NASHVILLE, Tennessee—Tiffany Woys has always wanted to be a performer. Her mother was a huge Celine Dion fan, and when she was five, her mother took her to her first concert. Even though she was so young, it had a profound impact on her. She wasn’t sure exactly what was happening, but she knew she wanted to hold a microphone and sing.
A few years later, Woys heard LeAnn Rimes sing the National Anthem at a Dallas Cowboys football game, so she started singing the National Anthem whenever she could. Her parents finally started taking her desire to sing as a career more seriously. However, they insisted that she attend college and get a degree. She could become a singer later on.
Ways studied political science in Sacramento, which is about two hours away from home. She would come home every weekend, put a band together, and began touring the West Coast after finishing her studies.
Because she was determined to be a country music singer, Woys made frequent trips to Nashville to learn all about the business. In 2017, she moved to Nashville permanently, but unlike most of the people I interviewed, she had no interest whatsoever in writing music.
“By the time I really did make the move, I was incredibly busy because I was already working in Nashville with a manager, with people. I was already making music,” she recalled. “I’ve never had a Plan B.”
Woys quoted the adage, “If you do what you love, you will never work a day in your life.” She continued, “I feel incredibly blessed that I actually have gotten the opportunity in this lifetime to actually pursue what I love to do. I had a lot of supportive people behind me that were encouraging me.”
In 2022, she released an EP, All About Love, which included tracks co-written by Hannah Ellis, Tammi Kidd Hutton, Sara Haze, Emily Shackelton, John Kennedy, Busbee, and more. She also started a successful podcast called What’s Mine is Yours.
But a life-changing event occurred. She got engaged, and then, just weeks before she was to walk down the aisle, he called it off.
She recalled, “When we got engaged, it was pouring rain. All the candles he had put on the rooftop weren’t even lit anymore. My bridal shower was completely in a torrential downpour in Nashville where we all had to have umbrellas. And then our first wedding date was actually called off by Hurricane Ian. It was like God kept sending me messages. And it’s one of those things where when you’re in it, you can’t see it.”
To say she was heartbroken was an understatement. She sent cancellation notices to the 380 people who were invited. But the life-changing moment came when she, for the first time in her life, felt the desire to write her own music.
Woys had a hand in writing six of the eight tracks on her latest EP, I’m Your Woman, which was released this past May. One of the most deeply personal tracks she released, “Took Back” was featured as a People Magazine exclusive. The song expounds that her former fiance took back a lot more than just an engagement ring.
She said, “I realize that I wasn’t the first person to go through a broken engagement, however, it really isn’t written about. I see a lot of music that’s released by females in country about divorce. Divorced country is out there like wildfire. But there was nothing that was out there when it happened before the marriage.”
Woys soon realized that she might as well start writing her story since she was feeling all the emotions. This breakup prompted such songs as the solemn “Chasing Storms,” “The Only One I’ve Got,” and “Only Thing It Does.” She has learned that she isn’t the only one feeling this way. What helped her to heal will help others as well.
The most country-sounding song on the record is “Last Time I’ll Cry,” a song about being finished with being sad about the breakup. “It’s a little tongue in cheek,” she confessed. Nevertheless, the fun songs are part of the healing process. It teaches the girl (or guy) not to wallow around for too long.
A song she didn’t write but fits the theme of the EP is the upbeat “You and Country Music,” as in “You and country music always come back around.” “I know when a song is meant for me usually in the first 30 seconds of hearing it,” she acknowledged.
The EP confidently concludes with the title track, “I’m Your Woman,” about a girl who is going to make her own fairytale. The lyrics I’m not a girl anymore but I still believe/ In a little bit of magic and storybook dreams/ I don’t need a white horse or a kiss from a prince/ but I do want a dog and a white picket fence reminds one not to settle for second best.
Woys’ message to women and everyone who has experienced this kind of heartbreak is, “Maybe it wasn’t that you’re not enough. Have you ever thought that maybe they weren’t enough for you?”
Now that Tiffany Woys is committed to being a songwriter and singer, she can participate in the many songwriters’ rounds that are available in Nashville. She recently played with the Song Suffragettes at the Listening Room. She is also working on Season 2 of her What’s Mine is Yours podcast, which focuses on Nashville songwriters.
If you have been through a tragic breakup or broken engagement, I’m Your Woman is the EP for you. But even if you haven’t, you will want to hear the beautiful lyrics and modern melodies.
You can follow Woys on Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok, YouTube, and all streaming services.
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Bethany Bowman is a freelance entertainment writer. You can follow her blog, Instagram, and X.
