Biography

Standing in a band shell in Gibson Park in Great Falls, Montana at the age of four was the first time the world would ever hear her voice. By the grace of God, her two older sisters who were singing with her were a little too shy so Thea decided to take the lead and promptly grabbed the microphone, went to the front of the stage and began to belt out “Born Free”. When she heard the applause of the crowd she knew that this was what she wanted to do for the rest of her life. So there began, with all its twists, turns and detours, the story of the woman she would eventually become.

Throughout her school years, music was a driving force. She sang every chance she got and with the support of her parents went on to study music at the college level. She attended Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington and transferred to Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee where she continued to hone her craft and ultimately earned a bachelor of music. Her voice caught the attention of a local jingle producer and she began to sing on local, regional and national commercials. While the jingle business was lucrative, she longed to follow her dream of becoming a recording artist. When the opportunity became available to work at Starstruck Entertainment (Reba McEntire’s company) she jumped at the chance. She wanted to learn everything she could about the music business while continuing to work toward becoming a recording star. She was offered the chance to audition for McEntire’s touring band as a background vocalist and when she didn’t get the job, she was disheartened and went back to work in the office. Shortly after that, the plane carrying that band crashed in California killing all on board. God obviously had another plan for Thea.

While working at Starstruck she met a brand new recording artist who had just signed a deal with RCA Records. His name was Aaron Tippin. They developed a strong friendship that would later turn into love and they married in 1995. They began building a life together and Thea put her solo singing career on the back burner in order to work with her husband and to start a family. Together they wrote a number one country hit, "Kiss This" and wrote and recorded a top 40 duet, "The Best Love We Ever Made". God blessed them with their first son, Teddy in 1997 and another son, Thomas in 2000. Aaron and Thea started their own record label in 2005 and since then Thea has recorded several CDs on the label including her Christmas CD "He Said That He Was Jesus", the title cut is a song penned by herself,husband Aaron Tippin and fellow songwriter Philip Douglas. It's based on a true story from an event that happened to Aaron when he was headed to perform for the troops with Bob Hope.