Tanner Adell is crowded into her dressing room trailer's bathroom, dolloping on her signature lavender eyeshadow. She's wearing an oversized t-shirt with animated frogs across the front, her hair in two braided pigtails, bunny slippers on her feet. It feels like watching your best friend get ready in her dorm room before a fun night out. It might be one of those memorable nights at the honky-tonk that'll surely require a post-party debrief.
"I'm so glad we got to do this with someone who knows who I am," she says with a smile and a welcoming Southern drawl as she draws on two precise liquid eyeliner wings. Adell still does her own makeup, not only because it's financially sound, but because she has yet to find someone who does it the way she likes. "Sometimes people show up, and they're like, 'So, who are you?' and I have to say, 'Well, this is a movement, and you're obviously not on the train,' so it's good to have you here."
2024 has been a movement for the musician, who has seen her star rise over the past few years through a combination of hard work, TikTok virality, and a Beyoncé endorsement. Now, she’s about to go onstage at Hangout Music Festival in Gulf Shores, Alabama, further cementing her star power as a performer with signature style and hits to spare. She’s still grappling with that growth.
"Every time I go out [to perform], I'm like, 'What if no one's there? Oh my God, what if no one shows up?'" she says. The night before her debut at the festival, Adell was in Atlanta performing at Country Music Television's Hot Prospects Series. "I'm behind the stage, and I hear them say, 'Tanner Adell is here tonight,'" she recalls of the Atlanta show. "It was like a wall of screaming. I ended up playing to a ton of people that night. Atlanta showed out, and the CMT Hot Prospects team said it was the biggest turnout they had ever seen."
Adell's faith sits at the epicenter of her being. She knows she was put here on this earth for a reason: to make music. "I always get a little bit choked up and a little bit emotional," she says about being on stage. "It really doesn't matter how many people are there. I know there will always be one person who needed to see me that day."