Tarriona Ball - Tank and The Bangas - Think Tank 10 Year Anniversary Show

City Winery Nashville Presents Tarriona Ball - Tank and The Bangas - Think Tank 10 Year Anniversary Show live on March 13th at 7:30pm

“People around me need to feel good, and I want to entertain them so they feel those good spirits. I go to Germany, Japan, anywhere, and I feel like I bring New Orleans with me,” Tank Ball, the spirited frontwoman of Tank and the Bangas, told us proudly. Ball’s mesmerizing, warm, and kind words are directly representative of the way she makes her audiences around the world feel. As evidenced by a Grammy nomination as well as numerous other awards, Ball’s ability to connect with her audience on such a personal level through her craft is a rare gift, one that is only granted to the best artists. Even more inspiring to us, however, was the story of her come-up, the story of how a New Orleans girl grew up to become a confident, influential award-winning artist.

Tarriona “Tank” Ball was born and raised in New Orleans and lived most of her childhood in the 8th Ward. As a child, Ball was considerate, artistic, and friendly as well as shy and self-conscious, she told us. When describing her time living on Music Street, Ball emphasized how lively her neighborhood was—how everyone knew each other, there were plenty of adorable pets, and she’d bike around with her friends. Though her childhood in the 8th Ward was impactful and very fun for her, it wasn’t the safest neighborhood. Ball’s family eventually moved to New Orleans East for a more sheltered life, including a better school for Ball and her sisters.

As for growing into her artistic ability, vocal talent flowed in Ball’s blood as her father and sisters all sang. She describes singing as an “organic” experience. However, in the beginning, Ball was not confident in her singing abilities and used to mimic her sisters. But she was tenacious, kept trying, and continued believing in herself because she knew musical talent was in her genes. She disclosed to us that she always wrote better than she sang, was a writer growing up, and liked to participate in slam poetry contests. If Ball wouldn’t have become a singer, she would have been a teacher, she told us. She even went to college to realize her dream of being an educator, but life, of course, had different plans for her.