KYLE MURPHYStaff Writer

Unique as its name, Tullahoma will be getting some more recognition as “Tennessee’s Rising Star” thanks to the newest single from country duo Karli & James.

Karli & James, formerly Cross Atlantic, launched their new single “Tullahoma” onto streaming platforms Friday, June 23, and the country duo debuted their song at the Patio Stage at South Jackson Performing Arts Center that afternoon with a live, acoustic performance.

“It was one of those places that reminded us of home, felt like home, and [we] wanted to write a song about it and spread the small town love,” Karli Chayne said.

Chayne and James Sinclair-Stott first came to Tullahoma a couple years back after being invited to perform for the city’s Independence Day Celebration by musician and friend Wesley “Lee” Gibson. Sinclair-Stott said he and Chayne had a great time and as they returned home later in the evening they began talking about how Tullahoma had “a nice ring to it” and soon they began to formulate a song. According to the artists, the process of creating a song about Tullahoma took a few years, where they would eventually work with Grammy-nominated songwriter Adam Wheeler to write the song, with Sinclair-Stott producing it.

“It’s been a process,” Sinclair-Stott said. “Sometimes you have this cool idea but you want to make sure you have the angle on it right and fully understand what you want to say. Sometimes that means you have to the right person to write it with and Adam Wheeler was the perfect person.”

Chayne added part of the process for writing the song was learning about all the quirks that make Tullahoma special, which included the train and tracks, the whiskey and its motto “Tennessee’s Rising Star,” which are referenced in the song. This included visiting the Tullahoma Area Chamber of Commerce to learn more about the city and they were told that Tullahoma is about trains, planes and whiskey.

“It’s what makes Tullahoma unique and I feel like small towns everywhere have those things that make them unique,” she said.

Both Chayne and Sinclair-Stott grew up in small towns, with Chayne from Missouri while Sinclair-Stott grew up in Guernsey, U.K. While there are some differences when coming their hometowns to Tullahoma, both said the city shares similar characteristics with their small towns, mainly that the heart and soul of the town is its citizens.

Karli & James have been a duo for about seven years. They first met in a coffee shop in Nashville back in 2015, and have toured around the world alongside acts like Lonestar, Uncle Kracker, Casey Donahew, Thompson Square, Mark Chesnutt, Sara Evans and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Their prior single, “I Need Neon,” features Porter Howell of Little Texas and their music has been featured on Billboard and CMT.

“We have been plugging away, earning that fan base, putting out music and telling our truth,” Sinclair-Stott said.

South Jackson Greg Gressel said it was a right place, right time opportunity when Karli & James visited the chamber of commerce and he happened to be there as well. He said they got talking about music and worked to set up a live premiere of their single.

“I’m glad they went the routes they did and just tried to come to Tullahoma to find out about things, coming through the chamber, looking to see all things Tullahoma,” Gressel said. “It was a great opportunity for us.”

Karli & James will be back in Tullahoma on Friday, Aug. 11, for Peggy Burton’s South Jackson Goes Country show and Saturday, Aug. 26, for concert on South Jackson’s Courtyard Stage.

“We feel very thankful that we were able to come here and have such a warm welcome and everyone be so supportive of us writing and putting out a song out there about their hometown,” Chayne said.

Sinclair-Stott added, “We cannot wait to grow this relationship with this wonderful town.”

Check out “Tullahoma” and Karli & James’ latest EP “Someday Dreaming” on every available streaming platform and follow Karli & James on their social media accounts for updates on touring and new music. Check out their performance of “Tullahoma” at South Jackson Performing Arts Center here.