Christy Tengs Fowler was born and raised in Haines, Alaska. From the time she could talk she was writing poems, stories, and songs. This love of music led her to Berklee College of Music, where she received a BM in Audio Engineering. She was poised to start her career as a songwriter at CBS in Nashville, when her father, Marty Tengs, called her back to Haines to run the family business, The Bamboo Room Restaurant and Pioneer Bar. The plan was to stay for three years and save up enough to head back down to Tennessee. Three years turned into thirty before she knew it. She married, Marty passed away, and now Christy is running, and living, above the restaurant. Real life has taken over, but the dream of being a songwriter never left her.

While counting the tills each day, a familiar voice from the television spoke words of encouragement and wisdom. Those words started to stick with Christy, and soon she started writing down his straight shootin’ phrases and good ol’ boy aphorisms on any scrap of paper that was nearby. It didn’t take long before she realized that these sayings were just song hooks in disguise, and after 20 years of dormancy, she started writing songs again: country music based on the words of Dr. Phil.

Heading back to Nashville with a handful of songs and a reignited passion, she produced the “Dr. Phil Project”, a nine song demo with titles like “You Either Get it or You Don’t,” “Rise Above Your Raisin’,” and “How’s That Workin’ For Ya.” And before she knew it, she was on her way to Los Angeles, CD in hand, with a new goal to give her songs to the man who inspired her.

Above The Bamboo Room chronicles Christy’s life, from the earliest pursuits of her creativity, to the creation and inspiration behind her ever-growing catalog of songs inspired by Dr. Phil and Robin McGraw, and all of the challenges that life has thrown her in between. The film is currently in the finishing stages of post-production.

Director’s Statement

From the earliest conversations, what drew us to Christy’s story was the universal nature of the journey she has been on.

Every person has their own unique dreams, goals, and aspirations. Whether it’s creative in nature or not, there is almost always a higher goal that motivates us to strive for something beyond what is directly in front of us. But for so many, time, situation, money, familial or business obligations, or any other countless reasons make it all too easy to sacrifice those dreams for the sake of something, or someone, else.

Christy is a hard working wife, mother, daughter, and business woman, struggling to get through one more winter in her restaurant. After decades of battling with her father’s alcoholism, and the challenges of running a business in a small town dependent on the fickle nature of tourism, it would have been so easy to let life sink her. Instead her story is one of resiliency, about believing in oneself; about fighting for your passion no matter what the odds may look like, even if they feel unachievable; about being driven by inspiration no matter from where it may be drawn.

Witnessing Christy’s unbridled enthusiasm, commitment, and dedication to her own dreams is inspiration personified. And for us as filmmakers, it is an honor to share her story, in hopes that she might inspire one more person in the process.