Tanya Alexander began her music career in St. John’s in the 1990s with her band Shy Mary. Their self-titled album received a MusicNL Female of the Year award nom in 1997. Tanya later worked for several years in drama and musical theatre with the Stephenville Theatre Festival, and also began staging her own Arts & Culture Centre productions. Shows such as Mojo Workin’: a Blues Revue, God Bless the Child, and Ladies of Jazz, featured Tanya with such notable special guests as The Secrets, Darrin Martin, Louis MacDonald, Wade Pinhorn, Scott Hammond and Evan Smith.

Tanya is widely known as a Jazz and Blues singer, but for her solo album in 2012 she went back to her Country and Western roots with Into Your Kiss, garnering a MusicNL Country Artist of the Year award nomination. Today, Tanya performs in St. John’s in a variety of ensembles, including a duo with her JUNO-award-winning husband Wade Pinhorn. She has also become obsessed with ukulele and has begun incorporating this into her live performance.

Some folks may not realize, but Tanya has profound deafness. She was diagnosed with a rare syndrome called, Semicircular Canal Dehiscence. Thanks to several recent surgeries and some cool technology, she is still able to perform and record, and she is ever grateful to be able to do so.