While Dakota Danielle admits she got a late start in music, not picking up a guitar until junior year of high school, she found her way there while discovering she was not cut out for sales. While in college at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, preparing to go into advertising, she considered music a hobby. Then she took a job at the Daily Egyptian newspaper as a sales rep.
“I quickly found out I absolutely hated sales,” she said. But one of her bosses who wrote poetry found out she played guitar and asked if she could put one of his poems to music. He liked the results enough to share it with his partner, her other boss, whom she learned was doing some producing.
“He saw potential in me and got me to record my first song,” she said. He got me my first singing lessons.” When he also pointed out that my college offered a music business degree, she made the switch and knew she was headed the right direction. One of the classes took monthly trips to Nashville. A friend in her class decided to transfer to Middle Tennessee State University and encouraged her to come along.
She said she thought, “Do I want to do that? I graduate this year.” But when she looked closer and found that MTSU had a songwriting program, she realized that was one thing she hadn’t learned about. She had taken guitar lessons in high school, then voice and music theory classes in college, but songwriting intrigued her. She moved to Tennessee, finished the degree, then moved to Nashville. Looking back, she says she can see how everything fell into place. Her credits transferred so that she had a music minor when she transferred, and she made great contacts for a music career.
Dakota has a knack for taking what is around her and making something creative. Growing up in Teutopolis, Illinois, she can write songs about small town life with authenticity that speaks to others who share that experience, no matter where their small town is.
She said, “I love my roots, being from a small town. Traveling a lot this year, I’ve realized that so many small towns are similar, so I can relate to a lot of people, and I love that.” Her first single “One Church” was based on her hometown where, as she sings, there’s literally one church–a Catholic Church–and three main bars close to it. When she brings her musician friends to visit her hometown, they say, “Wow! you’re not kidding.”
Family has also shared her songwriting. She is candid about the impact of losing her parents. When she lost her mother in 2018, her father was battling stage four lung cancer, so she took a year off and went back to Illinois to take care of him until his death in 2019. During that time, though, he was adamant that she should continue making music, so she released an EP. After his passing, she sold her parents’ home and returned to Nashville—ready to dive in and make up for the lost year. Then COVID hit.
She says she thought, “Oh my God! I’m another year behind.” She admits she was tempted to release music during the pandemic but decided this was the time to process her grief and focus on writing.
“I took that year, and I just wrote. I tried to heal and deal with the grief as much as I could. In my opinion, that never goes away. You have to ride the wave wherever it takes you,” she said.
Out of that grief came what she called her “mom and dad songs” — “The First Man I Loved” and “One Day Closer to You.” She said a lot of people reached out to tell her how the songs helped them through their grief as well.
“For me, is like a therapy session,” she said. “Writing makes me feel a little bit better. I couldn’t do a speech. I would be stuttering and everything, but for some reason, if I sing about it, it’s ten times easier.”
While some of her songs, including “My Mother’s Daughter,” touch on that serious note, Dakota Danielle likes to show off her playful side. Her latest single “It’s a Beginning,” written with Doug Cahan, takes a fun look at first acquaintances at the beginning of a relationship, when even some of the personal exchanges may “fudge the truth” a little.
“There’s always a story,” she said, “and everybody has a different one. You’re testing the waters a little bit when you first meet someone.”
She’s also looking forward to releasing the music video for “It’s a Beginning,” filmed at Sid’s Gold Room in East Nashville. The setting had the 70s-80s vide that fit the classic rock element that flavors some of her music.
Dakota’s music is marked by both musical and thematic variety. Some of the songs are pure acoustic, while others turn it up a notch. Finding her niche has come gradually, as she keeps writing.
“The more I wrote, the more I realized what songs I was gravitating to and what kind of vibe and melodies. I love all kinds of music—classic rock, country—so I love to combine those two together. I’m excited that what I’m working on now symbolizes that more.”
As Dakota focuses on her singing career, she mainly writes songs with herself in mind. While some of the songs she writes are from a female perspective, others are more universal. “Backroads,” her single before “It’s a Beginning” celebrates small town outdoors fun. She has also come to balance her solo writing with co-writes. Living in Nashville, she has built a circle of songwriting partners.
“I have developed a group of people,” Dakota said, “but I’m always open to writing with new people, networking, and getting to know others as well. The most intriguing thing about songwriting is that when I write with others, I get to see their thought process, how their brain works about ideas, and even their perspective on things.” Often, she says, she’ll have an idea for a hook or title, but the other person will have a completely different idea of what the song is about.
Her song “Forever” started on a fourteen-hour road trip after playing acoustic guitar with tribute artists in Louisiana. Feeling homesick and missing her parents, she says the idea of the melody came to her. When she got back to Nashville, she finished writing the song with a friend. “Forever” speaks to a fifteen-year-old girl from a someone ten years down the road, reassuring her, “High school doesn’t last forever.”
“That song has a cool journey,” said Dakota. “With that one, I was able to practice talking to big crowds. I traveled to different schools talking to older grade school kids, junior high and high school. At assemblies, I talked about anti-bullying and self-empowerment, shared my experiences, and played that song. Sometimes I’d think, ‘They’re just not even listening to me.’ Then when I was done, young kids would admit that they were getting bullied and tell me thank you. Some reached out and said how much I helped them. Sometimes they would ask me questions about my music career, too, and tell me they didn’t even know that that type of career was possible.”
Now that live music has picked up again, Dakota Danielle is excited to be touring again. “For the longest time, I have only played acoustic or duo because I love interacting with the crowd and getting to know the audience. At first, I was nervous because I just wasn’t familiar with playing with a full band, but this year I’ve actually started doing more, and I’m in love with it. But on my really sad songs, I’ll say, ‘Hey boys, take a bathroom break. Go get a drink. I’m doing an acoustic.’ I love to mix it up because it gives the show a dynamic.”
Dakota has plenty of big dreams for the year ahead. When she travels back home, even though she’s an only child, members have made a place for her to feel at home when she’s back in Teutopolis or performing nearby. She opens for Phil Vassar July 21 in Indiana, playing acoustic in a venue just right for being intimate with the crowd and telling her story. She admits, too that she has a bucket list and writes out her goals.
“One goals was to be an opening act more. I’m so thankful that the universe is on my side, and that has started to happen this year.” She would like to open for more artists too, and ultimately to land a publishing deal.
“I’m still traveling more,” she said. “My whole goal this year is to travel once a month to a state where I’ve never been, and I’ve been doing it. This month I went to the Five Finger Lake area of New York and the month before that to Wisconsin.” She also has an opportunity to put her music business education to work.
“My biggest goal for my music is to create a team of people who genuinely love my music, so I can focus on being creative and trying to reach as many people as I can.” Dakota Danielle has created the opportunity to make a life and a living doing what she loves and sharing her music with others who love it too.