Tina Marie Williams' first job was shoveling horse poop in a smelly barn. Seriously.

Thankfully, the singer-songwriter from suburban Buffalo, New York, recently won the Kingdom Bound Christian Music Festival "International Talent Search," and her music career has since taken off in such a way where she won't be back at the barn anytime soon.

Tina may only be in her teens, but she's got a world-weary soul that suggests she's been through more pain in a few years than most people experience in a lifetime. However, much of that pain has been taken away by God, as Tina's experienced hope and peace through her growing relationship with Jesus Christ.

A lot of Tina's songs, which can be found on her debut album, "Razorblades Amazing Grace," were written when she was depressed and confused during her early teenage years. It was during this time she took to cutting herself with razorblades.

About the cutting, Tina says, "I was confused and frustrated with life and that's how I dealt with it. Not having control of certain addictions, not having control of my life, hating myself, not being at peace with my personal religion, and just being lonely were a few of the reasons why I cut. But as soon as I stopped focusing on trying to stop, and trying to fix myself, and just focused on loving and pleasing God, He freed me from it."

Now Tina is living a life with purpose, trying to give out as much hope and joy as she can. She's also interested in challenging Christians to think more about their faith, and giving hope to non-Christians, too.

Whether she's playing her songs in front of a crowd at a church or at a bar, Tina seems to attract a very diverse crowd, from grandparents to goth-punk kids dressed all in black.

An unpretentious attitude coupled with refreshingly honest dialogue with her audience has helped Tina build a loyal fan base in a relatively short time.

Fans are also impressed with her strong voice, lyrical content, and musical prowess on the guitar.

With influences like the Goo Goo Dolls, Something Like Silas, Derek Webb, Switchfoot, Flaming Lips, and U2, Tina uses her guitar to write songs based on her thoughts about life.

"I don't really have a process," she says. "I'll just be going throughout the day and a line will pop into my head randomly, or I'll be bumming around on my guitar and I'll stumble upon a chord progression that I like. It's all very haphazard and random, which is basically how I do everything."

Tina Marie Williams definitely has an artist's soul, and when she's on stage, strumming her guitar, and sharing her thoughts with the audience, she's right where she needs to be. It's only a matter of time before this young woman's music is known worldwide, and one thing's for sure- it certainly beats shoveling horse poop!

www.tinamariewilliams.com
www.soundclick.com/tinamariewilliams

--Mark Weber, www.buffalochristian.com