August 4, 2025 • 42 mins
What happens when a talented songwriter develops their craft far from the industry spotlight? Dani Bacon brings us the answer from rural Washington, where she's forged a musical identity that transcends easy categorization.
Dani's story begins with family singing in church and early fascination with the Dixie Chicks, but quickly develops into something uniquely her own. Despite living eight hours from the nearest major music scene in Seattle, she's crafted a sound that blends country storytelling traditions with Americana sensibilities, creating music that feels both familiar and refreshingly authentic.
The conversation takes us behind the curtain of independent music production as Dani shares her studio experiences with producer Kyler at Den Studios in Boise. Unlike the assembly-line approach of major Nashville studios, Dani enjoyed days of focused, collaborative creation resulting in music that reflects her artistic vision rather than commercial formulas. We're treated to fascinating insights about how modern artists can build meaningful industry connections despite geographic isolation—like how Dani discovered fiddle virtuoso Chelsea Parker through social media and eventually brought her into recording sessions.
Throughout our discussion, Dani's refreshing perspective on the advantages of distance from industry hubs emerges. "I probably wouldn't fit in the Nashville box anyway," she reflects, acknowledging how her remote location has preserved her authentic voice while discussing songs like "Northern Pines" that explore the tension between dream-chasing and rootedness.
Links
- Jay Franze: https://JayFranze.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Tony Scott (00:05):
Welcome to The Jay Franze Show, a
behind-the-curtain look at theentertainment industry, with
insights you can't pay for andstories you've never heard.
Now here's your host, JayFrancie.
Jay Franze (00:33):
And we are coming at you live.
I am Jay Francie and with metonight the Loretta to my Conway
, miss Tiffany Mason.
Tiffany Mason (00:44):
Miss Tiffany, how are you Fantastic?
Excited to talk to our guest.
Jay Franze (00:47):
You and me, both my friend, and if you are new to
the show, this is your sourcefor the latest news, reviews and
interviews.
So if you'd like to join in,comment or fire off any
questions, please head over tojayfranze.
com.
All right, miss Tiffany, yousaid it.
We have a guest.
We have a very special guest.
We have a singer, a songwriterand a recording artist hailing
from the great state ofWashington.
(01:08):
We have Miss Dani Bacon.
Miss Dani, how are you?
Dani Bacon (01:16):
Hello.
Jay Franze (01:16):
I'm good, very good.
Thanks for having me.
It is our pleasure, my friend,it is our pleasure.
Let's just jump right in.
What's the music scene like inwashington?
Dani Bacon (01:27):
well, I am pretty far from any major city.
I think a lot of people if theyknow of any music in washington
, it's seattle and I'm likeeight hours from seattle.
So anywhere I go yeah, anywhereI go I'm traveling over a pass,
which which is good.
It's beautiful here, buttraveling pretty far for
(01:49):
anything.
We do have a couple reallyincredible venues in our little
small town here, so I love toplay at those and then some
little festivals, but other thanthat, I'm traveling pretty far.
Jay Franze (02:01):
Is that the area of the country you're from?
Dani Bacon (02:03):
pretty, far Is that the area of the country you're
from?
I was born in Wyoming and thenI've lived here for most of my
life.
Jay Franze (02:10):
All right.
Have you lived in thatoutskirts area for the majority
of your life?
Dani Bacon (02:15):
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, very rural area for mostof my life.
Jay Franze (02:19):
That's pretty cool.
I would love to do that.
Miss Tiffany, would you like tolive out in the middle of
nowhere?
Tiffany Mason (02:25):
I think it's like our conversation that we had,
like when my redneck's trying tocome out, like sometimes I feel
like I want that earthylifestyle and other times I just
like everything being reallyconvenient.
But I do need to ask Dani, I'mnot familiar with this a pass?
Is this like normal speak forthe Washington folk?
If you're going a long distance, you're going over a pass.
Dani Bacon (02:48):
No, I guess I didn't think much about that when I
said it.
So we go over like a mountainpass.
Anywhere we go, it's over amajor mountain pass Got it Okay.
Tiffany Mason (03:00):
I would do that just for the scenery.
I would live in the rural areajust for the scenery.
We lived in upstate for a shortamount of time and the
mountains you can't beat it.
Jay Franze (03:10):
I would love to live in a cabin on a lake.
Tiffany Mason (03:14):
In a country house.
Jay Franze (03:15):
Cabin, cabin.
Dani Bacon (03:17):
An actual cabin, though, because there's people
who live here on the lake andthey call it their cabin, but
it's more like a mansion cabin.
Jay Franze (03:25):
No, I want logs.
I want something that I'm notafraid to dent, Like my house.
Now I've got three kids.
I'm afraid every time theytouch anything.
Don't scuff the wall, don't ridethe bike in the house or don't
do this or that.
So no, I want a cabin.
I want to drive a truck,something that I'm not afraid to
ding up.
I so no, I want a cabin.
I want to drive a truck,something that I'm not afraid to
(03:46):
ding up.
You know, I want that life, butunfortunately, I have two boys,
so I hear you.
How old are they?
Dani Bacon (03:55):
My oldest just turned 12, and then my youngest
is going to be 10.
Jay Franze (04:00):
I have a 10-year-old .
It's a girl, but I have a10-year-old.
Do you want her?
Dani Bacon (04:07):
I mean, I'm barely surviving the boys.
Tiffany Mason (04:08):
So I don't know.
Dani Bacon (04:14):
You're getting ready for some rough years there,
Dani.
Tiffany Mason (04:19):
I hope it doesn't get any more rough than it's
already been.
It is fun and some stinky yearsyeah.
Jay Franze (04:23):
Yeah.
Dani Bacon (04:27):
She's out in the middle of nowhere.
Jay Franze (04:28):
How bad could it be?
Dani Bacon (04:28):
Yeah, I send them outside.
If they're going to buildsomething or destroy something,
just send them.
Jay Franze (04:33):
They play in the creek.
It's no big deal.
Dani Bacon (04:35):
Yeah.
Jay Franze (04:39):
All right.
Dani Bacon (04:42):
Who are some of your biggest influences Right now?
Tiffany Mason (04:49):
Oh man, what about if we go back a little bit
?
What were your musicalinfluences as a kid, or how did
you get started?
Dani Bacon (04:54):
so I was raised pretty religious and so we sang
together as a family in church.
So there was that my dad andmom wrote songs when they were
together and then we listened toa lot of country off and on of
what we were allowed to listento.
I remember I was probably likenine my mom brought home a Dixie
(05:17):
Chicks album and I justremember listening to it and
loving it and I asked my parentsif I could sing one of the
songs and I'm pretty sure it waslike a divorce song.
I can't remember the title ofit and they're like you do not
get to sing that song.
So that's like probably myearliest memory of like a
country artist that I reallyloved a lot, and then whatever
(05:38):
my dad was listening to on theradio.
But now my favorites are prettyvast.
I love Brent Cobb he's anincredible writer.
Chris Stapleton but I thinkeverybody loves Chris Stapleton.
Meg McCree she's a really greatwriter.
Yeah, I don't know.
(05:59):
I think that list couldprobably go on forever.
Jay Franze (06:02):
Can you tell us how you think your music fits into
the multiple genres?
Dani Bacon (06:10):
I feel like genres are kind of a complicated thing
right now because everybodywants to put a title on
something but there's so manythings that vary or kind of are
outliers.
I don't even know if minesounds like traditional country,
but I don't think it soundslike the mainstream country
(06:30):
right now either.
Tiffany Mason (06:32):
Agreed.
Dani Bacon (06:32):
But I guess my songs are about real life and that's
what makes it similar, if youcould even say that, to the
country genre world.
When people ask me what genre,I usually say country or
americana, because I don'treally know where it sits.
But yeah, something like that,I guess that's what I'm
(06:54):
wondering.
Jay Franze (06:55):
If you're in washington state and you're off
the beaten path, do you thinkthat influences, influences your
style of music?
Dani Bacon (07:03):
I think so for sure, especially the writers that
write about not just the beerand trucks, you know, of course
there's that no matter where yougo, but the people that are
writing about, I don't know,heartbreak or a love song, or
(07:25):
family, or the outdoors, oranything like that.
I think that my music is veryconnected to all of that.
Jay Franze (07:31):
When I think of Washington State, I don't
typically think of country music, but I would think of Americana
music.
So I think, taking pieces fromall of the different genres and
coming up with something alittle bit more unique than what
we would typically hear oncountry radio.
Dani Bacon (07:46):
Yeah, I would agree with that for sure.
Tiffany Mason (07:49):
Well, I think that's what makes it interesting
to listen to right Is becauseyou almost can't put your finger
on it, Cause I was too tryingto be like okay, bluegrass
country, I don't know Like I washaving a hard time too.
So that makes me feel good thateven you're like well, I don't
know, I was having a hard timetoo, so that makes me feel good
that even you're like well, Idon't know, maybe it's a
compilation of a couple ofdifferent genres and good on you
that you're like.
I don't know if I want to put atitle on it, it's Danny style.
Dani Bacon (08:14):
Well, and when I went into the studio, I worked
with Kyler at Den Studios.
When I first started workingwith him, he had only worked on
one country album, and so Ithink there's some of that as
well, coming from a producer whoworks in a lot of genres, not
just country.
Jay Franze (08:33):
So what kind of music was he producing?
Dani Bacon (08:36):
So the one that I know best is he worked with
Colby Acuff.
He's out of Idaho and hisbiggest song I believe his
biggest song right now is calledIf I Were the Devil.
I actually met Kyler at one ofColby's concerts there.
Other than that album, I thinkthat he works in a lot of pop,
(09:01):
or I think he had more of like apop what would you even call it
?
Pop punk kind of Maybe somerock in there as well that he
works on as well.
Jay Franze (09:13):
So where's he located?
Where's the studio?
Dani Bacon (09:16):
So that's in Boise, Idaho.
Jay Franze (09:17):
Okay, so you traveled to do your recording
then.
Dani Bacon (09:22):
Yes, I did, yeah, All right, what's the studio
like?
Well, it's like in a garage thathe's remodeled, which is really
cool.
It's got multiple rooms foryour vocals and then the actual
studio area, and then he has thedrums in another area.
So it's tiny, but it was somuch fun.
It was definitely a goodintroduction, I think, for never
(09:48):
doing anything like that beforeStepping into a studio is very
laid back.
Lots of pictures online thathe's showed, and when I first
was looking into recording, Ididn't know where to go.
You can Google studios torecord in, but the one that
stuck out for me was not that Ihad just met Kyler, but when I
(10:10):
looked up his website, he had awhole playlist of music that he
had produced, and so I wasactually able to hear the work
that he's put out in the world,and I think that's what really
sold me on it.
Jay Franze (10:25):
All right.
Does he play instruments?
Is he a hands-on producer?
Dani Bacon (10:36):
Yeah, he probably played almost every single
instrument.
On my songs that are in there,I play a little bit guitar, a
little bit of guitar, but heplays like everything else, and
if he doesn't know how to playit, he learns how to play it and
can play incredibly well doesthat include drums?
Yes, yeah, wow, yeah, helearned how to play the lap,
still to be in colby, because,yeah, who just learns how to do
(11:01):
that?
Tiffany Mason (11:03):
I'm doing that this weekend, so hit me up next
week.
I got you, yeah.
Jay Franze (11:14):
So are you writing songs and then sending them to
him in advance?
Dani Bacon (11:17):
Yeah, so I will pick like three to five songs,
depending on how many we want totackle, and I'll send them his
way and we kind of go over whatwe want him to sound like.
But yeah, we'll kind of go overwhat we want him to sound like
if we want specific instrumentsor harmonies and kind of go from
there all right.
Jay Franze (11:39):
So when you send the songs to him, are you sending
like just lyrics?
Are you playing guitar andsinging a little bit of a melody
?
I mean, what's your processlike before it makes it to him?
Dani Bacon (11:53):
So I usually just do like a really rough, cut audio
off of my phone, then send ithis way.
So it's very raw.
There's not really anything toit other than just a little bit
of rhythm guitar and my vocals,and then, if we need to go over
lyrics, I send those as well.
Jay Franze (12:11):
Does he then build the track before you get there?
Dani Bacon (12:18):
then build the track before you get there, nope.
So I kind of give him an ideaof what we're going to be
working with, and that's usuallyabout a week or so.
He listens to them and then,when we get in there, we just
start building them, puttingthem together.
So you participate in thebuilding process, then yeah, and
I don't know if most studiosare like that.
Jay Franze (12:56):
Mm-hmm, yeah, and I don.
You go in.
All of the musicians perform atone time and your song is done
in three and a half minutes.
So it's a very impressiveprocess, but it's a very
different process.
It's not quite as personal assomething like this.
Tiffany Mason (13:11):
Which do you prefer to produce, Jay?
Jay Franze (13:15):
I like the idea of doing a blend.
I like to go into the studioand record all of the A-list
players and then I like takingthose recordings back to my
personal studio and then, havingthe singer come in and sing in
my studio when it's a morecomfortable environment and
they're not being rushed.
So it's kind of like a littlebit of a hybrid approach and
(13:36):
they're not being rushed, soit's kind of like a little bit
of a hybrid approach.
Tiffany Mason (13:38):
Got it, dani?
How many times have you donethis?
So I don't know if you can tell, but I'm not from the
production world, so curious howmany times have you done it?
Dani Bacon (13:53):
Are you building a record?
Is this just EP?
What does it mean?
Well, so the first time I wentin, I believe, I had had five
songs, and then I went in asecond time and recorded six
songs and this isn't how peopleusually do it by any means, but
I felt kind of rushed because Iwanted music out in the world.
I was kind of done waiting, andso I released part one, and now
(14:17):
I'm slowly releasing thesingles for part two, and by
this fall everything will bereleased as part one and two, as
in one album.
Got it.
Jay Franze (14:28):
In today's world of releasing singles on streaming
services, it really doesn'tmatter as much as it used to,
because the process you'redescribing is if you went ahead
and recorded, say, half of youralbum, and then you release it
as an ep and then you go backand assemble the full album
later on down the road.
So today you don't have to dothat, so let's take it to your
(14:51):
vocals.
What was that process like?
Can you walk us through theenvironment?
Dani Bacon (14:56):
Yeah, so it's a separate room, there's three
rooms sectioned off, but there'sthese giant windows and so
you're able to see the producer,which I believe is similar, you
know, to other studios, so wecan kind of communicate through
the window and then also throughthe headphones.
And it was a lot of fun, alearning experience, which I
(15:17):
think that's just life for sure.
You got to start somewhereright.
And then, how you werementioning earlier how most
studios work, next year I'll begoing to Austin, texas, and
working with Jason Eadie in astudio that will be much more
like what you were explaining,where we bring in all of the
(15:41):
musicians and it won't just beone person playing everything.
Jay Franze (15:45):
It's just a personal preference.
When I had my studio in NewYork, it was more like what he
has here.
I mean, it was a smallproduction studio, had multiple
rooms and it was a nice facility, but it was small.
So it's just a matter ofwhichever you prefer.
So when you were in the studiowith him singing and you're in
(16:06):
your ISO booth, was thereanything specific you did to
that ISO booth to make it morecomfortable for you?
Dani Bacon (16:15):
you, Depending on the song.
Some I stood while singing,others I would sit down.
You know, depending on, I guess, how relaxed I wanted to sound
or how personal or deep the songwas.
But other than that, I don'tknow if I personalized it more
than that.
Did you keep the lights on oroff?
(16:38):
Oh, I guess on, I didn't eventhink about turning them off.
I don't like the dark, so Iprobably wouldn't turn the
lights off.
Jay Franze (16:44):
A lot of singers, especially when it's their first
time in a studio, will keep thelights off because they feel
like people are going to stareat them and they get a little
self-conscious when they'resinging.
Dani Bacon (16:52):
Oh.
Jay Franze (16:52):
So it's usually seasoned pros who keep the
lights on.
Dani Bacon (16:56):
Interesting.
Jay Franze (16:57):
The fact that you did that out of the gate say
that you're one step ahead ofeverybody.
Dani Bacon (17:02):
Well, I think when you don't know what you're doing
, you know and you're just kindof jumping into it.
I guess I just went into it howI thought it would be
comfortable, and maybe thatmakes me look like a pro or not,
it could go either way, I guess.
Jay Franze (17:22):
Well, it's just a matter of whatever makes you
comfortable, because if you'recomfortable, then you're going
to be able to sing the best youcan sing.
But the type of things I'mthinking of when I think of the
atmosphere is like you're in anisobooth, which is typically
pretty small.
I mean it can be anywhere fromthe size of a small closet up to
a spare bedroom.
(17:43):
So I mean, when you're in anisobooth, depending on the
studio you're in.
So I'm assuming, if this isespecially built out of his
garage, that it's a small, likea small closet.
You're usually in there with adampened room.
But my thoughts are like arethe lights off?
Did you have maybe a blankethanging?
Did you have a candle?
Was there anything that you didto make that room personal?
Tiffany Mason (18:07):
Did you set the mood for yourself, Annie?
Did you set the?
Jay Franze (18:10):
mood.
That's what we want to know Ididn't so much.
Tiffany Mason (18:14):
Or were you just so excited to get started?
You're like, let's do this yeah, pretty much that.
Dani Bacon (18:21):
I think it has a really incredible feel to it
already very homey, like there'sa couch in there and there's
stuff hanging on the walls andit's actually a larger room, but
the sound that comes out of itis very incredible so it does
have a vibe to it it does, yeah,so I, so he set the mood for
(18:42):
you yeah, I think I was justalready as comfortable as I
could be going in there andrecording, so it was a really
incredible first experience.
while we were talking aboutmusicians, though, the the
second time I went in, I broughtin Chelsea Parker.
Chelsea Parker, yeah, I believeyou've worked with her before.
Jay Franze (19:05):
Yes, ma'am, she was on the show.
Dani Bacon (19:07):
And I found her through social media.
That's one thing.
Living where I do live in themiddle of nowhere, social media
has been a really incredibletool for me because she was
playing on another musician'ssong and she's obviously just so
talented and I commented onthere.
(19:29):
I was like who is this fiddleplayer?
And someone tagged her and so Ishot her a message and you
never know like you can reachout to tons of people.
It doesn't mean they're goingto answer you.
You get a lot of either no orjust no response and she emailed
(19:50):
me back and was willing to jumpon a plane and come to Boise
and work with people that shedidn't know and it was so fun.
I don't know if I've ever metsomebody that was just like
immediately I was like, oh, Icould be friends with her.
She's so sweet, she's sotalented.
Jay Franze (20:09):
Miss Tiffany.
She is one of the people whoactually came here in this room
to do their interview.
Oh cool.
Tiffany Mason (20:21):
I mean, she has no problem traveling to do the
interviews, so this girl's justright.
She's just looking foropportunities to travel.
Yeah, Well, to be fair.
Jay Franze (20:26):
She lived about 10 minutes down the road.
Okay, now she has moved sincethen.
She now lives about 20 minutesdown the road, but you know, hey
, she is one of the most amazingmusicians I've ever seen.
She is super, super talented,and her brother's talented and
her dad's talented.
Her brother plays drums, herdad plays steel.
(20:47):
Too much talent in one family.
Stop it, yeah.
Tiffany Mason (20:53):
I have a couple of questions.
So first of all, Jay, I want toask you about the larger
recording studios or the largerrecording rooms shutting down.
Is that because technology canduplicate what those large rooms
used to do for the sound?
Why do you think that that ischanging?
Jay Franze (21:09):
Well, I think there's a few things.
I don't think they're allshutting down, but I do think a
lot of them are, and part of thereason for that is that they're
expensive.
They are super expensive.
This is Ocean Way in Nashville.
It was built out of a churchright there on Music Row Now
what's happened on Music Row isthat people have come in and
(21:33):
they're buying property andthey're building condos and
apartment complexes.
So all of the big studios havethe choice now to either sell
out to these companies or try tostick it out.
This one's not going to leave.
This studio will always bethere because it's a church.
No one's going to tear downthis beautiful church.
But there's others like.
(21:54):
There was one called theTracking Room which was right
down the road from here, rightoff of Dumumbrian, and that
studio was massive in size butit was super expensive and they
just couldn't keep it open.
And then a lot of them have nowmoved over to Berry Hill, which
is the what we call maybe thenew music row in Nashville, like
(22:16):
John McBride, martina McBride'shusband, that's where his
Blackbird studio is, and there'sa few others, but in LA there's
still a handful of thesestudios left.
But to your point, yes, you knowyou can do a lot in a home
studio these days, and whatmakes that worth doing is the
fact, like what Dani was able todo is go and have an intimate
(22:40):
recording and work with somebodywho is focused on her and Dani.
Dani Bacon (22:49):
How long did you spend in the studio that first
trip to do those first fivesongs?
I?
Jay Franze (22:55):
think it was three days maybe.
So you had three days ofundivided attention where if you
were in Nashville to do fivesongs, you would have done that
in probably three hours and thenyou would have been shuffled
out quickly for the next Dannyto come in right after you and
record their three to five songs, and then the next one would
come in and record theirs andthen you'd have to come back on
(23:17):
a different day to to sing youjust wouldn't have that same
personal touch.
So it really is just preference.
Do you want that personal touchor do you want to be part of
the big machine?
Tiffany Mason (23:30):
well that that leads beautifully into my next
question which was why did youdecide to go from the smaller
studio with Kyler?
And then this other kind ofconcept, I suppose if you will,
in Austin Texas.
Dani Bacon (23:46):
Well, I'm going to continue to work with Kyler.
I think I'm going back theresometime this winter and we'll
probably always do music, I hope.
Hopefully, if Kyler watchesthis, he he'll hear that too.
But I also just want tocontinue to keep moving forward
with more connections.
Yeah, jason Eady, who I'll beworking with in Texas, he is
(24:11):
very well connected and he'svery talented, very great
songwriter, and so, movingforward, the more connections
and friendships I can build, I'mjust going to keep doing that
and, like I mentioned earlier,I'm just learning as I go too,
and so I would like toexperience all of it and just
(24:32):
keep learning and just keepmoving forward, I guess, with
all of it.
Tiffany Mason (24:37):
It seems like good choices.
Now, does your family go withyou?
Dani Bacon (24:41):
Well, it ended up being perfect.
The first time I went to Boisebecause I had a sister who was
in the Air Force there, and sowe stayed with her.
I took the whole family, we allgot in the truck and headed
that way, and then I have mybrother-in-law that also lived
there.
So, yeah, we just all went andTravis that's my husband he hung
(25:03):
out with the kids while I wentand hung out in the studio for
days on end.
Tiffany Mason (25:07):
Now are you going to expose them to Austin Texas?
Dani Bacon (25:11):
I don't know.
We'll see if they want to go.
Right now, the boys are prettyconvinced that mom is not very
cool and what she does is notvery cool.
And oh my goodness, we'll seeif they want to go or not.
Well, hey, if they're not goingto be fans, I wouldn't bring
them, yeah yeah, if you're notthere in my corner cheering me
(25:33):
on, mm-mm, right, but Travisdoes.
He likes to go.
He's pretty quiet compared tome.
Tony Scott (25:40):
I have one of those.
Dani Bacon (25:42):
Yeah, goes and listens, goes to my shows as
many as he can, and, yeah, it'sa lot of fun.
I'm the only one that plays orsings or writes music, though,
so it is very different thanwhat everyone else in our
household likes to do.
Jay Franze (25:58):
I can understand that my family has no desire to
be part of any of the stuff I do.
I mean, I tell Tiffany all thetime I get tickets to shows, I
get to go to studios, I get todo all this stuff.
And I asked my daughter if youwant to go.
She's like no, no, I don't.
Tiffany Mason (26:14):
I asked Jay if I could be one of his kids.
I mean, I want to go, yeah,I'll go.
Jay Franze (26:20):
Cindy Lauper tomorrow night.
Thank you, rocky Rose.
Cindy Lauper tomorrow night.
Thank you.
Dani Bacon (26:23):
Rocky Rose Fun.
Jay Franze (26:26):
So you mentioned your family being in Boise.
Did that play part in?
Dani Bacon (26:33):
your decision to choose that location.
No, it didn't.
Actually, I would have goneeither way.
I would have jumped on a planeand I would have gone either way
.
So what was it that made youchoose him in that studio?
(26:55):
I think, first off, that I methim in person and also that I
heard a lot of the stuff that hehad already worked on.
He was affordable and thestudio looked incredible and,
for whatever reason, it feltright, I guess.
Yeah, you can probably go toany studio, right, if you pay
them, they'll let you recordthere, absolutely.
But I don't know if it's mypersonality or where I'm from,
(27:16):
but personal connection, I think, is really important to me, and
I think for that reason and Iguess, a couple others it just
seemed right and it turned outgood.
So I prayed on the way there,though, because I was like I
don't know how this is going toturn out.
It could go really bad or itcould go really good.
Jay Franze (27:36):
Positive all the time.
Tiffany Mason (27:37):
Yeah, you're 100% right.
Jay Franze (27:39):
The connection is really what matters the most.
If you don't have thatconnection, the recording will
not work out well.
Connection is really whatmatters the most.
If you don't have thatconnection, the recording will
not work out well.
And I always have an examplethat when I was in a studio in
Nashville with one of the bestproducers in Nashville and we
were recording this youngsinger-songwriter, a young woman
, and that producer made thisgirl cry after every session to
(28:02):
the point where she decided toleave and we went and recorded
the record somewhere else andshe was as happy as can be and
that that record went to numberone on the charts when she
recorded the happy version.
So you just never know.
Tiffany Mason (28:16):
Wow.
Jay Franze (28:18):
So I do believe it's all about being comfortable.
Tiffany Mason (28:21):
Well, thinking about that studio and having the
aesthetics be so nice, I'mthinking like maybe part of your
decision is like great socialmedia pictures which then made
me think I wonder has somebodyreached out to you saying you
know who's your fiddle player orwhat studio are you in, or
whatever you know, like you didfinding your fiddle player?
(28:41):
Has that happened to you inreverse, where someone's reached
out to you inquiring some ofthose things?
Dani Bacon (28:49):
oh no, not yet.
Hopefully that happens too.
Jay Franze (28:52):
I'll sing backup vocals, I'll, I'll do the things
well, let me ask you on thatnote are you good at harmony
singing?
Dani Bacon (29:01):
I think I'm good at it yes, yes.
Jay Franze (29:03):
Answer is yes, yes.
Dani Bacon (29:05):
I am yeah.
Well, the reason I say thatkind of in a I'm not sure way, I
guess, is it's something thatI'm new to.
But I have been working on thisyear Because before I started
putting myself and my music outthere more, I was just playing
music by myself and singing bymyself.
Tiffany Mason (29:27):
Cause you're out in the middle of nowhere and
your family doesn't partake inthe music scene.
So who are you going to singwith, danny?
Dani Bacon (29:33):
Yeah, and so and then usually if I'm singing, I
do have some musicians herelocally that I play music with
and they're very talented, butthen I'm the lead singer and
then my friend Alicia is the um,the backup vocals in the
harmonies.
Um and then I have anotherfriend.
His name's Clarence Gallagher,and he's actually playing with
(29:55):
Matt Heckler right now.
He's very talented, and so ifwe sing together, I sing
harmonies for him.
Jay Franze (30:02):
We were talking about Chelsea.
That's one thing.
That's impressive about her isnot only can she play the fiddle
and and other instruments, butshe can play the fiddle and sing
at the same time.
Tiffany Mason (30:12):
So she plays and sings harmony and does all of
the things you would want her todo I love that your first
connection was to dixie chick'salbum and now fiddle playing is
part of your music.
Dani Bacon (30:27):
Yes, yeah, we were actually going to have Chelsea
try to do some harmonies and sheended up running out of time.
Originally, we were going tohave her play, I think, on like
three songs, and then we endedup loving it all so much she
played on all six, yeah, and sowe didn't have enough time for
her to also sing any harmoniesor backup vocals.
Jay Franze (30:50):
That's all right.
The fiddle's probably the moreimportant piece there.
Dani Bacon (30:54):
Yeah, I think it really made the songs, for sure,
yeah.
Jay Franze (30:57):
I'm telling you, Miss Tiffany, that's going to be
another one you're going tohave to go back and listen to
now, because she is amazing andI never would have thought that
you would have found her throughthe internet, reached out to
her and have her fly out to youlike that.
Dani Bacon (31:11):
That's very, very cool.
I have made connections with alot of people.
That's how I try to connectwith a lot of people.
I don't know if everybodychecks their DMs.
Jay Franze (31:25):
but I'm in there If you want to open her or anything
else?
Yeah, there you go For thoselistening.
Please check your DMs, maybeyou could be the lucky one.
All right, I have a questionfor you.
I know you're still fairly newto this career, but what kind of
challenges have you faced alongthe way so far?
Dani Bacon (31:49):
have you faced along the way so far?
I think there's a lot ofunknowns, and so I think a lot
of the time I don't know if I'mmaking the right decisions.
And then another thing thatseems like a big hurdle is I do
all my own booking right now,and that's very time consuming.
And also, since I don't have amanager or anything like that,
(32:11):
I'm having to find these peopleand reach out.
Some people reach back and theycommunicate well and it works
out great, but even those, theystill take months, you know, to
get details of a show locked in,and so I think that that is a
challenge for sure, and thetravel, and just right now I'm
(32:32):
not very connected yet, but I'mworking on it.
Jay Franze (32:38):
Do you think your location plays a part in that?
Dani Bacon (32:42):
I think some of it.
I mean, I have friends thatjust moved to nashville, the
carlisles um, they're thecarlisle family band and that's
you know why they moved there.
They have a house here, a cabin, yeah multi-million dollar
cabin yeah um, just so thatquote cabin.
(33:05):
Yeah, just be able to go tomore shows, make more
connections and more on aregular basis, rather than, like
I flew to Nashville in Januaryand went to some shows and met
some people, but it's definitelynot, you know, very frequent
because I do live so far away.
Tiffany Mason (33:26):
Does it feel defeating that you're so far
away from Nashville?
Dani Bacon (33:32):
It can, if I look at it that way, but then I also
know that I probably wouldn'tfit in the box of Nashville
anyways.
And so in that way it doesn'tfeel defeating.
Tiffany Mason (33:51):
Fair.
Dani Bacon (33:52):
I mean I would love to be a part of the bigger scene
, for sure, but I know if Iwould have moved there really
young, I think I probably wouldhave been put in that box and
then not been able to write thesongs that I have been able to
write and be who I am.
I think I try to look at it inmore of a perspective of being
(34:15):
grateful, because it would bevery different if I had lived
there for the last 10 years.
Jay Franze (34:21):
I think, if you take a look at it this way, where
you're off in, say, your ownarea, you're probably one of the
only musicians, like you said,in your family and probably in
your friend group and out inthat area where you're writing
and coming up with a style ofmusic that, although might be
country or has an Americana feelto it.
So you're coming up with yourown little vibe and your own
(34:43):
little piece of that, thatpuzzle.
But I think what what's helpingyou is these days, social media
gives you the reach, like youwere able to reach out to
Chelsea Parker, and you canreach out to Kyler and anybody
else that you want to work withand you can probably get in
touch with them.
You can arrange session time,you can bring musicians in, so
(35:05):
you still have access to all ofthe same people and all of the
same things.
You might not be able to dosome of the networking that you
could do in person if you werein Nashville, but you can do all
of this stuff online.
If we take that a step further,if you're building your career
right now and social media is amajor puzzle piece to that what
(35:26):
are you doing to grow yoursocial media accounts?
Dani Bacon (35:31):
that is okay if we're talking about hurdles or
struggles or challenges.
That is social media for mejust trying to make enough
content or content that peoplewould want to watch.
I think social media is soincredible.
Like you're saying, there's tonsof opportunities, for sure, and
(35:52):
you can reach literally anyoneif they read the message and
reply obviously, but I haven'tblown up on social media either,
though, so it's kind of like aweird juggling act of staying
true to who I am, you know, andnot trying to do everything that
(36:15):
someone else is doing, tryingto make more content that's
attached to my songs, whether itbe videos or talking about it,
talking about my songs, so I'mlearning in that area as well.
Tiffany Mason (36:32):
When it comes to staying on social media and
being able to kind of be true towho you are and you know, live
where you want to live.
What have been the songs thathave been the most fun to write,
or what songs do you feel likeare so unique to you?
Dani Bacon (36:51):
Out of the ones I've released so far, the ones that
stand out, I guess in thatcategory would be Northern Pines
, because I wrote that one aboutwhere I live and my family, but
chasing dreams and then alwayscoming back to the place and the
people that I love.
And I started writing that oneafter a conversation with my
(37:14):
husband of wanting to pursuethis more and I was going on a
little mini tour and so I wrotethat about this desire in this
pole to want to chase my dreams,but knowing that I'm never
going to leave everything that Ilove and it's so important
behind.
And then, um, I have anothersong called Buffalo and that's
(37:36):
about wide open spaces and thedesire to be free and in wide
open spaces.
And then I have Back to theDixie Chicks Mm-hmm.
Yeah, yeah, another one that'scalled your Lady, I think I
guess they're all.
Maybe Now, as I'm talking aboutall of them, they're all kind
(37:57):
of attached to it, but I'malways willing, though, to jump
on a plane.
I love to travel, I love to goplaces.
So, even though this is my homebase, I love to go to all the
places.
Tiffany Mason (38:10):
When you go on tour, you're going to be just
fine with it.
Dani Bacon (38:14):
Yes, yeah, yeah, I love it.
Jay Franze (38:19):
All right, my friend , while we do this thing here,
we call Unsung Heroes, where wetake a moment to shine the light
on somebody who's worked behindthe scenes or somebody who may
have supported you along the way.
Dani Bacon (38:31):
Do you have anybody you would like to shine a little
light on?
Oh well, I think my parentsprobably are the start of all of
it.
They are incredibly talentedthemselves.
Then I have a music teacher,connie Fletcher, and she was
kind of the start of encouragingme to play in school, and I
(38:53):
think that was the start of allof it.
And without those people Idefinitely would not be here,
and my husband for sure.
He's a giant support to me.
And Monty Hildebrandt, who Iwrote my first song about, which
that's the last song I'll bereleasing this fall and he's no
(39:16):
longer on this earth, but Idon't know if I ever would have
written a song if I wasn't insuch a sad place after he passed
, and I wrote that song aboutthat feeling.
So I think he was a really bigpiece too.
Before he passed he encouragedme to sing all the time, and so
(39:37):
I think all just the beginning.
The beginning of all of it isthose people.
Jay Franze (39:42):
When you hear that song now, how does it make you
feel?
Dani Bacon (39:46):
All of it, it's those people.
When you hear that song now,how does it make you feel?
Probably sad would be the firstword I could think of.
I still have a really deepconnection to it, for sure.
I think, unfortunately, a lotof people can relate to that,
(40:07):
because I think throughout ourlife everyone's going to lose
someone that they care a lotabout.
So probably probably just a lotof pain and sorrow, but faith
that there's good that comesafter hardship.
That's actually what this firsttattoo was.
It was a beauty from ashes iswhat it represented and that's
kind of where that came from.
(40:28):
Too similar to that song.
Jay Franze (40:30):
Do you find it hard to sing that song live?
Dani Bacon (40:36):
Yes, I do.
I think that there's a fineline, when I'm playing a song
live, of trying to be in theemotion enough to portray the
feelings, but not so much thatyou lose it, because that can
happen too, and so I try to walkthat line with ease.
Jay Franze (41:02):
I'm not going there tonight.
I got too many things I couldbe saying right now.
Miss Tiffany, I'm biting mytongue.
As a matter of fact, folks, wehave reached the top of the hour
, which doesn't mean we havereached the end of the show.
If you've enjoyed the show,please tell a friend.
And Miss Tiffany, if you havenot, tell two, tell two.
All right, you can also reachout to all of us all three of us
(41:23):
one, two and three over atjayfranze.
com, where we will be happy tokeep this conversation going.
Miss Tiffany, thank you foractually showing up tonight.
I do appreciate you doing that.
Miss Dani, thank you forjoining us.
I would like to leave the finalwords to you words to you.
Dani Bacon (41:42):
Thank you so much for having me.
Give me a follow, give me alisten.
Jay Franze (41:52):
And hopefully we'll connect further along the road.
All right, folks On that note,have a good night.
Tony Scott (41:56):
Thanks for listening to The Jay Franzi Show.
Make sure you visit us atjayfranze.
com.
Follow, connect and say hello.
Welcome to The Jay Franze Show, a
behind-the-curtain look at theentertainment industry, with
insights you can't pay for andstories you've never heard.
Now here's your host, JayFrancie.
Jay Franze (00:33):
And we are coming at you live.
I am Jay Francie and with metonight the Loretta to my Conway
, miss Tiffany Mason.
Tiffany Mason (00:44):
Miss Tiffany, how are you Fantastic?
Excited to talk to our guest.
Jay Franze (00:47):
You and me, both my friend, and if you are new to
the show, this is your sourcefor the latest news, reviews and
interviews.
So if you'd like to join in,comment or fire off any
questions, please head over tojayfranze.
com.
All right, miss Tiffany, yousaid it.
We have a guest.
We have a very special guest.
We have a singer, a songwriterand a recording artist hailing
from the great state ofWashington.
(01:08):
We have Miss Dani Bacon.
Miss Dani, how are you?
Dani Bacon (01:16):
Hello.
Jay Franze (01:16):
I'm good, very good.
Thanks for having me.
It is our pleasure, my friend,it is our pleasure.
Let's just jump right in.
What's the music scene like inwashington?
Dani Bacon (01:27):
well, I am pretty far from any major city.
I think a lot of people if theyknow of any music in washington
, it's seattle and I'm likeeight hours from seattle.
So anywhere I go yeah, anywhereI go I'm traveling over a pass,
which which is good.
It's beautiful here, buttraveling pretty far for
(01:49):
anything.
We do have a couple reallyincredible venues in our little
small town here, so I love toplay at those and then some
little festivals, but other thanthat, I'm traveling pretty far.
Jay Franze (02:01):
Is that the area of the country you're from?
Dani Bacon (02:03):
pretty, far Is that the area of the country you're
from?
I was born in Wyoming and thenI've lived here for most of my
life.
Jay Franze (02:10):
All right.
Have you lived in thatoutskirts area for the majority
of your life?
Dani Bacon (02:15):
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, very rural area for mostof my life.
Jay Franze (02:19):
That's pretty cool.
I would love to do that.
Miss Tiffany, would you like tolive out in the middle of
nowhere?
Tiffany Mason (02:25):
I think it's like our conversation that we had,
like when my redneck's trying tocome out, like sometimes I feel
like I want that earthylifestyle and other times I just
like everything being reallyconvenient.
But I do need to ask Dani, I'mnot familiar with this a pass?
Is this like normal speak forthe Washington folk?
If you're going a long distance, you're going over a pass.
Dani Bacon (02:48):
No, I guess I didn't think much about that when I
said it.
So we go over like a mountainpass.
Anywhere we go, it's over amajor mountain pass Got it Okay.
Tiffany Mason (03:00):
I would do that just for the scenery.
I would live in the rural areajust for the scenery.
We lived in upstate for a shortamount of time and the
mountains you can't beat it.
Jay Franze (03:10):
I would love to live in a cabin on a lake.
Tiffany Mason (03:14):
In a country house.
Jay Franze (03:15):
Cabin, cabin.
Dani Bacon (03:17):
An actual cabin, though, because there's people
who live here on the lake andthey call it their cabin, but
it's more like a mansion cabin.
Jay Franze (03:25):
No, I want logs.
I want something that I'm notafraid to dent, Like my house.
Now I've got three kids.
I'm afraid every time theytouch anything.
Don't scuff the wall, don't ridethe bike in the house or don't
do this or that.
So no, I want a cabin.
I want to drive a truck,something that I'm not afraid to
ding up.
I so no, I want a cabin.
I want to drive a truck,something that I'm not afraid to
(03:46):
ding up.
You know, I want that life, butunfortunately, I have two boys,
so I hear you.
How old are they?
Dani Bacon (03:55):
My oldest just turned 12, and then my youngest
is going to be 10.
Jay Franze (04:00):
I have a 10-year-old .
It's a girl, but I have a10-year-old.
Do you want her?
Dani Bacon (04:07):
I mean, I'm barely surviving the boys.
Tiffany Mason (04:08):
So I don't know.
Dani Bacon (04:14):
You're getting ready for some rough years there,
Dani.
Tiffany Mason (04:19):
I hope it doesn't get any more rough than it's
already been.
It is fun and some stinky yearsyeah.
Jay Franze (04:23):
Yeah.
Dani Bacon (04:27):
She's out in the middle of nowhere.
Jay Franze (04:28):
How bad could it be?
Dani Bacon (04:28):
Yeah, I send them outside.
If they're going to buildsomething or destroy something,
just send them.
Jay Franze (04:33):
They play in the creek.
It's no big deal.
Dani Bacon (04:35):
Yeah.
Jay Franze (04:39):
All right.
Dani Bacon (04:42):
Who are some of your biggest influences Right now?
Tiffany Mason (04:49):
Oh man, what about if we go back a little bit
?
What were your musicalinfluences as a kid, or how did
you get started?
Dani Bacon (04:54):
so I was raised pretty religious and so we sang
together as a family in church.
So there was that my dad andmom wrote songs when they were
together and then we listened toa lot of country off and on of
what we were allowed to listento.
I remember I was probably likenine my mom brought home a Dixie
(05:17):
Chicks album and I justremember listening to it and
loving it and I asked my parentsif I could sing one of the
songs and I'm pretty sure it waslike a divorce song.
I can't remember the title ofit and they're like you do not
get to sing that song.
So that's like probably myearliest memory of like a
country artist that I reallyloved a lot, and then whatever
(05:38):
my dad was listening to on theradio.
But now my favorites are prettyvast.
I love Brent Cobb he's anincredible writer.
Chris Stapleton but I thinkeverybody loves Chris Stapleton.
Meg McCree she's a really greatwriter.
Yeah, I don't know.
(05:59):
I think that list couldprobably go on forever.
Jay Franze (06:02):
Can you tell us how you think your music fits into
the multiple genres?
Dani Bacon (06:10):
I feel like genres are kind of a complicated thing
right now because everybodywants to put a title on
something but there's so manythings that vary or kind of are
outliers.
I don't even know if minesounds like traditional country,
but I don't think it soundslike the mainstream country
(06:30):
right now either.
Tiffany Mason (06:32):
Agreed.
Dani Bacon (06:32):
But I guess my songs are about real life and that's
what makes it similar, if youcould even say that, to the
country genre world.
When people ask me what genre,I usually say country or
americana, because I don'treally know where it sits.
But yeah, something like that,I guess that's what I'm
(06:54):
wondering.
Jay Franze (06:55):
If you're in washington state and you're off
the beaten path, do you thinkthat influences, influences your
style of music?
Dani Bacon (07:03):
I think so for sure, especially the writers that
write about not just the beerand trucks, you know, of course
there's that no matter where yougo, but the people that are
writing about, I don't know,heartbreak or a love song, or
(07:25):
family, or the outdoors, oranything like that.
I think that my music is veryconnected to all of that.
Jay Franze (07:31):
When I think of Washington State, I don't
typically think of country music, but I would think of Americana
music.
So I think, taking pieces fromall of the different genres and
coming up with something alittle bit more unique than what
we would typically hear oncountry radio.
Dani Bacon (07:46):
Yeah, I would agree with that for sure.
Tiffany Mason (07:49):
Well, I think that's what makes it interesting
to listen to right Is becauseyou almost can't put your finger
on it, Cause I was too tryingto be like okay, bluegrass
country, I don't know Like I washaving a hard time too.
So that makes me feel good thateven you're like well, I don't
know, I was having a hard timetoo, so that makes me feel good
that even you're like well, Idon't know, maybe it's a
compilation of a couple ofdifferent genres and good on you
that you're like.
I don't know if I want to put atitle on it, it's Danny style.
Dani Bacon (08:14):
Well, and when I went into the studio, I worked
with Kyler at Den Studios.
When I first started workingwith him, he had only worked on
one country album, and so Ithink there's some of that as
well, coming from a producer whoworks in a lot of genres, not
just country.
Jay Franze (08:33):
So what kind of music was he producing?
Dani Bacon (08:36):
So the one that I know best is he worked with
Colby Acuff.
He's out of Idaho and hisbiggest song I believe his
biggest song right now is calledIf I Were the Devil.
I actually met Kyler at one ofColby's concerts there.
Other than that album, I thinkthat he works in a lot of pop,
(09:01):
or I think he had more of like apop what would you even call it
?
Pop punk kind of Maybe somerock in there as well that he
works on as well.
Jay Franze (09:13):
So where's he located?
Where's the studio?
Dani Bacon (09:16):
So that's in Boise, Idaho.
Jay Franze (09:17):
Okay, so you traveled to do your recording
then.
Dani Bacon (09:22):
Yes, I did, yeah, All right, what's the studio
like?
Well, it's like in a garage thathe's remodeled, which is really
cool.
It's got multiple rooms foryour vocals and then the actual
studio area, and then he has thedrums in another area.
So it's tiny, but it was somuch fun.
It was definitely a goodintroduction, I think, for never
(09:48):
doing anything like that beforeStepping into a studio is very
laid back.
Lots of pictures online thathe's showed, and when I first
was looking into recording, Ididn't know where to go.
You can Google studios torecord in, but the one that
stuck out for me was not that Ihad just met Kyler, but when I
(10:10):
looked up his website, he had awhole playlist of music that he
had produced, and so I wasactually able to hear the work
that he's put out in the world,and I think that's what really
sold me on it.
Jay Franze (10:25):
All right.
Does he play instruments?
Is he a hands-on producer?
Dani Bacon (10:36):
Yeah, he probably played almost every single
instrument.
On my songs that are in there,I play a little bit guitar, a
little bit of guitar, but heplays like everything else, and
if he doesn't know how to playit, he learns how to play it and
can play incredibly well doesthat include drums?
Yes, yeah, wow, yeah, helearned how to play the lap,
still to be in colby, because,yeah, who just learns how to do
(11:01):
that?
Tiffany Mason (11:03):
I'm doing that this weekend, so hit me up next
week.
I got you, yeah.
Jay Franze (11:14):
So are you writing songs and then sending them to
him in advance?
Dani Bacon (11:17):
Yeah, so I will pick like three to five songs,
depending on how many we want totackle, and I'll send them his
way and we kind of go over whatwe want him to sound like.
But yeah, we'll kind of go overwhat we want him to sound like
if we want specific instrumentsor harmonies and kind of go from
there all right.
Jay Franze (11:39):
So when you send the songs to him, are you sending
like just lyrics?
Are you playing guitar andsinging a little bit of a melody
?
I mean, what's your processlike before it makes it to him?
Dani Bacon (11:53):
So I usually just do like a really rough, cut audio
off of my phone, then send ithis way.
So it's very raw.
There's not really anything toit other than just a little bit
of rhythm guitar and my vocals,and then, if we need to go over
lyrics, I send those as well.
Jay Franze (12:11):
Does he then build the track before you get there?
Dani Bacon (12:18):
then build the track before you get there, nope.
So I kind of give him an ideaof what we're going to be
working with, and that's usuallyabout a week or so.
He listens to them and then,when we get in there, we just
start building them, puttingthem together.
So you participate in thebuilding process, then yeah, and
I don't know if most studiosare like that.
Jay Franze (12:56):
Mm-hmm, yeah, and I don.
You go in.
All of the musicians perform atone time and your song is done
in three and a half minutes.
So it's a very impressiveprocess, but it's a very
different process.
It's not quite as personal assomething like this.
Tiffany Mason (13:11):
Which do you prefer to produce, Jay?
Jay Franze (13:15):
I like the idea of doing a blend.
I like to go into the studioand record all of the A-list
players and then I like takingthose recordings back to my
personal studio and then, havingthe singer come in and sing in
my studio when it's a morecomfortable environment and
they're not being rushed.
So it's kind of like a littlebit of a hybrid approach and
(13:36):
they're not being rushed, soit's kind of like a little bit
of a hybrid approach.
Tiffany Mason (13:38):
Got it, dani?
How many times have you donethis?
So I don't know if you can tell, but I'm not from the
production world, so curious howmany times have you done it?
Dani Bacon (13:53):
Are you building a record?
Is this just EP?
What does it mean?
Well, so the first time I wentin, I believe, I had had five
songs, and then I went in asecond time and recorded six
songs and this isn't how peopleusually do it by any means, but
I felt kind of rushed because Iwanted music out in the world.
I was kind of done waiting, andso I released part one, and now
(14:17):
I'm slowly releasing thesingles for part two, and by
this fall everything will bereleased as part one and two, as
in one album.
Got it.
Jay Franze (14:28):
In today's world of releasing singles on streaming
services, it really doesn'tmatter as much as it used to,
because the process you'redescribing is if you went ahead
and recorded, say, half of youralbum, and then you release it
as an ep and then you go backand assemble the full album
later on down the road.
So today you don't have to dothat, so let's take it to your
(14:51):
vocals.
What was that process like?
Can you walk us through theenvironment?
Dani Bacon (14:56):
Yeah, so it's a separate room, there's three
rooms sectioned off, but there'sthese giant windows and so
you're able to see the producer,which I believe is similar, you
know, to other studios, so wecan kind of communicate through
the window and then also throughthe headphones.
And it was a lot of fun, alearning experience, which I
(15:17):
think that's just life for sure.
You got to start somewhereright.
And then, how you werementioning earlier how most
studios work, next year I'll begoing to Austin, texas, and
working with Jason Eadie in astudio that will be much more
like what you were explaining,where we bring in all of the
(15:41):
musicians and it won't just beone person playing everything.
Jay Franze (15:45):
It's just a personal preference.
When I had my studio in NewYork, it was more like what he
has here.
I mean, it was a smallproduction studio, had multiple
rooms and it was a nice facility, but it was small.
So it's just a matter ofwhichever you prefer.
So when you were in the studiowith him singing and you're in
(16:06):
your ISO booth, was thereanything specific you did to
that ISO booth to make it morecomfortable for you?
Dani Bacon (16:15):
you, Depending on the song.
Some I stood while singing,others I would sit down.
You know, depending on, I guess, how relaxed I wanted to sound
or how personal or deep the songwas.
But other than that, I don'tknow if I personalized it more
than that.
Did you keep the lights on oroff?
(16:38):
Oh, I guess on, I didn't eventhink about turning them off.
I don't like the dark, so Iprobably wouldn't turn the
lights off.
Jay Franze (16:44):
A lot of singers, especially when it's their first
time in a studio, will keep thelights off because they feel
like people are going to stareat them and they get a little
self-conscious when they'resinging.
Dani Bacon (16:52):
Oh.
Jay Franze (16:52):
So it's usually seasoned pros who keep the
lights on.
Dani Bacon (16:56):
Interesting.
Jay Franze (16:57):
The fact that you did that out of the gate say
that you're one step ahead ofeverybody.
Dani Bacon (17:02):
Well, I think when you don't know what you're doing
, you know and you're just kindof jumping into it.
I guess I just went into it howI thought it would be
comfortable, and maybe thatmakes me look like a pro or not,
it could go either way, I guess.
Jay Franze (17:22):
Well, it's just a matter of whatever makes you
comfortable, because if you'recomfortable, then you're going
to be able to sing the best youcan sing.
But the type of things I'mthinking of when I think of the
atmosphere is like you're in anisobooth, which is typically
pretty small.
I mean it can be anywhere fromthe size of a small closet up to
a spare bedroom.
(17:43):
So I mean, when you're in anisobooth, depending on the
studio you're in.
So I'm assuming, if this isespecially built out of his
garage, that it's a small, likea small closet.
You're usually in there with adampened room.
But my thoughts are like arethe lights off?
Did you have maybe a blankethanging?
Did you have a candle?
Was there anything that you didto make that room personal?
Tiffany Mason (18:07):
Did you set the mood for yourself, Annie?
Did you set the?
Jay Franze (18:10):
mood.
That's what we want to know Ididn't so much.
Tiffany Mason (18:14):
Or were you just so excited to get started?
You're like, let's do this yeah, pretty much that.
Dani Bacon (18:21):
I think it has a really incredible feel to it
already very homey, like there'sa couch in there and there's
stuff hanging on the walls andit's actually a larger room, but
the sound that comes out of itis very incredible so it does
have a vibe to it it does, yeah,so I, so he set the mood for
(18:42):
you yeah, I think I was justalready as comfortable as I
could be going in there andrecording, so it was a really
incredible first experience.
while we were talking aboutmusicians, though, the the
second time I went in, I broughtin Chelsea Parker.
Chelsea Parker, yeah, I believeyou've worked with her before.
Jay Franze (19:05):
Yes, ma'am, she was on the show.
Dani Bacon (19:07):
And I found her through social media.
That's one thing.
Living where I do live in themiddle of nowhere, social media
has been a really incredibletool for me because she was
playing on another musician'ssong and she's obviously just so
talented and I commented onthere.
(19:29):
I was like who is this fiddleplayer?
And someone tagged her and so Ishot her a message and you
never know like you can reachout to tons of people.
It doesn't mean they're goingto answer you.
You get a lot of either no orjust no response and she emailed
(19:50):
me back and was willing to jumpon a plane and come to Boise
and work with people that shedidn't know and it was so fun.
I don't know if I've ever metsomebody that was just like
immediately I was like, oh, Icould be friends with her.
She's so sweet, she's sotalented.
Jay Franze (20:09):
Miss Tiffany.
She is one of the people whoactually came here in this room
to do their interview.
Oh cool.
Tiffany Mason (20:21):
I mean, she has no problem traveling to do the
interviews, so this girl's justright.
She's just looking foropportunities to travel.
Yeah, Well, to be fair.
Jay Franze (20:26):
She lived about 10 minutes down the road.
Okay, now she has moved sincethen.
She now lives about 20 minutesdown the road, but you know, hey
, she is one of the most amazingmusicians I've ever seen.
She is super, super talented,and her brother's talented and
her dad's talented.
Her brother plays drums, herdad plays steel.
(20:47):
Too much talent in one family.
Stop it, yeah.
Tiffany Mason (20:53):
I have a couple of questions.
So first of all, Jay, I want toask you about the larger
recording studios or the largerrecording rooms shutting down.
Is that because technology canduplicate what those large rooms
used to do for the sound?
Why do you think that that ischanging?
Jay Franze (21:09):
Well, I think there's a few things.
I don't think they're allshutting down, but I do think a
lot of them are, and part of thereason for that is that they're
expensive.
They are super expensive.
This is Ocean Way in Nashville.
It was built out of a churchright there on Music Row Now
what's happened on Music Row isthat people have come in and
(21:33):
they're buying property andthey're building condos and
apartment complexes.
So all of the big studios havethe choice now to either sell
out to these companies or try tostick it out.
This one's not going to leave.
This studio will always bethere because it's a church.
No one's going to tear downthis beautiful church.
But there's others like.
(21:54):
There was one called theTracking Room which was right
down the road from here, rightoff of Dumumbrian, and that
studio was massive in size butit was super expensive and they
just couldn't keep it open.
And then a lot of them have nowmoved over to Berry Hill, which
is the what we call maybe thenew music row in Nashville, like
(22:16):
John McBride, martina McBride'shusband, that's where his
Blackbird studio is, and there'sa few others, but in LA there's
still a handful of thesestudios left.
But to your point, yes, you knowyou can do a lot in a home
studio these days, and whatmakes that worth doing is the
fact, like what Dani was able todo is go and have an intimate
(22:40):
recording and work with somebodywho is focused on her and Dani.
Dani Bacon (22:49):
How long did you spend in the studio that first
trip to do those first fivesongs?
I?
Jay Franze (22:55):
think it was three days maybe.
So you had three days ofundivided attention where if you
were in Nashville to do fivesongs, you would have done that
in probably three hours and thenyou would have been shuffled
out quickly for the next Dannyto come in right after you and
record their three to five songs, and then the next one would
come in and record theirs andthen you'd have to come back on
(23:17):
a different day to to sing youjust wouldn't have that same
personal touch.
So it really is just preference.
Do you want that personal touchor do you want to be part of
the big machine?
Tiffany Mason (23:30):
well that that leads beautifully into my next
question which was why did youdecide to go from the smaller
studio with Kyler?
And then this other kind ofconcept, I suppose if you will,
in Austin Texas.
Dani Bacon (23:46):
Well, I'm going to continue to work with Kyler.
I think I'm going back theresometime this winter and we'll
probably always do music, I hope.
Hopefully, if Kyler watchesthis, he he'll hear that too.
But I also just want tocontinue to keep moving forward
with more connections.
Yeah, jason Eady, who I'll beworking with in Texas, he is
(24:11):
very well connected and he'svery talented, very great
songwriter, and so, movingforward, the more connections
and friendships I can build, I'mjust going to keep doing that
and, like I mentioned earlier,I'm just learning as I go too,
and so I would like toexperience all of it and just
(24:32):
keep learning and just keepmoving forward, I guess, with
all of it.
Tiffany Mason (24:37):
It seems like good choices.
Now, does your family go withyou?
Dani Bacon (24:41):
Well, it ended up being perfect.
The first time I went to Boisebecause I had a sister who was
in the Air Force there, and sowe stayed with her.
I took the whole family, we allgot in the truck and headed
that way, and then I have mybrother-in-law that also lived
there.
So, yeah, we just all went andTravis that's my husband he hung
(25:03):
out with the kids while I wentand hung out in the studio for
days on end.
Tiffany Mason (25:07):
Now are you going to expose them to Austin Texas?
Dani Bacon (25:11):
I don't know.
We'll see if they want to go.
Right now, the boys are prettyconvinced that mom is not very
cool and what she does is notvery cool.
And oh my goodness, we'll seeif they want to go or not.
Well, hey, if they're not goingto be fans, I wouldn't bring
them, yeah yeah, if you're notthere in my corner cheering me
(25:33):
on, mm-mm, right, but Travisdoes.
He likes to go.
He's pretty quiet compared tome.
Tony Scott (25:40):
I have one of those.
Dani Bacon (25:42):
Yeah, goes and listens, goes to my shows as
many as he can, and, yeah, it'sa lot of fun.
I'm the only one that plays orsings or writes music, though,
so it is very different thanwhat everyone else in our
household likes to do.
Jay Franze (25:58):
I can understand that my family has no desire to
be part of any of the stuff I do.
I mean, I tell Tiffany all thetime I get tickets to shows, I
get to go to studios, I get todo all this stuff.
And I asked my daughter if youwant to go.
She's like no, no, I don't.
Tiffany Mason (26:14):
I asked Jay if I could be one of his kids.
I mean, I want to go, yeah,I'll go.
Jay Franze (26:20):
Cindy Lauper tomorrow night.
Thank you, rocky Rose.
Cindy Lauper tomorrow night.
Thank you.
Dani Bacon (26:23):
Rocky Rose Fun.
Jay Franze (26:26):
So you mentioned your family being in Boise.
Did that play part in?
Dani Bacon (26:33):
your decision to choose that location.
No, it didn't.
Actually, I would have goneeither way.
I would have jumped on a planeand I would have gone either way
.
So what was it that made youchoose him in that studio?
(26:55):
I think, first off, that I methim in person and also that I
heard a lot of the stuff that hehad already worked on.
He was affordable and thestudio looked incredible and,
for whatever reason, it feltright, I guess.
Yeah, you can probably go toany studio, right, if you pay
them, they'll let you recordthere, absolutely.
But I don't know if it's mypersonality or where I'm from,
(27:16):
but personal connection, I think, is really important to me, and
I think for that reason and Iguess, a couple others it just
seemed right and it turned outgood.
So I prayed on the way there,though, because I was like I
don't know how this is going toturn out.
It could go really bad or itcould go really good.
Jay Franze (27:36):
Positive all the time.
Tiffany Mason (27:37):
Yeah, you're 100% right.
Jay Franze (27:39):
The connection is really what matters the most.
If you don't have thatconnection, the recording will
not work out well.
Connection is really whatmatters the most.
If you don't have thatconnection, the recording will
not work out well.
And I always have an examplethat when I was in a studio in
Nashville with one of the bestproducers in Nashville and we
were recording this youngsinger-songwriter, a young woman
, and that producer made thisgirl cry after every session to
(28:02):
the point where she decided toleave and we went and recorded
the record somewhere else andshe was as happy as can be and
that that record went to numberone on the charts when she
recorded the happy version.
So you just never know.
Tiffany Mason (28:16):
Wow.
Jay Franze (28:18):
So I do believe it's all about being comfortable.
Tiffany Mason (28:21):
Well, thinking about that studio and having the
aesthetics be so nice, I'mthinking like maybe part of your
decision is like great socialmedia pictures which then made
me think I wonder has somebodyreached out to you saying you
know who's your fiddle player orwhat studio are you in, or
whatever you know, like you didfinding your fiddle player?
(28:41):
Has that happened to you inreverse, where someone's reached
out to you inquiring some ofthose things?
Dani Bacon (28:49):
oh no, not yet.
Hopefully that happens too.
Jay Franze (28:52):
I'll sing backup vocals, I'll, I'll do the things
well, let me ask you on thatnote are you good at harmony
singing?
Dani Bacon (29:01):
I think I'm good at it yes, yes.
Jay Franze (29:03):
Answer is yes, yes.
Dani Bacon (29:05):
I am yeah.
Well, the reason I say thatkind of in a I'm not sure way, I
guess, is it's something thatI'm new to.
But I have been working on thisyear Because before I started
putting myself and my music outthere more, I was just playing
music by myself and singing bymyself.
Tiffany Mason (29:27):
Cause you're out in the middle of nowhere and
your family doesn't partake inthe music scene.
So who are you going to singwith, danny?
Dani Bacon (29:33):
Yeah, and so and then usually if I'm singing, I
do have some musicians herelocally that I play music with
and they're very talented, butthen I'm the lead singer and
then my friend Alicia is the um,the backup vocals in the
harmonies.
Um and then I have anotherfriend.
His name's Clarence Gallagher,and he's actually playing with
(29:55):
Matt Heckler right now.
He's very talented, and so ifwe sing together, I sing
harmonies for him.
Jay Franze (30:02):
We were talking about Chelsea.
That's one thing.
That's impressive about her isnot only can she play the fiddle
and and other instruments, butshe can play the fiddle and sing
at the same time.
Tiffany Mason (30:12):
So she plays and sings harmony and does all of
the things you would want her todo I love that your first
connection was to dixie chick'salbum and now fiddle playing is
part of your music.
Dani Bacon (30:27):
Yes, yeah, we were actually going to have Chelsea
try to do some harmonies and sheended up running out of time.
Originally, we were going tohave her play, I think, on like
three songs, and then we endedup loving it all so much she
played on all six, yeah, and sowe didn't have enough time for
her to also sing any harmoniesor backup vocals.
Jay Franze (30:50):
That's all right.
The fiddle's probably the moreimportant piece there.
Dani Bacon (30:54):
Yeah, I think it really made the songs, for sure,
yeah.
Jay Franze (30:57):
I'm telling you, Miss Tiffany, that's going to be
another one you're going tohave to go back and listen to
now, because she is amazing andI never would have thought that
you would have found her throughthe internet, reached out to
her and have her fly out to youlike that.
Dani Bacon (31:11):
That's very, very cool.
I have made connections with alot of people.
That's how I try to connectwith a lot of people.
I don't know if everybodychecks their DMs.
Jay Franze (31:25):
but I'm in there If you want to open her or anything
else?
Yeah, there you go For thoselistening.
Please check your DMs, maybeyou could be the lucky one.
All right, I have a questionfor you.
I know you're still fairly newto this career, but what kind of
challenges have you faced alongthe way so far?
Dani Bacon (31:49):
have you faced along the way so far?
I think there's a lot ofunknowns, and so I think a lot
of the time I don't know if I'mmaking the right decisions.
And then another thing thatseems like a big hurdle is I do
all my own booking right now,and that's very time consuming.
And also, since I don't have amanager or anything like that,
(32:11):
I'm having to find these peopleand reach out.
Some people reach back and theycommunicate well and it works
out great, but even those, theystill take months, you know, to
get details of a show locked in,and so I think that that is a
challenge for sure, and thetravel, and just right now I'm
(32:32):
not very connected yet, but I'mworking on it.
Jay Franze (32:38):
Do you think your location plays a part in that?
Dani Bacon (32:42):
I think some of it.
I mean, I have friends thatjust moved to nashville, the
carlisles um, they're thecarlisle family band and that's
you know why they moved there.
They have a house here, a cabin, yeah multi-million dollar
cabin yeah um, just so thatquote cabin.
(33:05):
Yeah, just be able to go tomore shows, make more
connections and more on aregular basis, rather than, like
I flew to Nashville in Januaryand went to some shows and met
some people, but it's definitelynot, you know, very frequent
because I do live so far away.
Tiffany Mason (33:26):
Does it feel defeating that you're so far
away from Nashville?
Dani Bacon (33:32):
It can, if I look at it that way, but then I also
know that I probably wouldn'tfit in the box of Nashville
anyways.
And so in that way it doesn'tfeel defeating.
Tiffany Mason (33:51):
Fair.
Dani Bacon (33:52):
I mean I would love to be a part of the bigger scene
, for sure, but I know if Iwould have moved there really
young, I think I probably wouldhave been put in that box and
then not been able to write thesongs that I have been able to
write and be who I am.
I think I try to look at it inmore of a perspective of being
(34:15):
grateful, because it would bevery different if I had lived
there for the last 10 years.
Jay Franze (34:21):
I think, if you take a look at it this way, where
you're off in, say, your ownarea, you're probably one of the
only musicians, like you said,in your family and probably in
your friend group and out inthat area where you're writing
and coming up with a style ofmusic that, although might be
country or has an Americana feelto it.
So you're coming up with yourown little vibe and your own
(34:43):
little piece of that, thatpuzzle.
But I think what what's helpingyou is these days, social media
gives you the reach, like youwere able to reach out to
Chelsea Parker, and you canreach out to Kyler and anybody
else that you want to work withand you can probably get in
touch with them.
You can arrange session time,you can bring musicians in, so
(35:05):
you still have access to all ofthe same people and all of the
same things.
You might not be able to dosome of the networking that you
could do in person if you werein Nashville, but you can do all
of this stuff online.
If we take that a step further,if you're building your career
right now and social media is amajor puzzle piece to that what
(35:26):
are you doing to grow yoursocial media accounts?
Dani Bacon (35:31):
that is okay if we're talking about hurdles or
struggles or challenges.
That is social media for mejust trying to make enough
content or content that peoplewould want to watch.
I think social media is soincredible.
Like you're saying, there's tonsof opportunities, for sure, and
(35:52):
you can reach literally anyoneif they read the message and
reply obviously, but I haven'tblown up on social media either,
though, so it's kind of like aweird juggling act of staying
true to who I am, you know, andnot trying to do everything that
(36:15):
someone else is doing, tryingto make more content that's
attached to my songs, whether itbe videos or talking about it,
talking about my songs, so I'mlearning in that area as well.
Tiffany Mason (36:32):
When it comes to staying on social media and
being able to kind of be true towho you are and you know, live
where you want to live.
What have been the songs thathave been the most fun to write,
or what songs do you feel likeare so unique to you?
Dani Bacon (36:51):
Out of the ones I've released so far, the ones that
stand out, I guess in thatcategory would be Northern Pines
, because I wrote that one aboutwhere I live and my family, but
chasing dreams and then alwayscoming back to the place and the
people that I love.
And I started writing that oneafter a conversation with my
(37:14):
husband of wanting to pursuethis more and I was going on a
little mini tour and so I wrotethat about this desire in this
pole to want to chase my dreams,but knowing that I'm never
going to leave everything that Ilove and it's so important
behind.
And then, um, I have anothersong called Buffalo and that's
(37:36):
about wide open spaces and thedesire to be free and in wide
open spaces.
And then I have Back to theDixie Chicks Mm-hmm.
Yeah, yeah, another one that'scalled your Lady, I think I
guess they're all.
Maybe Now, as I'm talking aboutall of them, they're all kind
(37:57):
of attached to it, but I'malways willing, though, to jump
on a plane.
I love to travel, I love to goplaces.
So, even though this is my homebase, I love to go to all the
places.
Tiffany Mason (38:10):
When you go on tour, you're going to be just
fine with it.
Dani Bacon (38:14):
Yes, yeah, yeah, I love it.
Jay Franze (38:19):
All right, my friend , while we do this thing here,
we call Unsung Heroes, where wetake a moment to shine the light
on somebody who's worked behindthe scenes or somebody who may
have supported you along the way.
Dani Bacon (38:31):
Do you have anybody you would like to shine a little
light on?
Oh well, I think my parentsprobably are the start of all of
it.
They are incredibly talentedthemselves.
Then I have a music teacher,connie Fletcher, and she was
kind of the start of encouragingme to play in school, and I
(38:53):
think that was the start of allof it.
And without those people Idefinitely would not be here,
and my husband for sure.
He's a giant support to me.
And Monty Hildebrandt, who Iwrote my first song about, which
that's the last song I'll bereleasing this fall and he's no
(39:16):
longer on this earth, but Idon't know if I ever would have
written a song if I wasn't insuch a sad place after he passed
, and I wrote that song aboutthat feeling.
So I think he was a really bigpiece too.
Before he passed he encouragedme to sing all the time, and so
(39:37):
I think all just the beginning.
The beginning of all of it isthose people.
Jay Franze (39:42):
When you hear that song now, how does it make you
feel?
Dani Bacon (39:46):
All of it, it's those people.
When you hear that song now,how does it make you feel?
Probably sad would be the firstword I could think of.
I still have a really deepconnection to it, for sure.
I think, unfortunately, a lotof people can relate to that,
(40:07):
because I think throughout ourlife everyone's going to lose
someone that they care a lotabout.
So probably probably just a lotof pain and sorrow, but faith
that there's good that comesafter hardship.
That's actually what this firsttattoo was.
It was a beauty from ashes iswhat it represented and that's
kind of where that came from.
(40:28):
Too similar to that song.
Jay Franze (40:30):
Do you find it hard to sing that song live?
Dani Bacon (40:36):
Yes, I do.
I think that there's a fineline, when I'm playing a song
live, of trying to be in theemotion enough to portray the
feelings, but not so much thatyou lose it, because that can
happen too, and so I try to walkthat line with ease.
Jay Franze (41:02):
I'm not going there tonight.
I got too many things I couldbe saying right now.
Miss Tiffany, I'm biting mytongue.
As a matter of fact, folks, wehave reached the top of the hour
, which doesn't mean we havereached the end of the show.
If you've enjoyed the show,please tell a friend.
And Miss Tiffany, if you havenot, tell two, tell two.
All right, you can also reachout to all of us all three of us
(41:23):
one, two and three over atjayfranze.
com, where we will be happy tokeep this conversation going.
Miss Tiffany, thank you foractually showing up tonight.
I do appreciate you doing that.
Miss Dani, thank you forjoining us.
I would like to leave the finalwords to you words to you.
Dani Bacon (41:42):
Thank you so much for having me.
Give me a follow, give me alisten.
Jay Franze (41:52):
And hopefully we'll connect further along the road.
All right, folks On that note,have a good night.
Tony Scott (41:56):
Thanks for listening to The Jay Franzi Show.
Make sure you visit us atjayfranze.
com.
Follow, connect and say hello.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!