As summer dips into fall, goldenrods bloom across the roadsides in Arkansas, and at the end of this goldenrod season, Teni Rane, singer-songwriter, Honors College Fellow, alumna and Razorback athlete, returns to campus to share her debut album, named after the aureate plant that blossoms in periods of transition.

Rane, a folk-country artist from Chattanooga, Tennessee, will be joined by Grammy-nominated Dave Eggar on cello and Phil Faconti on guitar to celebrate the release of her debut album, Goldenrod, at this year’s Honors College House Concert at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 2, in Gearhart Hall 130.

The concert is free, open to all and will be followed by a reception. Please arrive early to reserve a seat. Parking will be available in the Harmon Avenue Parking Garage.

When describing the title track, Rane reflects on her love for the “in-between moments” in nature, but how she deeply fears change when applied to her own life.

“Penned at a time when a multitude of changes made life feel like every piece and part of me was up for renegotiation, the collection of songs presented in Goldenrod explores what it means to make progress through life without erasing the lessons and emotions of the past and present,” Rane noted.

Heralding her vocals and own brand of country-infused, Americana-folk-pop, Twangville compared Rane’s voice to “a favorite cardigan” while Guitar Girl Magazine commented on her “dreamy, velvet timbres.”

Goldenrod was nominated by the Hollywood Independent Music Awards in the Folk/Acoustic category.

“The Honors College is excited to host one of its exceptional alumni whose career trajectory has taken her into diverse — and unexpected — places, from corporate engineering to professional athletics and back again to the guitar, a lifelong passion now foregrounded in a highly successful career as a professional musician,” said Lynda Coon, dean of the Honors College. “You won’t want to miss seeing and hearing how Teni Rane navigates the twist and turns of her life through the dulcet tones of her guitar and voice.”

Teni Rane amid the goldenrods. Photo by Tom Netherland.

SEASON 1: FINDING HOME ON CAMPUS 

Before committing to play soccer at the U of A, Rane visited 18 campuses and applied to 11 institutions. In Arkansas, she was impressed by the women’s soccer program and the rigor of academics through the College of Engineering and the Honors College. She also felt kinship with the nature of Northwest Arkansas.   

“It was the first campus that I stepped on where I could see myself being there,” she said. “On others, I could see myself dropping in and visiting. Fayetteville reminded me of Chattanooga, a little bit smaller and familiar flora and fauna.” 

Following her recruiting visit for soccer, she applied for an Honors College Fellowship and began asking questions about how the university could support both her athletic and scholarly goals.  

“I was very upfront with the coaching staff about my academic care and ambitions,” Rane said. “It was apparent at the get-go that I wouldn’t be doing it alone. The Honors College and College of Engineering staff were supportive of me.”  

While playing soccer at a professional-calibre level — helping the Razorbacks reach the NCAA Championship — Rane also conducted research on matter emissions from wood burning, studied renewable and sustainable energy in Spain and Iceland, and volunteered her time performing live music at shelters throughout Fayetteville. Ten years ago, Rane was interviewed by the Honors College for A+ Magazine, and even then, she cited music as a “soothing” foundation for her studies and athletic competition. 

“Music was a wonderful way to disconnect from the intensity of both soccer and engineering,” Rane recalled. “I would visit 7hills Homeless Center and play music at lunch for the folks who were there. When you’re in an unhoused state, likely, you don’t have access to a lot of live music, so it felt like a wonderful way to get to know people and share my songs.” 

SEASON 2: NEGOTIATING ADULTHOOD 

Rane graduated in 2016 and was given the Senior of Significance title by the Arkansas Alumni Association. She was also awarded a spot on the women’s Swedish soccer team P18 1K Fotboll Klubb for the spring and fall. She returned to the United States when soccer season ended to begin working for a Fortune 500 company as an engineer. 

As she moved to a new city and started her full-time career, many of the reliable cogs in Rane’s life kept running, but her experience began to shift as she “renegotiated and figured out what it meant to be an adult.”  

“Something I think doesn’t get a lot of airtime or space is the transition from athletics,” she noted. “What does it mean to be healthy in my own body without coaching? What type of food is good for me when it’s not performance-based dieting? There was so much to figure out in those first years that I honestly forgot I owned a guitar.” 

Goldenrod Trio, from left, Dave Eggar,Tine Rane, Phil Faconti. Photo by Tom Netherland

SEASON 3: REDISCOVERING MUSIC 

Music faded from her life for several years until her husband dug Rane’s guitar out of a closet and placed it in the living room.  

“Music was accessible again,” Rane said, smiling. “It was right there. I started playing, dabbling and softly fell back into it.”  

By 2019, Rane knew she wanted music to be a larger part of her life. She wanted to record her own songs. She began the process of recording her EP, but as the project wrapped up, life shifted again. The person Rane was working with disappeared with her money and recordings. 

“I felt so betrayed by music,” Rane admitted. “I had tried to invest in and lean into this space that felt really safe, and it hurt me in a big way.”  

Rane said she thought maybe this was the universe telling her not to pursue music professionally, but then, the pandemic shifted her world again. While working from home, she confided in a coworker about her challenging experience recording an EP. To Rane’s surprise, the coworker had a home recording studio, and they wanted to help.  

SEASON 3: EMBRACING SHOULDER SEASON 

By November 2020, Rane had an EP to release, and the experience of recording her own music lit a spark. She began playing live shows and made the difficult decision to step away from engineering.

“I had a summer musical residency back where I played soccer in Sweden,” she said. “It was an incredible gift because it allowed me space and perspective to play music, teach yoga and see how I felt doing those things.”  

As she encountered challenging feelings about personal identity, she began to pen Goldenrod. As she wrote, she kept revisiting the question, “How are other people who have only ever known me as Teni, the chemical engineering soccer player, going to relate to me anymore? Will they care the same ways they cared about my life and success in the past?” 

When she returned to the United States, she was invited to play at the Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion music festival in Bristol, Tennessee. There, she met Eggar and Faconti and shared her inspiration for Goldenrod with them, and they wanted to be a part of her vision.  

“I knew the shape of the album before I wrote it,” Rane said. She also knew the title, but that wasn’t the first song she penned. When she finally sat down to write the titular piece, she finished it in one pass at her dining room table.  

“It was equal parts cathartic and scary,” she said. “I wanted to say, ‘I don’t know where I’m going, but I figure any road will get me there.’”  

She recorded the album over the course of a year, which lent itself to her investigation of seasons and change.  

“I was inspired by shoulder season,” she said. “As summer fades and fall comes into view, and all that happens in that moment can feel big and beautiful, but it’s also reassuring. This cycle happens every year, and at the end, we come back around. Change happens, and it doesn’t have to break you.”  

As Rane prepares to return to campus, she’s thoughtful about what her story means to other students navigating deep change.  

“Change is very hard,” she noted. “There’s a strong urge to let your whole identity be wrapped up in roles you’ve filled in the past. I still struggle with this a lot, and that’s why I was so touched when I got a call from the Honors College to perform. To be able to perform for honors students — back in a space I occupied with very different goals and ambitions — is beautiful because it tells other students it’s okay to be on this road and decide to take a new exit later.”   

About the Honors College: The University of Arkansas Honors College was established in 2002 and brings together high-achieving undergraduate students and the university’s top professors to share transformative learning experiences. Each year the Honors College awards up to 90 freshman fellowships that provide $80,000 over four years, and more than $2 million in undergraduate research and study abroad grants. The Honors College is nationally recognized for the high caliber of students it admits and graduates. Honors students enjoy small, in-depth classes, and programs are offered in all disciplines, tailored to students’ academic interests, with interdisciplinary collaborations encouraged. All Honors College graduates have engaged in mentored research. 

About the University of Arkansas: As Arkansas' flagship institution, the U of A provides an internationally competitive education in more than 200 academic programs. Founded in 1871, the U of A contributes more than $2.2 billion to Arkansas’ economy through the teaching of new knowledge and skills, entrepreneurship and job development, discovery through research and creative activity while also providing training for professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the U of A among the few U.S. colleges and universities with the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the U of A among the top public universities in the nation. See how the U of A works to build a better world at Arkansas Research and Economic Development News.