Who is Dasha? The Story Behind Her Journey to Country Music

Today’s spotlight shines on a promising entertainer has been an artist and a performer her whole life. California native, Dasha has always had a knack for songwriting and a love for music. While, she started her career creating pop music, the songstress decided to head back to her roots to create country music. We chatted with her all about the switch and her story.

“I grew up in San Luis Obispo, California. It’s a small town on the coast, and I was super influenced by my community, because they are so big on live music and songwriting. There were always writer’s rounds happening, and a very big songwriting presence in my small town,” began Dasha. While her town was not known for anything musical, the songwriting community was something that spoke to the songstress at an early age.

“I first got into the whole world of entertainment when I got into musical theater around age five. I became obsessed with performing and storytelling on stage, basically just putting on a show,” she shared. Adding, “By age eight, I picked up piano and guitar. I had always been really into poetry as a kid, too. I was a really dramatic child, so the idea of writing all of these poems about the boys I liked in class, I loved it, and it was really exciting for me. I was already songwriting without knowing what songwriting was.”

At just ten years old, Dasha found herself performing at coffee shoppes with a local songwriter, who took her under her wing. “I just kept writing and writing. I released my first song at thirteen. It was my birthday present to get a song professionally recorded.” Dasha recalls finding inspiration in powerful female artists like Dolly Parton, Kacey Musgraves, and Avril Lavigne. She knew she wanted to be an artist.

Through high school, the singer-songwriter worked with her brother, who was into the production side of music. She spent time at her family’s studio writing as much music as she possibly could. Eventually, she headed off to Belmont University in Nashville to progress her knowledge and artistry.

The Turning Point:

Today:

Flash forward to today, Dasha has spent the last nine plus months falling back in love with country music, the music she would write and create as a little girl. After two years in L.A., the songstress made the move back to Nashville yet again. “I really try to incorporate the love of rhyming and poetry and storytelling into my songs because that’s what I love about it,” she shared.

Earlier this year, Dasha shared her first country single, “Even Cowboys Cry,” which showcases her incredible talent and knack for honest storytelling. She recently followed up that single with an anthemic and haunting song called, “Austin.”

“‘Austin’ is one of my favorite songs that I’ve ever written. The story behind writing the song is really cool,” she began. “We were all writing this song called “Play Dumb.” It was like this cheating song about knowing someone’s cheating on you, but playing dumb, so you can hold on a little bit longer, and I didn’t relate to the song, so I was having trouble writing it.”

Dasha went on to add, “We were trying to get the chorus, and I was like we need to country-fy this, and Adam started playing the chords for “Austin” exactly how you hear them, and I was like that’s good, even though it wasn’t in the same key or the same chords. I started freestyling over it, and I started the chorus for “Austin”… exactly how you hear it.”

Dasha and her fellow collaborators went on to ditch the song that they were originally working on in favor of creating “Austin.” The song was done in a matter of an hour. “We started creating this whole story about this guy who kind of screws you over and you leave him at this bar, and I love how angry it is. […] It crawls under your skin, because it’s not that you’re mad – mad, it’s like you’re hurt – mad, and I feel like that emotion really comes through in that song. We wrote it in an hour, which is crazy fast for a song.”

“Even Cowboys Cry” and “Austin” are the first of four singles for Dasha, as she expands into the country must genre. With a promise of a full-length album in the works for early 2024, fans can expect a lot more of the singer coming soon. Keep her on your radar!

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