Byron teen releases original music

For Tessa Stites, releasing her debut single “M.O.” was the culmination of years of hard work but also the beginning of what she hopes is a career in music.
Part of the reason she’s been able to release her own music while still in school is because she’s spent years learning her craft.
“I’ve loved music since a young age,” she said.
She began learning to play the piano in third grade, began writing music in eighth grade, and added guitar to her repertoire in high school.
In addition to her own music, she’s also taught guitar lessons through Pure Rock Studios in Rochester for about two years.
“It’s made me such a better performer,” Stites said.
Through her work at Pure Rock, she’s gotten a lot of opportunities to play around Rochester, including Rockchester, a music and arts festival, and her first out of state performance at University of Wisconsin-Stout.
Even though she and her mother had to drive through a winter storm; she said her out of state performance was “absolutely amazing!”
Around that same time she was recording her debut single “M.O.” at Carpet Booth Studios in Rochester.
Stites mentioned it was a long process because she also had to balance school and work.
Despite that, she said, “It was a good first experience, and I’m ready to release even better music than I already have.”
She explained that her music is characterized by country and pop influences, some rock country, and some blues-y vibes.
However, what she thinks is most important is her lyrics are 100% authentic.
“I want my music to mean something so I try to use my emotions and own them,” she said.
It’s important to her that music is honest because music truly does help people.
“It’s such a big influence in my life and I hope other people can have that same feeling especially because I’m not someone to sugarcoat things,” Stites said.
“It’s me being who I am and that’s really important.”
Now people around the world can find out who she is since her debut single was released to Apple music, Spotify, YouTube, and most major music streaming sites on Friday, Nov. 15.
She said her song already has over 700 views on YouTube.
“I think it’s doing better than what I thought my first song would do,” she said.
Regardless of its success, she’s proud of this step in her musical journey.
“It’s really exciting to have that step in my career. It’s been my dream for so long and it’s such a big accomplishment personally because I’ve wanted it for so long,” she said.
After graduation this spring, Stites will continue to pursue her passion for music, as she’ll study music business with an emphasis in production at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee.
“To be honest, Belmont was my only choice and once I got accepted, I immediately enrolled,” he said. “I’m really happy that I can attend there.”
On top of Nashville being so music-oriented, she said Belmont’s music business program is one of the best in the country
“I just knew that it was a city I want to live in and be able to focus on music,” she said. “It felt like home, and I knew that I could live and work there.”