There’s a new singing reality competition show in town. The Road, produced by Blake Shelton and Yellowstone creator, follows 12 seasoned songwriters vying for a chance at superstardom. The dozen emerging artists will join country music superstar Keith Urban on the road, opening up for him each night. Their fate is in the audience’s hands, as members of the crowd will decide who moves on to the next city. Here are three things you should know about Jenny Tolman, the sassy singer-songwriter from Nashville with a penchant for storytelling.
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1. She Comes From a Musical Family
The Road star’s father, Steve Tolman, got his start as a singer at Burt Reynolds’ Dinner Theater in Jupiter, Florida. The actor picked him, along with three others, to form a barbershop quartet called The Indian River Boys. After becoming a fixture on the Los Angeles circuit, the foursome moved to Nashville and sang on the Garth Brooks track “Wolves,” off his 1990 sophomore album No Fences.
“I’ve sang since before I can remember, started playing piano by ear when I was three, and enjoyed writing short stories when I was in elementary/middle school,” Tolman said in a September 204 interview with Canvas Rebel. “It all kind of came together when I turned 16 and got a guitar for my birthday. I realized that I could combine everything I loved about music and writing and call myself a singer/songwriter- a country music artist.”
Tolman has released two albums to date, 2021’s There Goes the Neighborhood and 2022’s Married in a Honky Tonk.
2. She Supports Her Country Music Sisters
Back in 2022, Knoxville philanthropist Bill Baxter reached out to Jenny Tolman about creating the all-female Cowgirls at the Cowboy festival in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Tolman sprang into action, and the festival celebrated its fourth year in 2025. Rising country star Ella Langley headlined this year’s three-day event, which concluded just one week ahead of The Road premiere.
3. She’s a Mom
The Road hopeful, 26, and her husband, Grammy-nominated producer Dave Brainard, welcomed their first baby, son Bear Harrington Brainard, on Dec. 31, 2022. Tolman celebrated the news with the heartfelt tribute “It’s A Boy.”
Watch Jenny Tolman on ‘The Road’
The Road premieres at 9 p.m. Eastern Oct. 19 on CBS.
Featured image by Jason Kempin/Getty Images
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