into the world. There were demos to write, arrangements to make, studios to book, session musicians to hire. Brand new songs that needed producing, mixing, mastering. Photographs to take. Album covers to design. Vinyl pressing companies to research. It was a WHIRLWIND, and I loved every second of it.

I booked two days at Studio X in Capitol Hill to get all the drums and live instrumentals down. Here are some pictures Will Harvey took of the process.

Timothy, Brandon, and I working out the bridge to “Cry Baby.”

My producer Jesse Field somehow convinced the touring drummer for Heart (HEART?!?) Sean T. Lane to agree to play live drums on my album.

The two producers on the album who made my songs shine: Timothy Robert Graham and Jesse Field!

We ended up with 5 brand new songs that made it onto the vinyl album: Back in Time, So Leo, Cry Baby, Twist the Knife, and Death Grip. Three other songs I’d previously released also made the cut: Distract Me, Just Three Words, and Good Ride (Mechanical Bullshit).

The result is a collection of songs I am deeply proud to call my debut album.

Photo by Will Harvey, design by Landon Duarte.

My debut album was officially added into KEXP rotation by the station’s new music director with this lovely review:

The origin story of my debut album