Tish Period - Powerful Voice. Heartfelt Stories.

In this episode of The Rundown, Rene Knott sits down with Tish Period — nationally recognized vocalist, songwriter, and one of the most commanding voices in soul and R&B today.

From The Voice to The Tamron Hall Show, Tish reflects on the discipline, perseverance, and passion behind her journey. She also shares the surreal moment TLC showed up to watch her perform their music live — a full-circle experience that pushed her viral moment into the national spotlight.

With a voice compared to legends and a presence entirely her own, Tish continues to prove she’s more than a singer—she’s an experience. 

Powered by I Got Dan & Midwest BankCentre 

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

No, you laughed. So my heart starts like beating.

SPEAKER_04 0:02

It's racing. Wow. It was racing. So you see me in the video, I just kind of collapsed in front of the drums. And then I got back up. I went to the speaker and I put my hands on the speaker and I prayed quickly. I said, God, first of all, thank you for this moment. I appreciate you even just looking out for me the way you have been looking out for me. But right now, I need you like never before. I need to know what to say. I need to know what to do. All of the cameras are like this on me. Everybody. They done came from the back. The bartenders done stopped bartending. The cooks done stopped cooking. One no more.

SPEAKER_02 0:54

Thank you for joining us for this episode of the Rundown with Renina. Something special.

SPEAKER_06 0:59

As in song.

SPEAKER_02 1:02

Joining us, Tish Pirit, who will sing a lot better than me because that is what she does. And she does it in every genre you could think of on the music spectrum. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Tish Spirit. How are you doing?

SPEAKER_04 1:15

All is well. All is well. And we meet again.

SPEAKER_02 1:18

We meet again. The last time we saw each other was my last show at that other place I used to work at. How is life treating you right now?

SPEAKER_04 1:26

God is amazing. He is so faithful and he is just awesome in all his ways. I really have no words for how life is going right now for me because I'm just truly thankful. Everything has just literally been looking up since we last talked. More opportunities, just more recognition and even bigger support for my city.

SPEAKER_02 1:47

How important has it been to walk with faith?

SPEAKER_04 1:50

Because I can't do anything without God. That's first and foremost. He is He is the author and the finisher. He is Alpha and Omega. He's everything to me. And I really trust him with everything I pray about. A lot of the decisions that I make, a lot of the things that I do, a lot of the songs that I sing about, even making set lists. I pray about everything. So my faith is very important because I'm nothing without him. Nothing.

SPEAKER_02 2:15

Your background is a church, though.

SPEAKER_04 2:16

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 2:17

I mean, we go back to day one. It starts in the church. What did the church teach you about music?

SPEAKER_04 2:23

Uh just being consistent, being faithful to whether you have two people in the in in at church or if you got 50 people in church, we still sang like it was a crowd full. I'm a PK. So I was in church all the time. Okay. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. Let's take it on. So I was always in church. So church, you know, it's always just been the consistency of being and having a PK, you know, having a father for a pastor, you know, we didn't miss that. So we were, I was at all these different churches. I got to say for big churches, I got to sing for small, but I learned that root and that grounding early that it doesn't matter who I'm singing for because the glory still belongs to him.

SPEAKER_02 3:05

So does singing in church give you a certain type of voice, a certain type of connection to the music and a way to convey it to the audience?

SPEAKER_04 3:13

I feel that um, like so I say for myself, I sing with grit. I got a lot of grit. Um it comes from life, uh, it comes from happiness, it comes from uh different peace that I have, you know, um, and singing at church, yeah, you can always tell whenever I start singing RB, you can still tell that I came from the church. I try to kind of try to put a, you know, a helmet on it, but it's hard. Um so I always tell, and that's when people say, what do you hear when you hear Tish period? You're gonna hear church, you're gonna hear God. I don't care what it is that I'm singing about, you're just gonna hear it because that's just who, that's who's in me. Um so when I'm saying country, I've did, I've done uh what Jesus Take the Wheel and Jesus took the wheel. So, you know, it's it's you know, it means a lot. Um the church, the church definitely gives you your ground. And your first, the first time I ever sang a solo was I was 11 years old. And I sang um His Eyes on the Sparrow, and my mother was a gospel singer.

SPEAKER_07 4:18

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 4:18

So she sang for Cleophys Robinson back in the day. He was like the one of the biggest preachers in St. Louis, had a TV show, had a radio broadcast, and my mom was the lead singer. So I got up there and I'm thinking, I'm singing, I'm doing a good job, you know, everybody clapping, they waving their hands. She gets up here and finish the song, tore the whole church up. I'm like, so what did I do?

SPEAKER_02 4:39

You warmed up the act. I warmed it up. You were the warm up act.

SPEAKER_04 4:42

But I learned from her.

SPEAKER_02 4:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 4:43

Um, just the grit, the grind, and just giving it your all, no matter what. From day one, that's all I've been doing. Ever since I could open my mouth to sing, I've been singing as hard as I sing right now, if you ask me to.

SPEAKER_02 4:55

So you went through the grit, the grind, you make it to the voice.

SPEAKER_04 4:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 4:59

You make it to the voice. Did you feel like I'm here now, I've arrived.

SPEAKER_04 5:04

So, in all honesty, Randy, I've had a lot, I've had a lot before going before the voice. I was on a Showtime Me at the Apollo in 2000, in 2007, four months after my mom died, won second place. So I've been kind of in the grind. I've done a lot of competitions. I was uh I did a competition with TD Jakes in Atlanta. They had the mega fest that they used to have in Atlanta. I I did the competition, one tw well, twice, came up with second place.

SPEAKER_07 5:32

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 5:32

Um, you know, so I've done a lot of things actually before the voice. So I've been out here for a while. Okay. The voice just kind of gave me that extra platform for people in St. Louis to really, you know, get a win of who I was, who I am. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:45

Did Did you, when you got to that point of being on the voice, was it that next step? Was it like, okay, after this, it's record contracts and I'm going on tour and I'm headlining and was that what you were thinking?

SPEAKER_04 6:00

I I didn't go in thinking that I would blow up because in all honesty, I didn't want to win. I wanted to, I I that contract was crazy. So most people, when they do the voice or American Idol, Sunday Best, a lot of those times, they're just really going for the exposure because you get everybody in the world watching you. Um so when I was on the voice, I knew that I would probably get the exposure because I went from like a hundred or two hundred followers, and then the next day I aired on the voice, I woke up to like seven, eight thousand people, and I'm like, whoa. And then I had to develop the whole fan page and all of that kind of stuff. But I went on the voice, um, I caught it right before COVID. So right after I got off the voice, COVID hit, shut my entire life down. Like, so I couldn't sing anywhere. I had uh I was on the voice in 2018. I toured, did Canada, we went to uh Miami, all of the Unite, a lot of the United Ways, a lot of different corporate events um that I did in 2019 and then 2020 hit and the world stopped. So that was me now fast forward to this whole TLC. I was still trying to grind when I couldn't even grind, you know, because the world had stopped.

SPEAKER_02 7:13

I could ask you this. What kept you grinding then? Because, like you said, the world stopped. Who knows what tomorrow's gonna be? Why not, you know, I had a great career singing. Now it's time for me to do this over here.

SPEAKER_04 7:25

Because this is what I know I'm supposed to do. I'm I know my purpose is to sing. That's definitely my calling. And that's the thing that gives me the most therapy. You know, when I'm at home by myself and people think that I'm being super strong, and no, I'm at home singing worship music because this is what I need God to do to clear my mind, to clear my heart, to give me peace. Yeah, so yeah, I I thought that the world had stopped, but I still leaned onto my faith, into my faith and just singing. You know, so singing is what I do. This is this is who I am. If I don't know nothing else, if I don't know nothing else, I know that I'm supposed to sing.

SPEAKER_02 8:02

So the big moment after the voice is a chance moment that takes place down on Broadway. You're on stage at the Oyster Bar, you're singing, all of a sudden this car stops and a couple people come bouncing into the bar because you're singing Waterfall. Uh-huh. Just talk me through that moment and how surreal is that.

SPEAKER_04 8:22

So I'm up there singing. First of all, I walked in. I had been pub I had been publicizing it on um on Facebook and social media, all of my social media platforms. Like, hey y'all, please come support me at Broadway Oyster Bar. This is gonna be my first set by myself. Now I had sang there with a couple other different bands. So Broadway Oyster Bar, and they knew of me, but they didn't know exactly what I could do. So I'm like, y'all come support me because I really got to feel this place, show these people I got a following. I walk in ready with nobody there. Nobody. I walk in, I'm like, I don't know none of these people. So I gotta change my whole set list because I'm like, I can't, I can't sing all of the stuff that I I wanted to sing. I need to switch it up and then show my versatility because I know a lot of things. So I did that. Uh come to the second set. Um, I took waterfalls out of my first set. And we were out, we were out on the break. My my uh musician shouts out to Mark Harris the second. He came up, he's like, Tish, I need the set list. And I'm like, so I grabbed a piece of receipt paper and I just started writing down. I put waterfalls as like fourth or fifth on the list. So I go back in there, I wasn't even dressed up. Like, I literally, I didn't, I don't, I hate to say count it as nothing, but I didn't put my all into it because I was just like, mmm, we're just gonna sing, we're just gonna have a good time. And I know I got the best band. Shouts out to Chantella, CJ Davison, Freddie Spencer. You know, I got the best band, so I don't really have to really work hard. So I'm getting up there, we up here singing waterfalls, and I'm doing a little whole little T C dance. And I turn to my left and I'm looking and I'm like, What? I know I'm not tripping. It's somebody's impersonating chili. And then, like two singers later, T Boz come up, and I'm like, Tish. And I'm like, I know you lying. I know you lying. So my heart starts like beating, it's racing. Wow. It was racing. So you see me in the video, I just kind of collapse in front of the drums. And then I got back up, I went to the speaker, and I put my hands on the speaker and I prayed quickly. Like I said, God, first of all, thank you for this moment. I appreciate you even just looking out for me the way you have been looking out for me. But right now, I need you like never before. I need to know what to say, I need to know what to do. All of the cameras are like this on me. Everybody. They didn't came from the back. The bartenders done stopped bartending, the cooks done stopped cooking. Well, no more bang bang, shrimp coming out, no more bread pudding, none of that stuff coming out, okay? Everybody stopped. Everybody's like this, and I'm like, Lord, please be with me. I walk, open my eyes, told them thank you, and I walk back over, and that's when you start seeing me talking to them. And I'm just like, so that was all God led, because I didn't know what I was gonna say. But I was just like, thank you, ladies, you know, for giving us some timeless music. A lot of people got it misconstrued about me saying some of the words we don't know to. That's about the songs that we hear now. Yeah, or it'd be some of the songs you don't, I don't know what they're talking about. But I do know for a fact, I will never forget Waterfalls. Right. I will never forget, you know, a lot of the TLC songs. You know, it's just something that's just completely timeless. And they enjoyed what they heard.

SPEAKER_06 11:21

Right.

SPEAKER_04 11:22

And I gave them my all. That's cool. Even in that moment, as nervous as I was, as scared as I was, but as thankful as I was. And then after they left, they walked out. I didn't get a chance to talk to them. My musicians like started getting up, like trying to run to see if anybody was out there. I called one of my girlfriends up. I said, please come up here and sing, because I cannot, I can't, I I got I can't get it together right now. I walked outside and I completely broke down. I cried so hard. And it was just thankfulness. Because I'm like, really God?

SPEAKER_07 11:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 11:52

Because this didn't happen by chance. This didn't happen by uh what they say, happenstance or coincidence. This was completely God or dang. I was in the right place at the right time, and I was doing what I love. And he found me in that place.

SPEAKER_00 12:09

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SPEAKER_02 12:40

It's an incredible. I have a lot of words when I talk, but you know what I'm saying? Not to describe because it's kind of hard to think that here's something that I do. What is the the opportunity that I have? First of all, you go in there, it wasn't a big crowd, so your whole mindset isn't that much into it, so to speak. Next thing you know, you're up there and they come in. Now they happen to be in St. Louis because they're doing a show. Yeah. But again, how does that even happen? Yeah. How why are they on that side of town? Because I believe they were playing the other side of town.

SPEAKER_04 13:10

Yeah, they had left Forest Park and they were driving downtown to get back to their hotel. Shouts out to Olivia, who's their driver. She's the one that ran the stop sign, and she had to stop. And she said, when she stopped, she heard us playing the song. And she's like, They're playing your song. And then she rolls down the window, and then she's like, Chili was like, they're playing our song. And then she's like, pull over, pull over. Then they blocked the driveway. You see Chili come running out. It was it was crazy. And it was completely God. You cannot, you cannot give credit to anybody but God for that moment. So you can say what people say, you know, it was a lot of you know commentary on social platforms, and they was a stage and this, baby. I would have been dressed up, would have had a full face of makeup on. My hair would have been this big. I would have been in a glamour guy. Listen, I would have been glammed up had I known TLC was gonna be it, just gonna crash my set.

SPEAKER_06 14:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 14:09

Yeah. I hung that dress up though. I'm not wearing it again. Never again.

SPEAKER_02 14:15

It went in the closet. But that one under glass.

SPEAKER_04 14:17

I never wear that dress.

SPEAKER_02 14:18

How many people have seen that video now?

SPEAKER_04 14:20

Oh my God. I haven't checked. The last I checked in November, it was over like 30 something million views.

SPEAKER_02 14:30

30 something.

SPEAKER_04 14:32

And that was in November. But this morning I literally woke up to somebody on my TikTok, like, you are amazing. Wow. Still commenting on that video.

SPEAKER_02 14:41

Well, you go, I'm way better.

SPEAKER_04 14:42

Oh, yeah. I'm like, I'm like, but you have no idea. I wanted to chatter. Like, baby, you don't even know the time.

SPEAKER_02 14:52

You've done what, Tamara Hall's show?

SPEAKER_04 14:54

Twice. Twice now. In a short amount of time. In the same season. In the same season.

SPEAKER_07 14:59

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 14:59

So this happens. I get on her show, and on the commercial break, what you guys don't hear is that they're playing my song on the commercial break. So I'm like, they're playing my song. And she, and Tamra's like, whose song is that? And I'm like, that's my song. And she was like, Why we didn't have you sing? And I'm like, I don't know, but I'll come back and sing. Like, I don't, I don't, I don't have a clue why you didn't have me, but I'm here. So she was like, I'm gonna bring you back on the show. I said, I would love to be here. Not knowing that you would. You know, yeah. And then I get the call literally a week before I was on the show. They call me, the producer texts me. No, he emailed me, he said, I'm gonna introduce you and connect you to Melissa. She's another producer on the show. So I'm immediately like, what is going on? And then she's like, Well, we're having this segment called Raising Your Voice, and Tam wants to bring you back. Are you available next Tuesday? I'm like, if I'm not, I am what you mean?

SPEAKER_05 15:54

Gail, I'm available. What time? What floor? What floor, baby? I'm there.

SPEAKER_04 15:57

My bags are packed now. What are you saying? So literally, it was a week. Once again, I get delayed, my fights get canceled, I have to leave the date of the actual segment where they're recording. I made it in time, thankfully. The first time, I almost didn't make it until like two, three o'clock that morning. It was, it's been crazy. Every time I try to go to New York, and it was just like it still was confirmation to me. Even though you go through all of this, I'll still get you to where I need you to be. And that was the message for me. Because like I said, the first time my flights got delayed, got canceled. Uh the second time, the same thing happened, canceled. And just, I mean, it was just, it was amazing. And then she brings me back and she's like, I told you I was gonna bring you back. And she was like, and she whispered to my ear, she's like, You're a Tam fam favorite. She was like, They love you.

SPEAKER_02 16:46

I was like, I love them too.

SPEAKER_04 16:48

Did you get a t-shirt? No, but I got t-shirt. I got a whole bunch of coffee cups.

SPEAKER_02 16:52

Oh, there we go. There you go. That works too. So what's next?

SPEAKER_04 16:56

I am working on my video for mirror. Um, working on my album now, finally, uh, that's been in the work years. I've been saying it and I was dragging my feet, but the time is definitely now. The momentum is here, especially from the support with my city and just me. It lit a fire that I really need to get it done. Um, I'm opening for Tank, May 2nd, Tank, Kiki Wyatt, John B. Uh K Michelle. And I love all of those people. You know, Kiki Wyatt is my girl. Um, I same background for her a couple of times when she came and did Cafe. So, and so, you know, I I God has just been good. Yeah. He's just been faithful. Like, I I I can't, I don't I still, like I say, I don't have the words. I have the words, but I don't. I'm just so thankful. And it's and it's humbling. It's really humbling.

SPEAKER_02 17:44

I can understand it. But you do you also speak with a lot of emotion when you talk about this. You you truly don't take it for granted.

SPEAKER_04 17:50

Oh no, not at all. Not at all. God is just too good. And like I said, I tell everybody, I'm like, I'm not perfect. I don't live my life to the the the most upstanding or whatever. I do what I do, but God still loves me and He still sees be He looks beyond all of my faults and He sees what I need. And that was it came at a moment and a time and it gave me confirmation that, like Tish, the time is now, babe. Get on it.

SPEAKER_02 18:16

There you go. Time is now. Time is now. Can you give us a uh uh I don't want to get you off guard, I don't want to mess up the voice, but oh well you asked about my gospel roots.

SPEAKER_05 18:27

So say you laugh and I just want to say you love that's my heart.

SPEAKER_02 18:46

That's beautiful, that's beautiful, and and just like that, I can't go on because you you can't do anything more than that. That was incredible. Just off the top of your head, that's beautiful. God is good. This is what I'm supposed to do, and thank you again for this interview. I appreciate you. I'm wishing you all the best, but I'm not worried about it. Thank you. Not worried about it.

SPEAKER_04 19:06

Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 19:07

When the album comes out in the video, yes, sir.

SPEAKER_04 19:09

I'll be welcome. I'll be right here. Let's talk about it again. I might call you for a duet. All right, you know, we're always here. Nah, I'm here. You do me some posting on that one.

SPEAKER_01 19:19

I am not gonna do a duet. Oh no, I didn't want that.

SPEAKER_04 19:24

Well, thank you, Rennie. I appreciate you. Thank you.