Two decades ago, when Tee Templeton was in his mid-40s, he decided it was time to finally grow up and, in turn, stop making music. After a divorce, a slew of years lost in a serial bender, a bipolar diagnosis, and a move to New York, Templeton finally found sobriety and a full-time job. Songwriting had always been a lifeline for Templeton, from his childhood in Mississippi to a long and weird run in North Carolina. But he decided to put this lifelong compulsion to write songs aside, so that he could devote his full attention to his career. First, though, he handed his new boss a stack of songs he’d recorded, asking for her candid feedback. Instead of suggesting he stop, she became an ardent fan and demanded he keep going, that he not lose this love he’d had since childhood.
Templeton introduced himself to the world with “I have a lotta dreams,” a powerful ode to self-realization driven by an insistent guitar riff, strings and clever production flourishes that add to the urgency. Both songs will be featured on Tee’s soon to be announced debut album. He followed it up with “Frozen Arrows,” a string-gilded ode to the numbness that experience and endurance can bring, crystallizes so much of what his music is about—the twists, the turns, the unexpected maneuvers of existence.
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