Celebrated for her warm, welcoming personality as well as her rich, vibrant singing, Tina Haase Findlay has been inducted into two Iowa music halls of fame. Little Village talked with Findlay about reconciling her interests with the biases of others, retaining gratitude throughout her career and what piece of advice she shares with all of her vocal students on their own musical journeys.
Can you talk about your musical roots?
I sang my first solo in church at age 3 in my hometown of Algona, Iowa, where I was a mixed-race child raised in the only Black family in an all-white town. My singing ability was an obvious superpower which, evidently, God knew I needed to assist in navigating the challenges of my upbringing and racial identity as a “twist-cone.”
People tried to make me sing “Black,” saying “that’s your music.” I’d say, “No, it isn’t.” My favorite singers to this day are Stevie Nicks, number one by a mile, followed by Olivia Newton-John and Barbra Streisand. I have come full circle from those days, now routinely performing soul and urban styles, regular tributes to Aretha and Natalie Cole and all kinds of beautiful superstar soul sisters. I’m thankful that what I once viewed as a curse — being racially mixed — has revealed itself to be such a blessing for me as a vocalist, to be open to all different styles and transcend limiting dualities both on and offstage.
What are some of your other inspirations?
My very first and best inspirations were my vocal teachers. You know it’s a special relationship when you stop by your teacher’s house on your bike rides! I was a special case, a gifted little misfit full of desire and potential as an artist, yet uncertain on how to live that out. My curiosity led me way beyond the limited music I was being fed by school and culture. I was, and still am, obsessed with the library as a vast adventure of inspiration. I found a community by listening to my faraway music friends that surpassed any kind of connection with real-life friends.
In my roles as a vocal coach, director or producer, I encourage people to cast their nets widely. I wish for us all to be super authentic in expressing ourselves without moral compromise, and super compassionate and mindful of what the world is calling for at this moment. A quote I love is, “Avoid where you are tolerated and tolerating, and go where you are celebrated and celebrating.”
Speaking of being celebrated, can you talk about the variety of venues and events you’ve performed at?
I know I’m not financially rich or famous, but I am one of the most musically and artistically wealthy people I know. And at a time where it’s literally being taught in colleges that women should expect to retire and slow down their singing at age 60 due to vocal cord decay [during menopause], I’m still going strong, singing higher and longer and more diverse notes than most singers. I am very humbly thankful. I’ve sung for crowds of 10 to over 100,000 [Fourth of July Pops], at trailer parks to Terrace Hill.
Your Halls of Fame recognitions are special. Can you share your thoughts about them?
It is truly an honor to be one of only two women who are in both the Iowa Blues and Iowa Jazz Halls of Fame [the other being the late great Janey Hooper]. It is a bittersweet yet proud thing to be one of only a select few women in both of those groups. It has always been “me and the guys” my entire career. I am in a weird age group, in that everyone is either older or younger than me, not too many my same age, which is now 60. I do enjoy being around our elder musical statesmen because very early on I became like the little sister, and that is how it has remained.
Are there any major revelations you’ve had over the course of your career?
I tell all my students that their vocal sound wave is nothing but a tiny picture of exactly who they are at any given moment. The act of singing is incapable of lying, which makes it endlessly fascinating. The answers for how to improve your singing are really always found in how to improve you, in body, mind, heart and soul — in all of life offstage and how you are living in the very deepest parts of who you are. These are the things I care way more about than how you can get gigs or how you can get rich or famous.
This article was originally published in Little Village’s February 2026 issue.
