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| Photo by: Eric Ita |
Dayna came in looking for a voice coach. I had just finished a lesson and they brought her back to my studio. There was this tall, beautiful, Keri Russell-haired girl, who had a smile that could light up Atlantic City! She told me she had sung in choir, and her mom always thought she could sing, but had not done anything with it. and was feeling that her corporate job as a rep for Bacardi USA , may not be her destiny.
I had a great feeling about this stranger who was to become a very good friend, and to quote her blog in Reverbnation, "I knew Jessica being my coach was not a coincidence. Just being in her presence the first time was almost too much for me to handle. Her energy had me on the brink of tears."
I played a few notes on the piano to see if she had pitch, no problem there, then we sang a song, and she had this quality I cannot describe, you must click onto her link to hear her. her voice is different. She has an indie, Jazzy, R&B thing going on I cannot quite put into words.
We started with the basics, breathing, and then I moved into my purple studio I had been building in my new house, and we got down to work.
The duo that I had blogged about earlier, worked with Brody Brown, and had given me a relationship with the manager and the agency that I sent her to Los Angeles to meet with. Christopher Brody Brown works with T -pain as well as many others and is a young brilliant, writer and arranger, and producer. Mark Harris and Steve "Biscuit" Walker were the manager and agent team.
Brody and Bruno Mars write together, hence the connection with the girls I coached.
What Dayna did not realize, being so new to the biz of show, was that when she got to the studio on the wonderful exciting Sunset Strip in Hollywood, was that Brody was going to sit at the keyboard and say "OK, what do you want a song to be about?" She thought they were going to magically have a song for her to record. It turned out that they spent the whole evening writing their first song TOGETHER, and she found that the lyrics were coming out of her like water.
She called me from state line, "Are you busy? I am almost home, want to come over and play you a song WE wrote?" I dropped everything and said "Come on over!" This became a weekend event as she went back and forth to write with Brody every weekend!
It blew my mind when I heard this electronic dance tune and her voice ringing through my house.
She has been writing ever since, and even took a trip to Nashville to meet with my friend and producer/writer/pianist, M D for Neil Sedaka, and so many others, Eric Bikales. Erik had produced a country student of mine a few years ago. he found some brilliant songs and the best Nashville studio musicians and I trust him completely. Dayna had heard Cherish's recordings and said "I want to do that!"
Now she is mixing it up with Carrie Underwood's pianist, and film producers, and she is global! All while still holding her job down.
She realizes this business takes time, you have to earn it, and be ready for it, she has to play with live musicians, work an audience, and know herself, musically. Oh, and did I mention she has taken up guitar with Vince Lauria. Now her songs are on paper! Smart girl!
Dayna is committed and studies with me every week, You can never be so good that you can't learn phrasing, and breathing, prolonging lessons has its benefits, and I advise it. I have taken lessons, and I have sung professionally for over 40 years, OK remember I started at 12 !!
When I got into the show "HAIR", at 17, I was already a pro. A lot of my students don't have that work history and have not yet sung with musicians. Dayna will be ready and she will know when it's time, I trust her intuition and she has the smarts to know when it will happen.
Go to www.reverbnation.com/daynak and give a listen and a look at Dayna. Your eyes and ears will thank me.
Dayna's hair and makeup by: Natalie Lane
great new talent!
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