DAISY MALLORY
Industry Showcase
Thursday, May 28, 2009
@ The Rutledge in Nashville, TN 

Photo credit : Julie King (JMK Photography)

With the mega-success of young, female artists like Taylor Swift, and the up and coming young ladies like Katie Armiger, a lot of interest has been peaked in younger talent, but very rarely does someone come along that is young and full of what it takes to make it in the country music industry. Daisy Mallory may just be the new youngster on the scene to keep your eyes on.

The 16-year old, Arizona native is a discovery of renowned veteran manager Henry Neuman who has worked with the likes of Rod Stewart, Prince, and Hootie & the Blowfish. Prior to making a splash in Nashville, Mallory gained recognition around her home state of Arizona playing multiple times on Arizona’s Channel 3, winning 1^st place for a songwriting competition for the Cave Creek Film and Arts Festival, and representing Fender as the winner of Junior AZ idol.

Upon her initial arrival in Nashville in 2008, Mallory auditioned for the famed Bluebird Café, landing a gig there, and she recently completed her new EP in March of 2009 working with Nashville’s top players, all leading to her industry showcase on this night at The Rutledge.

Her 6-piece band stood on stage and began to play the opening notes of the show and without any real fan fare, Daisy Mallory was quickly introduced and bounced up the steps onto the stage and blasted into the up-tempo opener “Posin.” Near the end of the song she strapped on her guitar and dove quickly into the set with “I Know You Don’t.”

For the first time in the evening Mallory paused to address the crowd when she said, “I like to vent on paper and I am sure that we’ve all been through at least one heartbreak,” she finished and played her first slower paced song of the night with “You Can’t Stay.”

Rolling through her set and back to the upbeat songs, Mallory continued with “Didn’t I” after quickly announcing “this next song is one about staying true to yourself.”

Slowing down once again with “Come To Me” allowed for Mallory’s voice to take center stage as her band stood back and the only instrumentation surrounding her voice was just her strumming the acoustic and a piano. The crowd loved her voice and let her know with a huge round of applause, as the final notes were sung bringing a smile to Mallory’s face.

After thanking everyone for coming out to the show and letting them know they were a wonderful audience, Mallory continued, “I am gonna leave you with this one. It’s a song I wrote about my dad,” and closed her set with the up-tempo “Daddy’s Boots,” and quickly exited the stage as the final notes were sung and her band played her off the stage.

Though only 16 years old, Mallory showed Nashville a few things with her performance. Besides the obvious things like being able to sing, having a look and image, etc… she also showed that she knows how to balance a short set list perfectly when she altered between fun and upbeat songs, mixing in the ballads that showcased her voice at the perfect moments. She handled the show like a veteran to some degree because where most new artists fail to mention the names of the songs Mallory made it a point to. The packed crowd seemed to take to this young lady quickly and if she sticks with it, honing in on her live performance and just getting stronger and stronger, I think it is just a matter of time before the rest of the country music world takes to her too.  

FULL SET LIST

1. Posin’
2. I Know You Don’t
3. You Can’t Stay
4. Didn’t I
5. Come To Me
6. Daddy’s Boots