Tenor Blue shines in the heartfelt new single, “You Don’t Love Like I Do”

Photo courtesy of Tenor Blue.

When you listen to reggae musician, Tenor Blue, you hear deep into his soul. The talented artist’s passionate delivery and lyrics make you pause and take in the beauty of his songs. We are absolutely loving Tenor Blue’s new single, “You Don’t Love Like I Do”, which is a powerful song hitting at our heartstrings. We caught up with Tenor to learn about his new single, and journey making the music he loves.

Tell us about your latest single, “You Don’t Love Like I Do”. We are loving the sound and your lyrics!

My latest song "You Don't Love Like I Do" is a song I wrote a few years ago based on a personal experience of mine surrounding the sudden collapse of a marriage. I was dealing with a severely broken heart and all the thoughts and feelings that come with the end of a relationship and just trying to make sense of what had happened. The song came to me in a moment of inspiration one morning and the words and melody poured out in a matter of like 30 minutes. 

I was working at the time with a producer by the name of J-Vibe Productions in South Florida who is a two-time Grammy Award winner, and brought him the idea within a day or so after having written it. He loved it and said it reminded him of Maxi Priest's "Some Guys Have All the Luck", although I think my tune is a bit darker. We ended up building the music that night and that's how the song was born. I always pride myself on writing lyrics that have real meaning but in this case there was a very specific message that captured what I was feeling and really came straight from my heart. In my experience the songs I've written like that have been some of the most inspired and powerful songs I've ever written. 

The melody on the hook is simple and memorable and the message is one that I know many people who have been through similar experiences can relate to. Being able to pour out your feelings into a creative outlet like songwriting when you're going through a painful experience is really therapeutic and helped me to find some joy and grace in that moment in my life.

How did you fall in love with reggae music and can you share about your musical journey with us?

I grew up in San Francisco. I got introduced to reggae during high school from a Jamaican co-worker of my Dad's.  He knew I was a big music lover and we were friendly from times I'd go to my Dad's office after school. He loaned me a couple albums by Bob Marley and Black Uhuru to check out. I'd grown up listening to mostly R&B/Soul music and once in high school started listening to a lot more diverse music, so this was at a time when my tastes and musical sensibilities were really starting to open up. I was blown away by those two records and that really started me on a journey of discovering reggae. A few years later I became friends with a guy who was a bit older than me, from L.A., whose uncle was my next door neighbor. He was a Rasta and he'd been very close friends with Peter Tosh and knew Bob Marley pretty well. By then I was a real reggae fan and he ended up introducing me to artists like Sugar Minott, Dennis Brown and Gregory Isaacs. Everything cascaded from there.

I always had an ear for music and could sing, but it wasn't until I was at college at UCLA and by now really seriously deep into reggae that I felt the urge to write. I started at first writing Lovers Rock songs to "versions" of popular reggae riddims and creating my own tunes. They were decent ideas and this led to some early connections to a few producers in LA who began giving me tracks to write to. I met my first manager at that time at UCLA, a guy named Field with whom I still am friends to this day, who was a real hustler and he opened a lot of doors for me to work with other producers and industry connections. I eventually signed to a record deal with PMP Records, a subsidiary of RCA, and got about 80 percent finished with an album project when I ran over budget and the label started to dissolve. 

Since then I've continued my journey working with numerous producers in South Florida where I ended up moving from California and have written and recorded many songs. I have performed over the years on stage with numerous reggae legends including Gregory Isaacs, John Holt, Frankie Paul, Barrington Levy, Richie Stephens and many others.  

Most recently I've moved to the Atlanta area where I live with my current wife and our two dogs. I continue to write music, record and am set to begin releasing a steady stream of new music in the coming years. Music is my heartbeat--it's my calling and mission I'll continue making music as long as I'm here on this planet.

“You Don’t Love Like I Do” by Tenor Blue is the Daily Reggae Song of the Day.

By CB.