Tia McGraff was born Tia Lynne
Hofgraff in Simcoe, Ontario, Canada.
She grew up in a small town on Lake
Erie called Port Dover
and remembers her first trip to the "city"! She was only 7 years old
and her parents were taking her to see the musical Camelot in Hamilton,
Ont. Although the "big city lights" were impressive, Tia's eyes and ears were opened when she heard the
orchestra play the first bar of the overture. She turned to her mother and
said, "I want to be on stage"!
Since that life calling experience,
Tia's musical career has led her on a journey that includes 4 albums ( Small
Town Life, Jewels Café, Outside Of The Circle, Day In My Shoes ); videos on CMT
Canada; exposure on CBS Nightly News with Katie Couric; and radio play on
Americana, Triple A, and Country radio stations around the world; and has had
songs placed in film and TV.
Tia’s international tours have included
notable performances such as BBC Radio 2
Whispering Bob Harris Show, UK; WSGE, NC AAA Radio; Strawberry Festival - Yosemite, CA; Riverhawk Festival - Orlando, Fla;
Frank Brown Intl Songwriters Festival - Gulf Shores,AL; Main Stage at Llangollen Festival, Wales; and
Seswyn Fawr, Wales, and indoor concert venues like the famous Bluebird Café,
Nashville - Clairmont Opera House, NH - The Robin 2,UK to name a few.
Tia's fan base has grown to include "music lovers" from all
around the world and is perhaps her biggest passion. She loves meeting people
and sharing the gift of music.
Tia relocated to Nashville, TN to
further her songwriting craft in 1999 and it was there that she met her husband
and fellow songwriter & touring partner, guitarist Tommy
Parham. After honing their
songwriting skills, they have since moved back to Port Dover
and after each tour, enjoy coming home to the waters of Lake
Erie and working out of their studio! Here they have the opportunity to “give back”
to the community through teaching and mentoring young talent.
She has written with other such notable
writers as Randy Bachman
(BTO), Andrew Gold
(Linda Ronstadt), Henry Priestman (The
Christians), and Rick
Giles (Reba)
just to mention a few.
Tia loves writing and recording and looks upon each new song and album as a
story waiting to be shared. But it's still the excitement of being in front of
a live audience and communicating through music,that inspires her most.
Tia's childhood dream of "being on stage" has definitely been
fulfilled and in the words of a good friend who once told Tia,
"Every day we get to wake up and make music is a great day to be
alive!" She knows it to be true. |
