For Dariann Leigh, this is so much more than country music. From her one-stop town in Karlstad, Minnesota (population 713), Dariann captured the star power of the original women of country music. From lyrics bleeding through static-filled radios and scratched CDs. Dariann Leigh doesn’t just want to make music, she wants to write the soundtrack for hairbrush singers, dashboard drummers and air guitar players everywhere. Dariann has been featured on The Boot, CMT, and more with her previous single's "Closer", "Let Me Go", "10,000 miles", and most recently with her new single "Leave".
As a kid,” Says Leigh, “I remember closing my eyes, plugging my headphones in and listening to tracks that ended up being the theme songs to my daydreams. I want to be that artist for someone else.”
This description was created in part by summarizing and rearranging the biography sent by the guest.
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Her Website: https://www.dariannleigh.com/
Check out her music here: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6nj2CwwP1Iv52qEZFYoY47
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Link to all things Not in a Huff Podcast: https://linktr.ee/notinahuffpodcast
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome to Not in a Huff with Jackson Huff where we interview newsmakers,
(00:05):
storytellers, and all-around interesting people. Sit back, relax, unless you're
driving, and enjoy the show. Here's Jackson. Hello, hello, hello. I am Jackson Huff.
This is Not in a Huff. Thanks so much for joining me. As always, really, really
appreciate it. Another week of having an amazing young artist on, amazing young
(00:29):
musical artists kind of doing their thing on the Nashville scene. This week
I'm speaking with Darian Lee. Now Darian kind of comes to us from the world of
being a performer on Broadway, which is of course the busy street in the
heart of Nashville with all of the, I guess all the bars and the clubs and
(00:54):
things like that with country music and live performances each and every
night. The reason I kind of mentioned that is one of her big songs at the
moment is called Bury Me on Broadway talking about how she loves
being there and obviously being buried there is a dream,
(01:15):
whatever that metaphor means to you. But yeah, I really enjoy
speaking with Darian. We talk about how she got her start in music,
grew up in Minnesota. We talk about the music scene in Minnesota. We talk about
her process of writing music. We've done this several times in the past when
(01:37):
it comes to some of these young artists. So you know the drill there.
I mean, my goal is always just to introduce you to new upcoming artists
that are going to be the next big thing. I kind of put these in every
once in a while in between other conversations with people from all walks
(01:59):
of life. But yeah, if I can add one or two songs to your Spotify playlist, I think
that's a good thing. So urge you, after you listen to this podcast, to go check
out Darian. Urge you if this is your first time listening or haven't already, go
subscribe, go follow along to this podcast. I had a lot of amazing other
(02:20):
country artists in the past, a lot of amazing people outside of that. Good, there's
over 200 episodes now. So everything from true crime to Olympians to actors and all
kinds of people. So go check those out, but not until after you listen to this
amazing conversation with Darian Lee. Here's Darian.
(02:40):
You're Darian Lee. Ms. Lee, how are you? I'm good. How about you? I'm good. Thanks
for being here. Hardest question of the evening. Just introduce yourself.
My name is Darian Lee. I'm originally from a small town called Carlston,
Minnesota. I live in Nashville, Tennessee. I'm a musician, singer, songwriter, and I've
(03:00):
been living in Nashville for a few years now and a love in the dream, I guess. I
love that. And I want to kind of start at the beginning, and that's just how did
you get your start in music? Maybe not at the recording level, but where did
that passion begin? Oh, for me, I was a really, really young age. I was
memorizing melodies before I even knew what I was doing. I didn't realize I was
(03:25):
memorizing melodies when I was. And I used music as a tool to learn in school.
So for me, it really started as early as I can remember. Yeah. And you said that
you were from a small town. I think that that town was in Minnesota. What did the
music scene look like in Minnesota? I've talked to country artists from
(03:47):
California and the South and even Australia, but that far north in the US,
is country music a big thing? I think this is some of country music's biggest
connoisseurs. When you hit the Midwest, I think you find some of the most real
fans of true country music. I just opened up for Lancome and Parmely here in my
(04:08):
hometown. I'm in Minnesota right now. And it's an amazing playing for these sorts
of audiences because these people truly have such an appreciation for country
music. And they grew up the exact same way I did. So I can see it from their
perspective as well. There isn't much for like a performance scene, but there is a
(04:29):
lot of appreciation for music and live music when people can get their
opportunity to see live music. I got you. Yeah. So I'm in Indiana. So I think
it's like smack dab in the Midwest, but I feel like everyone uses that Midwest
word. How far does Midwest go? Is Minnesota that's considered Midwest too?
Yeah. Yeah. I always say that the Midwest is not literally the middle of the US
(04:54):
because everybody thinks it is, but it is not. I always feel like it's like the
the upper middle is what everybody seems to call the Midwest.
I got you. So I want to now kind of talk a little bit about your songs. We're
going to get to the specifics here in a minute, but are you someone who mostly
is on your own writing these songs and writing about your own experiences? Are
(05:19):
you somebody who does a lot of collaborations with other people where
you sit down and pump out a song with somebody who that's all they do or you
somebody who just sings songs that are given to you? What's that look like?
I think it for me, I do a little bit of both. So I would say I'm very much 50 50.
(05:39):
I do write a lot with other people in collaborations, but I do also write a
good amount by myself. And I think that a lot of your true education for writing
starts with yourself and then you're like genuinely taught when you start
writing with other people because you see other examples. But I write all over
the board with friends, people I've literally never met before and with
(06:01):
myself. So what's I always like to kind of ask that when when people do kind of
have that, you know, that passion for sharing their story, we're going to talk
a little bit more about that in a second. But what's that look like when you are
collaborating with with other people? Because, you know, that's I've talked to
enough artists now where, you know, it's great because that brings other ideas
(06:23):
into the, you know, into the equation. But, you know, you just talked about how
you sometimes write with people you've never met. So what's that look like when
they're just not meshing well or, you know, given that you're the one that has
to sing it, you're the one that has to, you know, feel the energy of it, so to
speak, when, you know, maybe that some of that power of the ideal is is not
(06:46):
necessarily in your hands if you're, you know, having other people do it. It's
kind of a delicate balance of being able to, you know, take other ideas while
also kind of owning owning what you're eventually going to sing.
Yeah, I think when you're writing with people you don't know, you're given a
really good opportunity to see into who they are really, really quickly. And
(07:07):
that's like the most fun part about writing with people that you don't know
is you really get to know each other really quickly. There's definitely
rights where like you can struggle a little bit to try to get the idea out.
Thankfully, I'm not always the person that releases a song or sings a song.
Sometimes I'm just a writer and sometimes I write for other people. And
it's so much fun and I love doing that. At my heart, I am a songwriter. And
(07:29):
when I'm doing that with people I've never met before, like I was saying,
gives me such a good opportunity to meet these people and get to know them in a
way that I feel like you wouldn't get to know them in like conversation like you
and I are having when when somebody is opening up about something in song, it
is very, very different. And there's obviously hard rights here and there, but
(07:50):
you can normally push through those.
So you what would you say? You know, you gave me a 50 50 a second ago. What
would you say when it comes to, you know, percentage? How much of the music
that you're helping create? Are you singing versus, you know, other people
releasing?
50 50 when I'm saying like I write with other people and I write with myself
(08:11):
like co writes by myself. That wouldn't be a co write. That's the right. But I
do write for I don't know if I can put a percentage on the amount of people that
I write songs with and cuts that I've had. I've been so lucky to have written
on a lot of songs that other people have decided to cut. And that's honestly one
of the most incredible things when you put your heart behind something and
(08:33):
your soul and somebody else feels like their soul and their heart is in it, too.
For me, I would say a vast majority recently has been for myself. However,
I'm always writing. I write numerous times a week. So in a week, you know, I
could end up having friends or people that I'm writing with. And I feel like
everybody I write with is my friend that are like, hey, we want to cut all of
(08:55):
this. So it could easily go from, oh, I'm really writing for myself lately to, oh,
I guess I'm writing for a bunch of other people lately. And I love that. I
wouldn't I like the mix between writing for others and myself.
Where do you where do you mostly get your inspiration? Is it the things that
have happened to you? You know, ripped from the headlines? Where was most of
your inspiration coming from?
(09:16):
A lot of inspiration comes from my personal life. But when it's with people,
when I'm writing for them, I guess I should say, you know, I'm writing for
say, normally you open up a lot about your experience. So you're able to, even
if you haven't experienced what they're talking about, to relate to it and to be
able to write in it in a tangible way that it feels like you have. And that's
(09:39):
the beauty of writing. When you're listening to a song, you're like, how did
somebody write this? And I'm going through it right now. And that is the
cool part about songwriting, even when you maybe haven't experienced what this
person is talking about, you almost feel like you're experiencing it through the
way that they're explaining it.
Yeah. So, you know, I've talked to a lot of a lot of different artists. So I've
(10:01):
had to deal with a lot of different agents, a lot of different publicists who
send me these bios. And I say that because yours has a line in it that's
just, I really like that. I have to kind of repeat to you and just kind of get
your input with it. It says Darian doesn't want to just make music. She wants
to write the soundtrack for hairbrush singers, dashboard drummers, and air
(10:23):
guitar players everywhere. I think that's really cool. What's that mean to
you exactly?
For me, I think it means that I'm a performer and I love to do what I do, but
I'm also a songwriter and I love to be able to put my feelings or other people's
feelings to song. And you don't have to be like the world's most incredible
musician to listen to a song and appreciate it. And I say that as in like,
(10:46):
you're not going to go sit down and play Mozart, you know, like everybody
appreciates music and everybody feels it. And we all play the air guitar when we
hear really sick riff. And we all when Phil Collins, I can feel it coming in the
air tonight comes on, we all go do do do do do do do do do do, you know, and I
think it's the most realistic thing about music is we all pretend that we're
(11:08):
the person that's doing it. We all lip sync when our favorite artists come on
on the radio. And I just want to be that for somebody else.
That I mean, that's just you're talking about like sick riffs. Obviously, when it
comes to podcasts, I'm kind of a sucker for turn of phrase because you know,
everything everything about a podcast is just word. So how, how much involved
(11:30):
were you with that with that sentence? Because that's that's just a tight,
concise, cool sentence. Did you have anything to do with that? Or did somebody
bring it to you? Because they're worth their pay.
It was kind of a mix. It was kind of a mix. I explained what I love about music
and that what I wanted and I kind of feel like we together came up with that
(11:51):
phrase by me expressing myself kind of like when I write for other people, they
express themselves and I clean it up and kind of make it into a song and, and
people do that with me too. And that's what we did when we wrote that for sure.
Gotcha. I like it. So I want to talk about you, you know, you're a musician
I want to talk about your music specifically. I know that you have got a
(12:13):
single come out relatively recently called bury me on Broadway. We talked
about kind of how you get your inspiration, how these things are
written. So let's let's talk about a specific song now. Tell us how that
song came about, whether it was one that you wrote yourself or where there was a
co-write. Just tell us everything you can about bury me on Broadway.
Yeah, I wrote the song with Lenny Pay, AJ Gatio, Tiffany Goss and Tom Tippen.
(12:37):
And I had had the idea for about two years before I ever pitched it to anyone.
And I was very specific with the kind of right that I wanted to pitch it in. I
knew that this idea in the phrase bury me on Broadway was really cool. And I
wanted to make sure that I did it the justice that I felt it deserved in my
(12:59):
head. And I'd considered bringing it up to previous rights in the past, but it
never really felt right. And I walked in the room with Lenny, AJ, Tiffany and
Tom and Lenny looks at me and he goes, we should write a female version of a
Morgan Wallen song. And it hit me like a load of bricks because I was like,
this is a day that I bring up the idea that I've been kind of starting to write
(13:23):
on my own, but I've really wanted to bring to a room like this for so long.
And I brought it up and they're like, we're writing this right now. That is a
crazy hook. And honestly, the song really with all of us, it almost wrote itself.
So what's what I mean, obviously we know that that phrase and for people who
(13:43):
don't know, you know, country music very well, because I have listeners that
from from all areas. So Broadway obviously is the big street in Nashville.
So that's why that's kind of a cool phrase for sure. What is so what's the
song about? For me, I play music on Broadway. I play on Broadway a few times
a week and there's a connotation about it that isn't always the most positive
(14:08):
towards musicians. And I think that I would not be the artist that I am
without my time on Broadway. And I have a lot of appreciation for all the time
I've spent on Broadway. And there's a part of me that when I started working
down there that had gotten really tired of hearing knocked out. And I was
like, I'm going to do music now on Broadway. I'm going to do music in
(14:30):
my own world. And I was like, I'm going to get buried here. And I'm like,
I'm going to get stuck. And I was in the irony. And that is, I was like,
fine, bury me on Broadway. Like, I'll get so stuck. I'll get buried here.
And then I was like, Wait, this part of me that's like, oh, antagonizing when
(14:50):
people say that. And I never actually said that to anyone. I just thought it
typical night downtown.
Without like the last night we let the liquor talk,
Morgan Wallen and like, Let's Go Girls thing.
Yeah, I want to talk about a specific song here in just a
second, but tell us a little bit about some of your other
music highlight, your some of your other songs too that
(15:11):
you're especially proud of.
Yeah, one song that I always get a lot of people talking
about is Let Me Go.
That song I think is an anthem in itself and it when you
listen to it comparatively to my other songs, it really
like screams for the attention, but it gets it by not having
the scream and 10,000 miles is always one that people love
(15:31):
and connect to and I think it's because that song is very
much so like a diary entry for me.
I wrote that one completely by myself.
Well for better or worse, you didn't mention the one I'm
going to ask you about for some reason when I was looking
at your YouTube page and I was checking out some of your
music videos.
The one that made me click on it is Jackson.
I don't know necessarily why.
(15:52):
Oh cool.
Yeah, obviously that's because my name but I like the music
video.
It was cool because you kind of interspersed your own home
videos from when you were a kid.
So you can see, you know you as a kid maybe having that
passion for music, but that's also kind of scary.
What made you decide you want the world to see you as you
(16:15):
know, a toddler.
I think it's so fun to see people's back stories and like
get to know them and I often feel like I get the opportunity
to get to know so many people when they talk to me about how
they resonate with my music and you know, you share so much
about your life when you share the songs that you write
because you're really sharing like an opening to your heart.
(16:36):
But I kind of felt like it was time for me to open up a
little bit more of like my past and that song in my childhood
and and what makes me me.
I always like to ask definitely, you know, younger artists
that are kind of just getting their start or you know, just
just finding their footing.
What is what is your family think of all this?
(16:57):
Obviously you're you're from Minnesota small town in Minnesota.
You had that dream.
You've moved to Nashville.
You're performing live.
You know, you said three nights a week.
What do they think of everything?
My family loves it.
I was with my friends the other night here and they're like
we literally could not picture you doing anything else with
your life and there's no statement that better states
(17:19):
this life for me than that.
My family's always been super super supportive and I'm so
grateful for it and my friends have always been super
supportive.
I think when you look back at my childhood and exactly how
I was who I am now makes so much sense like it all adds
up the math is nothing.
I like that.
What what what do you think are you know, some of the best
(17:41):
parts of getting into the industry and of course the other
thing I'm going to ask you the flip side to but what's what's
the best parts of you know following this passion thus far?
I have an opportunity to speak to people that I would never
have the opportunity to speak to and I say speak.
I mean through music like my reach through music is much
(18:01):
more than I can even tangibly understand and I think the
opportunity to help people heal through music or just to
feel happy or feel whatever they need to feel through music
is one that I've never taken for granted and I think it's
huge and that's one of my favorite things about music is
just the connections of people that you get to build.
(18:23):
Now that's that's powerful for sure.
But you know, of course the music industry isn't all puppies
and rainbows.
So what what's some things that you found particularly challenging
that maybe surprised you that it was a challenge or maybe
you you were always prepared for?
I grew up in a business family.
So I felt like I was very much so prepared for a lot of it
(18:45):
and there's certainly things that come up every now and
again run like that was a curveball that I was not anticipating
to catch.
I think there's always just new things that are put on your
plate as an artist that you need to catch on to really really
quick and become very good at and being a musician is not
(19:07):
just about songwriting and performing songs.
It's about basically being everything in one and like being
a brand yourself and being a social media person and all of
those things that come with that.
So I would say like the biggest curveballs is like sharing
so much of myself all of the time because I do feel like I
(19:28):
share a lot of myself through my songs and it's ironic that
I say that after being like I felt like it was time that I
share childhood videos of myself, but it is an interesting
world that we live in with social media, but it also gives
me a lot of opportunity to reach more people and I mean if
there wasn't for zoom, we wouldn't be having this conversation
right now and I don't know what I would do without social
(19:48):
media at this point.
So yeah, I mean it's it's obviously a blessing and it's
a curse is we just always have to find kind of that you set
those boundaries as long as you're you know, you're comfortable
in the boundaries that you set but yeah, that's I think that's
where we have issues.
Sometimes it's hard to set those boundaries because you want
to be accessible, but you also don't want to you know, give
(20:09):
away, you know a piece of yourself because you're so accessible.
Right exactly exactly right.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Everyone every artist that I bring on I asked this question
and they they kind of him haul they give me the 50-50.
I feel like maybe you're not going to do that.
But if you are it's okay, but what do you prefer more do you
(20:32):
prefer excuse me prefer the songwriting and say hey, I love
to write songs.
But of course I eventually have to you know perform them.
I had a lot people hear them so they don't sit sit where
no one ever never no one ever sees them or is it more hey,
I just love performing so much that the only way that I can
(20:53):
get on the stage is if I do write more music.
So where do you what do you like better the songwriting
of the performing aspect?
I do love to write songs, but I'm such a performer at my
core like I get the biggest high off of being on stage and
like that's where I feel the most at home, which is so ironic
for a lot of people to understand like how do you feel
(21:14):
at home in front of a bunch of people but that is like my
peak moments in my life.
I played this last weekend and we did we open for Lanco
and Parmely and then we did an after party and the downtime
in between I was like man, I'm tired.
I can really take a nap the second we started playing the
song.
I was like boom.
(21:35):
I feel like I just drank 87 cups of coffee.
I didn't at all and this is everything and performing to
me is like the reason why you write songs is to be able to
perform them and I I love performances.
I love running around and singing and just sharing my
music.
I love that and I love that you were able to answer the
(21:56):
question.
That's that's great.
You kind of set me up to have to too, but I tried.
You know what I do that to everyone and they still say,
oh you're going to hate me because I'm going to say 5050.
So I appreciate it.
But yeah, I mean I wonder there when you said, you know that
you get all your energy from performing outside of that out
(22:16):
off the stage.
Do you feel like you are a pretty extroverted person or is
that you know, is that more of a thing that hey you can listen
to me now because I'm doing something that I love and the
rest of the time, you know, don't bother me.
What's what's that look like?
You know that kind of is the case for me.
I'm if I've never met you before I'm typically pretty quiet
(22:40):
when I'm doing music things.
I'm definitely very extroverted and like industry events.
I know that I'm going to be super super talkative and I do
like to talk.
I've realized that I'm very much so social person but once
my battery starts to tank.
I'm very much so like I don't want to be the center of the
room.
I kind of want to go sit back do my own thing or like go
home and watch Netflix.
(23:01):
So I've really started to learn the balance for myself and
where I can put my social battery and when I need to like
go and recharge.
So I would say I am definitely an extrovert bottom of very
aware extrovert like I'm not always extrovert.
I got you.
I got you that make that make sense.
(23:22):
And yeah, I've talked some folk singers who just love screamo
so, you know, it always surprises me, you know, of course
you put out country music.
Is that is that what you find yourself listening to or is
it like, you know, I do that enough.
I'm listening to you know opera in the evenings.
(23:42):
I listen to a lot of pop music or like Broadway show tunes
which is so geeky but like I literally was just driving home
earlier and I was listening to Broadway show tunes because
they just hit different and I hear a lot of country songs
all the time.
I'm writing country songs and I am a country artist myself
and I definitely listen to all of it and I consume it but
(24:03):
I do like to listen to other things too.
Now I like that and what you know, you're relatively newer
in the industries close enough to the beginning that you
maybe can give advice to people just starting out.
What advice do you have for people who want to get into
the music industry?
Either as a performer or as a songwriter since you kind of
(24:23):
do both.
I've always said it and I'll continue to say it as like my
piece of advice to people is that the first step is always
the hardest step and it might just be your most important
step that you make.
However, every step that you make after that will make that
first step make so much more sense and and when you're
(24:43):
trudging through mud, it definitely doesn't get easier.
You know that your boots get heavier and and it this mud
can get thicker and sometimes it's dry but like the most
important thing is that you continue to pursue what makes
you happy and that you've taken the first step and you follow
that by continuing to walk through whatever it is that
you're walking through to get to your end goal.
(25:05):
No, I love that.
I really do.
I want you now to tell us, you know, obviously it's country
music people generally know what that means, but if they
say hey, I want to listen to Darian now after listening to
this what what what should they expect?
What's what's the music like?
You know, we we know country but and I hate to ask people
(25:28):
like what do you compare yourself to because nobody always
likes that question.
But if you like this you'll maybe like me if you'll do it.
Yeah for me with this new sound that we've really been diving
into I've been relating it a lot to Kelsey ballerini and I
would almost attach like my voice does have a little bit
more of a country sound to it.
(25:50):
So I would say like a Kelsey ballerini meets like Carly
Pierce ish vibe but then like maybe add a little bit more
of like a pop edge to it to this new music is really like
a whole different chapter of me and who I am in my artistry
and it's so exciting to be diving into that and sharing
it with people through brand new on Broadway and all the
(26:12):
other songs that we have coming out.
So if people do want to listen, I assume, you know, you're
all of your music on Spotify.
It's almost a non question these days, but how can people
find the music?
You can find me on all of your preferred streaming platforms
or social medias at Darien Lee.
My website is also Darien Lee.com.
(26:32):
So you can see shows merchandise.
It's also a great home base to find links to the other things
if you're struggling to find me.
It's just D-A-R-I-A-N-N-L-E-I-G-H. I'm the only one so you
should be in luck.
That's good.
My name is relatively unique enough that I think there's
one other and they follow me on Instagram.
(26:53):
I think we just had to kind of wink at each other and be
done as Jackson Hubs, but I do you have any shows coming
up that you want to you want to shout out?
Oh, I'm always playing.
So if you're in the Nashville area come out and find a show
and come hang out with us for a little bit a little bit and
let us know what you want to hear and ask for some originals.
(27:15):
You might hear some new ones that nobody's heard yet.
I love it.
What's been an absolute pleasure speaking with you.
Thanks so much.
You as well.
Thank you so much.
So that was Darien Lee really really urge you to go check
out her music on Spotify.
Great stuff.
I think that you'll find you know, if you're a country
music listener, you'll definitely enjoy it.
But even if you're just kind of dabbling in it's her sound
(27:37):
is really really a cool one.
So check her out on Spotify amazing person great artist.
So I think you'll enjoy that.
You know, like I said in the beginning of this your first
time listening here or you haven't already I really
appreciate you following along with with us, you know, we've
got other musical artists that you can you can listen to
but a lot of other great things too.
(27:58):
So I'd love to be a stop on your Wednesdays each week to
listen to really amazing people.
I enjoy this so much and I think that you'll enjoy you're
just listening to the story of a lot of people from from
all walks of life.
So appreciate those who give that five-star review on on
Apple and Spotify leave the written review on Apple.
(28:18):
That's always really helpful follow along on Instagram
not enough podcast on Facebook not enough with Jackson
enough Jackson up.com out of places to to keep up and
make sure that you don't miss an episode miss an amazing
guest.
So see you next week.
Take it away Chris.
This has been not in a huff with Jackson huff.
(28:39):
Thank you for listening.
Be sure to join us next time where we will interview
another amazing guest who is sure to make you laugh or
make you think or pay maybe even both but until then keep
being awesome.
Welcome to Not in a Huff with Jackson Huff where we interview newsmakers,
(00:05):
storytellers, and all-around interesting people. Sit back, relax, unless you're
driving, and enjoy the show. Here's Jackson. Hello, hello, hello. I am Jackson Huff.
This is Not in a Huff. Thanks so much for joining me. As always, really, really
appreciate it. Another week of having an amazing young artist on, amazing young
(00:29):
musical artists kind of doing their thing on the Nashville scene. This week
I'm speaking with Darian Lee. Now Darian kind of comes to us from the world of
being a performer on Broadway, which is of course the busy street in the
heart of Nashville with all of the, I guess all the bars and the clubs and
(00:54):
things like that with country music and live performances each and every
night. The reason I kind of mentioned that is one of her big songs at the
moment is called Bury Me on Broadway talking about how she loves
being there and obviously being buried there is a dream,
(01:15):
whatever that metaphor means to you. But yeah, I really enjoy
speaking with Darian. We talk about how she got her start in music,
grew up in Minnesota. We talk about the music scene in Minnesota. We talk about
her process of writing music. We've done this several times in the past when
(01:37):
it comes to some of these young artists. So you know the drill there.
I mean, my goal is always just to introduce you to new upcoming artists
that are going to be the next big thing. I kind of put these in every
once in a while in between other conversations with people from all walks
(01:59):
of life. But yeah, if I can add one or two songs to your Spotify playlist, I think
that's a good thing. So urge you, after you listen to this podcast, to go check
out Darian. Urge you if this is your first time listening or haven't already, go
subscribe, go follow along to this podcast. I had a lot of amazing other
(02:20):
country artists in the past, a lot of amazing people outside of that. Good, there's
over 200 episodes now. So everything from true crime to Olympians to actors and all
kinds of people. So go check those out, but not until after you listen to this
amazing conversation with Darian Lee. Here's Darian.
(02:40):
You're Darian Lee. Ms. Lee, how are you? I'm good. How about you? I'm good. Thanks
for being here. Hardest question of the evening. Just introduce yourself.
My name is Darian Lee. I'm originally from a small town called Carlston,
Minnesota. I live in Nashville, Tennessee. I'm a musician, singer, songwriter, and I've
(03:00):
been living in Nashville for a few years now and a love in the dream, I guess. I
love that. And I want to kind of start at the beginning, and that's just how did
you get your start in music? Maybe not at the recording level, but where did
that passion begin? Oh, for me, I was a really, really young age. I was
memorizing melodies before I even knew what I was doing. I didn't realize I was
(03:25):
memorizing melodies when I was. And I used music as a tool to learn in school.
So for me, it really started as early as I can remember. Yeah. And you said that
you were from a small town. I think that that town was in Minnesota. What did the
music scene look like in Minnesota? I've talked to country artists from
(03:47):
California and the South and even Australia, but that far north in the US,
is country music a big thing? I think this is some of country music's biggest
connoisseurs. When you hit the Midwest, I think you find some of the most real
fans of true country music. I just opened up for Lancome and Parmely here in my
(04:08):
hometown. I'm in Minnesota right now. And it's an amazing playing for these sorts
of audiences because these people truly have such an appreciation for country
music. And they grew up the exact same way I did. So I can see it from their
perspective as well. There isn't much for like a performance scene, but there is a
(04:29):
lot of appreciation for music and live music when people can get their
opportunity to see live music. I got you. Yeah. So I'm in Indiana. So I think
it's like smack dab in the Midwest, but I feel like everyone uses that Midwest
word. How far does Midwest go? Is Minnesota that's considered Midwest too?
Yeah. Yeah. I always say that the Midwest is not literally the middle of the US
(04:54):
because everybody thinks it is, but it is not. I always feel like it's like the
the upper middle is what everybody seems to call the Midwest.
I got you. So I want to now kind of talk a little bit about your songs. We're
going to get to the specifics here in a minute, but are you someone who mostly
is on your own writing these songs and writing about your own experiences? Are
(05:19):
you somebody who does a lot of collaborations with other people where
you sit down and pump out a song with somebody who that's all they do or you
somebody who just sings songs that are given to you? What's that look like?
I think it for me, I do a little bit of both. So I would say I'm very much 50 50.
(05:39):
I do write a lot with other people in collaborations, but I do also write a
good amount by myself. And I think that a lot of your true education for writing
starts with yourself and then you're like genuinely taught when you start
writing with other people because you see other examples. But I write all over
the board with friends, people I've literally never met before and with
(06:01):
myself. So what's I always like to kind of ask that when when people do kind of
have that, you know, that passion for sharing their story, we're going to talk
a little bit more about that in a second. But what's that look like when you are
collaborating with with other people? Because, you know, that's I've talked to
enough artists now where, you know, it's great because that brings other ideas
(06:23):
into the, you know, into the equation. But, you know, you just talked about how
you sometimes write with people you've never met. So what's that look like when
they're just not meshing well or, you know, given that you're the one that has
to sing it, you're the one that has to, you know, feel the energy of it, so to
speak, when, you know, maybe that some of that power of the ideal is is not
(06:46):
necessarily in your hands if you're, you know, having other people do it. It's
kind of a delicate balance of being able to, you know, take other ideas while
also kind of owning owning what you're eventually going to sing.
Yeah, I think when you're writing with people you don't know, you're given a
really good opportunity to see into who they are really, really quickly. And
(07:07):
that's like the most fun part about writing with people that you don't know
is you really get to know each other really quickly. There's definitely
rights where like you can struggle a little bit to try to get the idea out.
Thankfully, I'm not always the person that releases a song or sings a song.
Sometimes I'm just a writer and sometimes I write for other people. And
it's so much fun and I love doing that. At my heart, I am a songwriter. And
(07:29):
when I'm doing that with people I've never met before, like I was saying,
gives me such a good opportunity to meet these people and get to know them in a
way that I feel like you wouldn't get to know them in like conversation like you
and I are having when when somebody is opening up about something in song, it
is very, very different. And there's obviously hard rights here and there, but
(07:50):
you can normally push through those.
So you what would you say? You know, you gave me a 50 50 a second ago. What
would you say when it comes to, you know, percentage? How much of the music
that you're helping create? Are you singing versus, you know, other people
releasing?
50 50 when I'm saying like I write with other people and I write with myself
(08:11):
like co writes by myself. That wouldn't be a co write. That's the right. But I
do write for I don't know if I can put a percentage on the amount of people that
I write songs with and cuts that I've had. I've been so lucky to have written
on a lot of songs that other people have decided to cut. And that's honestly one
of the most incredible things when you put your heart behind something and
(08:33):
your soul and somebody else feels like their soul and their heart is in it, too.
For me, I would say a vast majority recently has been for myself. However,
I'm always writing. I write numerous times a week. So in a week, you know, I
could end up having friends or people that I'm writing with. And I feel like
everybody I write with is my friend that are like, hey, we want to cut all of
(08:55):
this. So it could easily go from, oh, I'm really writing for myself lately to, oh,
I guess I'm writing for a bunch of other people lately. And I love that. I
wouldn't I like the mix between writing for others and myself.
Where do you where do you mostly get your inspiration? Is it the things that
have happened to you? You know, ripped from the headlines? Where was most of
your inspiration coming from?
(09:16):
A lot of inspiration comes from my personal life. But when it's with people,
when I'm writing for them, I guess I should say, you know, I'm writing for
say, normally you open up a lot about your experience. So you're able to, even
if you haven't experienced what they're talking about, to relate to it and to be
able to write in it in a tangible way that it feels like you have. And that's
(09:39):
the beauty of writing. When you're listening to a song, you're like, how did
somebody write this? And I'm going through it right now. And that is the
cool part about songwriting, even when you maybe haven't experienced what this
person is talking about, you almost feel like you're experiencing it through the
way that they're explaining it.
Yeah. So, you know, I've talked to a lot of a lot of different artists. So I've
(10:01):
had to deal with a lot of different agents, a lot of different publicists who
send me these bios. And I say that because yours has a line in it that's
just, I really like that. I have to kind of repeat to you and just kind of get
your input with it. It says Darian doesn't want to just make music. She wants
to write the soundtrack for hairbrush singers, dashboard drummers, and air
(10:23):
guitar players everywhere. I think that's really cool. What's that mean to
you exactly?
For me, I think it means that I'm a performer and I love to do what I do, but
I'm also a songwriter and I love to be able to put my feelings or other people's
feelings to song. And you don't have to be like the world's most incredible
musician to listen to a song and appreciate it. And I say that as in like,
(10:46):
you're not going to go sit down and play Mozart, you know, like everybody
appreciates music and everybody feels it. And we all play the air guitar when we
hear really sick riff. And we all when Phil Collins, I can feel it coming in the
air tonight comes on, we all go do do do do do do do do do do, you know, and I
think it's the most realistic thing about music is we all pretend that we're
(11:08):
the person that's doing it. We all lip sync when our favorite artists come on
on the radio. And I just want to be that for somebody else.
That I mean, that's just you're talking about like sick riffs. Obviously, when it
comes to podcasts, I'm kind of a sucker for turn of phrase because you know,
everything everything about a podcast is just word. So how, how much involved
(11:30):
were you with that with that sentence? Because that's that's just a tight,
concise, cool sentence. Did you have anything to do with that? Or did somebody
bring it to you? Because they're worth their pay.
It was kind of a mix. It was kind of a mix. I explained what I love about music
and that what I wanted and I kind of feel like we together came up with that
(11:51):
phrase by me expressing myself kind of like when I write for other people, they
express themselves and I clean it up and kind of make it into a song and, and
people do that with me too. And that's what we did when we wrote that for sure.
Gotcha. I like it. So I want to talk about you, you know, you're a musician
I want to talk about your music specifically. I know that you have got a
(12:13):
single come out relatively recently called bury me on Broadway. We talked
about kind of how you get your inspiration, how these things are
written. So let's let's talk about a specific song now. Tell us how that
song came about, whether it was one that you wrote yourself or where there was a
co-write. Just tell us everything you can about bury me on Broadway.
Yeah, I wrote the song with Lenny Pay, AJ Gatio, Tiffany Goss and Tom Tippen.
(12:37):
And I had had the idea for about two years before I ever pitched it to anyone.
And I was very specific with the kind of right that I wanted to pitch it in. I
knew that this idea in the phrase bury me on Broadway was really cool. And I
wanted to make sure that I did it the justice that I felt it deserved in my
(12:59):
head. And I'd considered bringing it up to previous rights in the past, but it
never really felt right. And I walked in the room with Lenny, AJ, Tiffany and
Tom and Lenny looks at me and he goes, we should write a female version of a
Morgan Wallen song. And it hit me like a load of bricks because I was like,
this is a day that I bring up the idea that I've been kind of starting to write
(13:23):
on my own, but I've really wanted to bring to a room like this for so long.
And I brought it up and they're like, we're writing this right now. That is a
crazy hook. And honestly, the song really with all of us, it almost wrote itself.
So what's what I mean, obviously we know that that phrase and for people who
(13:43):
don't know, you know, country music very well, because I have listeners that
from from all areas. So Broadway obviously is the big street in Nashville.
So that's why that's kind of a cool phrase for sure. What is so what's the
song about? For me, I play music on Broadway. I play on Broadway a few times
a week and there's a connotation about it that isn't always the most positive
(14:08):
towards musicians. And I think that I would not be the artist that I am
without my time on Broadway. And I have a lot of appreciation for all the time
I've spent on Broadway. And there's a part of me that when I started working
down there that had gotten really tired of hearing knocked out. And I was
like, I'm going to do music now on Broadway. I'm going to do music in
(14:30):
my own world. And I was like, I'm going to get buried here. And I'm like,
I'm going to get stuck. And I was in the irony. And that is, I was like,
fine, bury me on Broadway. Like, I'll get so stuck. I'll get buried here.
And then I was like, Wait, this part of me that's like, oh, antagonizing when
(14:50):
people say that. And I never actually said that to anyone. I just thought it
typical night downtown.
Without like the last night we let the liquor talk,
Morgan Wallen and like, Let's Go Girls thing.
Yeah, I want to talk about a specific song here in just a
second, but tell us a little bit about some of your other
music highlight, your some of your other songs too that
(15:11):
you're especially proud of.
Yeah, one song that I always get a lot of people talking
about is Let Me Go.
That song I think is an anthem in itself and it when you
listen to it comparatively to my other songs, it really
like screams for the attention, but it gets it by not having
the scream and 10,000 miles is always one that people love
(15:31):
and connect to and I think it's because that song is very
much so like a diary entry for me.
I wrote that one completely by myself.
Well for better or worse, you didn't mention the one I'm
going to ask you about for some reason when I was looking
at your YouTube page and I was checking out some of your
music videos.
The one that made me click on it is Jackson.
I don't know necessarily why.
(15:52):
Oh cool.
Yeah, obviously that's because my name but I like the music
video.
It was cool because you kind of interspersed your own home
videos from when you were a kid.
So you can see, you know you as a kid maybe having that
passion for music, but that's also kind of scary.
What made you decide you want the world to see you as you
(16:15):
know, a toddler.
I think it's so fun to see people's back stories and like
get to know them and I often feel like I get the opportunity
to get to know so many people when they talk to me about how
they resonate with my music and you know, you share so much
about your life when you share the songs that you write
because you're really sharing like an opening to your heart.
(16:36):
But I kind of felt like it was time for me to open up a
little bit more of like my past and that song in my childhood
and and what makes me me.
I always like to ask definitely, you know, younger artists
that are kind of just getting their start or you know, just
just finding their footing.
What is what is your family think of all this?
(16:57):
Obviously you're you're from Minnesota small town in Minnesota.
You had that dream.
You've moved to Nashville.
You're performing live.
You know, you said three nights a week.
What do they think of everything?
My family loves it.
I was with my friends the other night here and they're like
we literally could not picture you doing anything else with
your life and there's no statement that better states
(17:19):
this life for me than that.
My family's always been super super supportive and I'm so
grateful for it and my friends have always been super
supportive.
I think when you look back at my childhood and exactly how
I was who I am now makes so much sense like it all adds
up the math is nothing.
I like that.
What what what do you think are you know, some of the best
(17:41):
parts of getting into the industry and of course the other
thing I'm going to ask you the flip side to but what's what's
the best parts of you know following this passion thus far?
I have an opportunity to speak to people that I would never
have the opportunity to speak to and I say speak.
I mean through music like my reach through music is much
(18:01):
more than I can even tangibly understand and I think the
opportunity to help people heal through music or just to
feel happy or feel whatever they need to feel through music
is one that I've never taken for granted and I think it's
huge and that's one of my favorite things about music is
just the connections of people that you get to build.
(18:23):
Now that's that's powerful for sure.
But you know, of course the music industry isn't all puppies
and rainbows.
So what what's some things that you found particularly challenging
that maybe surprised you that it was a challenge or maybe
you you were always prepared for?
I grew up in a business family.
So I felt like I was very much so prepared for a lot of it
(18:45):
and there's certainly things that come up every now and
again run like that was a curveball that I was not anticipating
to catch.
I think there's always just new things that are put on your
plate as an artist that you need to catch on to really really
quick and become very good at and being a musician is not
(19:07):
just about songwriting and performing songs.
It's about basically being everything in one and like being
a brand yourself and being a social media person and all of
those things that come with that.
So I would say like the biggest curveballs is like sharing
so much of myself all of the time because I do feel like I
(19:28):
share a lot of myself through my songs and it's ironic that
I say that after being like I felt like it was time that I
share childhood videos of myself, but it is an interesting
world that we live in with social media, but it also gives
me a lot of opportunity to reach more people and I mean if
there wasn't for zoom, we wouldn't be having this conversation
right now and I don't know what I would do without social
(19:48):
media at this point.
So yeah, I mean it's it's obviously a blessing and it's
a curse is we just always have to find kind of that you set
those boundaries as long as you're you know, you're comfortable
in the boundaries that you set but yeah, that's I think that's
where we have issues.
Sometimes it's hard to set those boundaries because you want
to be accessible, but you also don't want to you know, give
(20:09):
away, you know a piece of yourself because you're so accessible.
Right exactly exactly right.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Everyone every artist that I bring on I asked this question
and they they kind of him haul they give me the 50-50.
I feel like maybe you're not going to do that.
But if you are it's okay, but what do you prefer more do you
(20:32):
prefer excuse me prefer the songwriting and say hey, I love
to write songs.
But of course I eventually have to you know perform them.
I had a lot people hear them so they don't sit sit where
no one ever never no one ever sees them or is it more hey,
I just love performing so much that the only way that I can
(20:53):
get on the stage is if I do write more music.
So where do you what do you like better the songwriting
of the performing aspect?
I do love to write songs, but I'm such a performer at my
core like I get the biggest high off of being on stage and
like that's where I feel the most at home, which is so ironic
for a lot of people to understand like how do you feel
(21:14):
at home in front of a bunch of people but that is like my
peak moments in my life.
I played this last weekend and we did we open for Lanco
and Parmely and then we did an after party and the downtime
in between I was like man, I'm tired.
I can really take a nap the second we started playing the
song.
I was like boom.
(21:35):
I feel like I just drank 87 cups of coffee.
I didn't at all and this is everything and performing to
me is like the reason why you write songs is to be able to
perform them and I I love performances.
I love running around and singing and just sharing my
music.
I love that and I love that you were able to answer the
(21:56):
question.
That's that's great.
You kind of set me up to have to too, but I tried.
You know what I do that to everyone and they still say,
oh you're going to hate me because I'm going to say 5050.
So I appreciate it.
But yeah, I mean I wonder there when you said, you know that
you get all your energy from performing outside of that out
(22:16):
off the stage.
Do you feel like you are a pretty extroverted person or is
that you know, is that more of a thing that hey you can listen
to me now because I'm doing something that I love and the
rest of the time, you know, don't bother me.
What's what's that look like?
You know that kind of is the case for me.
I'm if I've never met you before I'm typically pretty quiet
(22:40):
when I'm doing music things.
I'm definitely very extroverted and like industry events.
I know that I'm going to be super super talkative and I do
like to talk.
I've realized that I'm very much so social person but once
my battery starts to tank.
I'm very much so like I don't want to be the center of the
room.
I kind of want to go sit back do my own thing or like go
home and watch Netflix.
(23:01):
So I've really started to learn the balance for myself and
where I can put my social battery and when I need to like
go and recharge.
So I would say I am definitely an extrovert bottom of very
aware extrovert like I'm not always extrovert.
I got you.
I got you that make that make sense.
(23:22):
And yeah, I've talked some folk singers who just love screamo
so, you know, it always surprises me, you know, of course
you put out country music.
Is that is that what you find yourself listening to or is
it like, you know, I do that enough.
I'm listening to you know opera in the evenings.
(23:42):
I listen to a lot of pop music or like Broadway show tunes
which is so geeky but like I literally was just driving home
earlier and I was listening to Broadway show tunes because
they just hit different and I hear a lot of country songs
all the time.
I'm writing country songs and I am a country artist myself
and I definitely listen to all of it and I consume it but
(24:03):
I do like to listen to other things too.
Now I like that and what you know, you're relatively newer
in the industries close enough to the beginning that you
maybe can give advice to people just starting out.
What advice do you have for people who want to get into
the music industry?
Either as a performer or as a songwriter since you kind of
(24:23):
do both.
I've always said it and I'll continue to say it as like my
piece of advice to people is that the first step is always
the hardest step and it might just be your most important
step that you make.
However, every step that you make after that will make that
first step make so much more sense and and when you're
(24:43):
trudging through mud, it definitely doesn't get easier.
You know that your boots get heavier and and it this mud
can get thicker and sometimes it's dry but like the most
important thing is that you continue to pursue what makes
you happy and that you've taken the first step and you follow
that by continuing to walk through whatever it is that
you're walking through to get to your end goal.
(25:05):
No, I love that.
I really do.
I want you now to tell us, you know, obviously it's country
music people generally know what that means, but if they
say hey, I want to listen to Darian now after listening to
this what what what should they expect?
What's what's the music like?
You know, we we know country but and I hate to ask people
(25:28):
like what do you compare yourself to because nobody always
likes that question.
But if you like this you'll maybe like me if you'll do it.
Yeah for me with this new sound that we've really been diving
into I've been relating it a lot to Kelsey ballerini and I
would almost attach like my voice does have a little bit
more of a country sound to it.
(25:50):
So I would say like a Kelsey ballerini meets like Carly
Pierce ish vibe but then like maybe add a little bit more
of like a pop edge to it to this new music is really like
a whole different chapter of me and who I am in my artistry
and it's so exciting to be diving into that and sharing
it with people through brand new on Broadway and all the
(26:12):
other songs that we have coming out.
So if people do want to listen, I assume, you know, you're
all of your music on Spotify.
It's almost a non question these days, but how can people
find the music?
You can find me on all of your preferred streaming platforms
or social medias at Darien Lee.
My website is also Darien Lee.com.
(26:32):
So you can see shows merchandise.
It's also a great home base to find links to the other things
if you're struggling to find me.
It's just D-A-R-I-A-N-N-L-E-I-G-H. I'm the only one so you
should be in luck.
That's good.
My name is relatively unique enough that I think there's
one other and they follow me on Instagram.
(26:53):
I think we just had to kind of wink at each other and be
done as Jackson Hubs, but I do you have any shows coming
up that you want to you want to shout out?
Oh, I'm always playing.
So if you're in the Nashville area come out and find a show
and come hang out with us for a little bit a little bit and
let us know what you want to hear and ask for some originals.
(27:15):
You might hear some new ones that nobody's heard yet.
I love it.
What's been an absolute pleasure speaking with you.
Thanks so much.
You as well.
Thank you so much.
So that was Darien Lee really really urge you to go check
out her music on Spotify.
Great stuff.
I think that you'll find you know, if you're a country
music listener, you'll definitely enjoy it.
But even if you're just kind of dabbling in it's her sound
(27:37):
is really really a cool one.
So check her out on Spotify amazing person great artist.
So I think you'll enjoy that.
You know, like I said in the beginning of this your first
time listening here or you haven't already I really
appreciate you following along with with us, you know, we've
got other musical artists that you can you can listen to
but a lot of other great things too.
(27:58):
So I'd love to be a stop on your Wednesdays each week to
listen to really amazing people.
I enjoy this so much and I think that you'll enjoy you're
just listening to the story of a lot of people from from
all walks of life.
So appreciate those who give that five-star review on on
Apple and Spotify leave the written review on Apple.
(28:18):
That's always really helpful follow along on Instagram
not enough podcast on Facebook not enough with Jackson
enough Jackson up.com out of places to to keep up and
make sure that you don't miss an episode miss an amazing
guest.
So see you next week.
Take it away Chris.
This has been not in a huff with Jackson huff.
(28:39):
Thank you for listening.
Be sure to join us next time where we will interview
another amazing guest who is sure to make you laugh or
make you think or pay maybe even both but until then keep
being awesome.
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