Artist Story: Dayna Malow

Dayna Malow

I used to consider myself an anomaly in Chicago because I had chosen to specialize in a type of music, which until recently, was totally devoid of a scene: Popular Country Music. I am not talking about the old school "honky-tonk" style of country played at Carol's Pub; or the Alt-country music played at the Hideout. No, I am referring to straight out of Nashville, US99 playing, Keith Urban loving, Country Music. I fell in love with artists like Alison Krauss, Brad Paisley, and Reba McEntire--becoming enthralled with the voices, harmony, and songwriting—while I was in college. I made the decision to pursue this passion after graduation.

I recorded and released my first album in 2001 and began seeking bookings around the city. I quickly realized that I had three choices when choosing venues: I could play acoustic style coffee houses, festivals, or clubs. The coffee houses limited our sound, the space usually allowing us no more than two additional band members. This made it impossible to relay the arrangements and energy captured on the record. As for the clubs, those that were willing to book us (alt-country joints wouldn't touch us with a 10-foot pole) were promoting my appearances as a novelty act, expecting us to show up with cowboy hats and fringe. Festivals were consistently booking pop cover bands for their main stages, and country music was not part of the programming. Furthermore, with no local radio support for independent country artists, it made it extremely difficult to reach and grow a Chicago fan base. We eventually phased out Chicago and its venues and began playing 99% of our shows in the surrounding regions and out of state. This meant a lot of traveling and additional expense for fuel and accommodations.

Thankfully, in 2004, Edward Warm, the owner of Joe's Bar on Weed Street, realized this void and began booking popular country music acts at his club, designating Friday nights as “country night”. He single handedly created and put the live Chicago country music scene on the map; so much so, that Joe’s has been nominated for an ACM Award (Academy of Country Music) for best nightclub two years in a row. The city with the country music radio station boasting the “largest listening audience,” finally had a true blue country music club. This has caused a great influx of talent to the area, giving National touring acts an alternative "non-arena" venue to play, local acts a chance to open for them, reaching new fans, and country music loyalists a place to go to hear the music they love. One by one, other clubs are following suit & city festivals have begun booking pop country acts on street fest stages. As a result, thirty percent of my shows are now within the Chicago city limits.

Now, the final challenge to overcome is to be taken seriously by the decision makers in Nashville. Many in the industry believe you have to be there to be discovered, and throngs of people re-locate to Nashville on a daily basis seeking out the “tour bus dream”. I have spent much time there and think it’s a wonderful city, but I love Chicago and the people in it, and strongly believe that with the support of venues like Joe's Bar, the Chicago Country Music Festival, and Chicago's country music loving fans, perhaps someday Nashville will realize that there is more music to be heard than that right outside their front door.

In the meantime, I decided “if you can’t beat 'em, join ‘em.” So I started an independent record label to self-release my own albums, as well as those from select artists. My third CD will be released sometime later this year. I also opened a booking agency here in Chicago called Flapjack Music. We have twelve wonderful local artists on the roster, and I am using all of the knowledge I have acquired from my missteps to try and help my fellow musicians gain footing in this crazy business. I strongly believe that you need to treat everything you do as a business, making smart, well thought-out decisions and putting in the time to develop and market your product to a target audience. If you scream loud enough, someone is bound to hear you! I still visit Nashville, and will once again travel south to knock on all the doors with my new record in-hand, hoping one of them will open. If that doesn’t happen this time around, I will keep trying with no regrets, after all, I am already living the dream, playing music for a living. I may be on a smaller stage, changing clothes in a port-a-john, and living out of my Hyundai (while on tour), but I love what I do.

Dayna Malow
Dayna Malow is a Chicago-born country music singer / songwriter. She has self released two critically acclaimed albums, and appeared with country music’s biggest stars at many of the largest and most prestigious festivals and venues in the Midwest. Her songs can be heard on a Grammy award winning album, on television, in independent films, and radio stations around the world. She has co-written songs with Emilio Estefan, Bruce Bouton, and Doug Sisemore, long time music director for Country Superstar, Reba McEntire. Currently, Malow can be seen performing under her own name, as well as with the Chicago based "Country Sky Band", or as a proud member of the Chicago based USO band, providing entertainment at special events and military installations. She is the owner of Flapjack Music, a full service talent booking agency, representing some of Chicago's most talented bands and performers.