Rockin' front and center with The Front Porch Sinners

By Andrea Busche

What, pray tell, is a front porch sinner? This vital question was posed recently to Breanne Tepler, lead vocalist, guitarist and fearless front woman for Twin Ports alt-country band Breanne Marie & The Front Porch Sinners.

“I was trying to think of a fun, classic country-sounding name,” she said. “If you’re a front porch sinner, you’re sitting right out there front and center. You’re not hiding inside.”

Grit polishes the pearl

Tepler, a Duluthian raised in the Central Hillside neighborhood, experienced a rough childhood. “We’re talking powdered milk and government cheese,” she said. “We were always on assistance.”

Tepler had a loving family, but there were hardships including poverty, substance abuse and mental health issues. “We went through a lot together,” Tepler said simply.

While Tepler picked up the trumpet in her youth, she didn’t start playing guitar until 2007; a year after her father took his own life. After three months of guitar lessons taken during her lunch breaks, Tepler discovered solace in playing the instrument. “The guitar is a comforting instrument that you can sort of hug while you play,” she said.

She started writing songs shortly thereafter. When her brother Tim was tragically killed in an automobile accident in 2009, Tepler thoroughly immersed herself in songwriting as a therapeutic activity and has never looked back.

Maria

Tepler’s first guitar, signed by Charlie

Daniels, Randy Travis and members of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, was a treasure. She also has her dad’s guitar, and her brother Tim’s guitar.

But today, she’s 100 percent committed to “Maria,” a saucy, redbodied Laguna with a sweet cutaway from the LG4 series. “I’ve had Maria for all of my shows and albums,” Tepler said. “She’s a smaller, big acoustic which helps because my arms are small. Maria has a bright, shiny, twangy sound, which I love.”

A young mother and a hard worker

Tepler’s first daughter, Alyssa, was born when Tepler was just 17 years old. Tepler married Alyssa’s father, Brandon, and they had another daughter, Ava. The couple also brought several foster children temporarily into the family. After seven years, the young marriage ended in divorce.

While juggling a marriage, two children and multiple foster children, Tepler was working full-time and also earned a bachelor’s degree. She worked in retail for a time, and at the Duluth Area Chamber of Commerce for three years, where she was the director of membership. Later, she took a job as director of Fuse Duluth, earning a “20 under 40” award during her tenure. Today, she is campus manager and admissions counselor for The College of St. Scholastica.

Band mates and partners

In 2005, Tepler met her husband, Evan Tepler, through their mutual jobs in retail. Evan is a talented and accomplished musician who had pursued a music career in the Twin Cities before moving to Duluth to be with Tepler. Today, Evan is one of six members of The Front Porch Sinners.

In addition to Alyssa and Ava (now 19 and 12, respectively), Tepler and Evan welcomed another daughter, Anya, two and a half years ago. The family lives in Norton Park, a half-block away from the scenic St. Louis River, where Tepler enjoys kayaking.

The band

Breanne Marie & The Front Porch Sinners evolved out of Tepler’s solo work. After releasing her debut album in 2013, she formed a country band, and The Front Porch Sinners were born.

The six-piece band features Tepler on vocals and guitar, Evan Tepler on guitar, John Favell on bass, Ren Cooper on violin and vocals, John LaMar on drums and Johnny “Blaze” Peterson on pedal steel. Each member of the band has a full-time job or is a fulltime student, squeezing in practices, performances, and other appearances into their limited spare hours — all in the name of creating great music.

Songwriting process

Tepler explained that while she is the band’s primary songwriter, it is most definitely a team effort. “All of my songs are original,” she said. “I first take the ‘skeleton’ of the song and bring it to Evan, who adds in the pretty parts like picking and solos, and he makes suggestions on arrangements. Then, we bring it to the whole band, and they provide feedback and changes after that. They breathe life into the skeleton.”

While some of the band’s songs are up-tempo and fun, a few of them are slower and more introspective.

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Breanne, who often sings in the key of B flat, has been compared to Emmylou Harris, Loretta Lynn and Dolly Parton. She is inspired by young artists like Maren Morris, Kacey Musgraves and Miranda Lambert, but her true inspiration is Dolly Parton. “She came from nothing, and has always stayed true to herself,” Breanne said.

Local celebs

Breanne Marie & The Front Porch Sinners have performed at numerous venues in the Twin Ports, including Fourth Fest, Homegrown Music Festival and more. Breanne also performs at funerals and even does singing telegrams.

Together, the group has recorded the full-length album, “Six Strings of Peace and Sanity,” and the

“Timothy John” EP. In 2017, the band recorded and released a full-length album titled “Wildflowers & Tumbleweeds.” The album is available in digital, CD and vinyl formats.

This spring, they had plans scheduled for late May to head to Nashville to record new original music at Welcome to 1979 Studio, where they’ll be working with established Nashville recording engineer Chris Mara. The studio time will be covered by a Quick Start Grant from the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council.

Beyond Nashville, the band wants to continue writing and performing new music and simply fine-tune who they are as a group. Some of their bucket list items include performing at Duluth’s NorShor Theatre, Glensheen’s Music by the Lake, and the Porcupine Music Festival. One thing’s for certain, however: They are content to keep their roots planted right here in Duluth.

A brazen approach, born of hard knocks

Breanne takes a bold, unique approach to releasing new music. After losing her father and brother in tragic circumstances, she is well-aware of just how short and fragile life truly is.

“I’ve been shot down, rejected, but I’m still going to keep putting my music out there,” she said. “I don’t care how ‘ready’ it is, and I don’t care how perfect it sounds. I’m putting it out there because I could die tomorrow. My purpose for writing and performing music is that I enjoy it, it heals me, and there’s so much left to learn and do.” D

For more information, please visit breannemarie.bandcamp.com.

Andrea Busche is a Duluth freelance writer.

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