Latest / The Scene Projects / Damaris: Music Journey, Community Building, and Life in Performance

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Damaris: Music Journey, Community Building, and Life in Performance · The Scene Projects

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  Welcome into another exciting episode of the scene.
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  I am your host, Bubba Starts, and with me today is Damaris of Damaris Welcome to the show.
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  Hello.
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  Thank you for having me.
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  It's a pleasure.
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  We've had some technical difficulties back and the last couple of days, but we got it figured
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  out.
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  Yep.
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  Well, for me and everyone else out there in the world, why don't you give us a little bit of a
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  a backstory and who you are, and we'll pick it up from there.
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  Okay.
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  Well, my name is Damaris.
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  That's what I go by.
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  That is actually my given name.
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  I get asked that.
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  And so I've been writing music for since I was 20.
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  I'm 53 now, so the last thirty three years.
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  And I'm and just writing songs and writing songs.
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  And in my later life when my children grew up, I thought, what if I played them out loud for
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  people?
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  So that's kind of the phase that I'm in right now is all those songs I've been writing for
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  thirty years now, putting them out in public.
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  And so I've got a couple of albums out now, and I love it.
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  It's a new path of life, and I'm just going full throttle with it.
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  That's fantastic.
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  A similar story to some other friends of mine that you know once the the kids were kind of
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  grown it was like you know what I think I want to do something else and I think I want to do
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  what I'm passionate about.
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  I've been very fortunate in my life to to kind of run them simultaneously.
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  I still have young children at home, but but we keep on at it with our music and now the
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  podcast as well.
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  That's cool.
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  You have recorded music that's out there into the world?
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  I do.
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  I have two albums out.
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  They're on every digital platform.
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  I have one called Come Sit By My Fire and one called Howl at the Moon.
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  I'm a country girl, so everything's kinda relates to or the album names are related to
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  what we do out here in the country.
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  And, and then I have three or four singles out also.
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  Yeah.
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  Just gonna keep recording.
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  I have tons of songs, tons of music to record.
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  Yeah.
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  Well, you know, thirty some years, three decades of writing and kind of filling up
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  notebooks, and you play guitar as well?
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  Yes.
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  I do.
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  I learned guitar when I was 20.
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  My dad my dad was a lead guitarist in blues, rock, kind of a shredder.
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  And when I was 20, I and and I grew up with him being in band.
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  So but when I was 20, thought, hey.
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  I'm not going out into this world.
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  Maybe I should learn guitar.
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  You know, what what is it?
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  And I thought, guitar, you know?
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  So he taught me a song.
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  And from that, I instantly went into writing.
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  That's a similar experience for myself.
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  I think I was writing a little bit beforehand, but then, you know, I played drums in concert
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  band and picked up bass for jazz band, you know, about grade.
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  And then by grade, it was like, okay, dad.
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  You you have this guitar.
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  You know, I see I'm watching you.
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  I'm already kinda learning things.
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  And he gave me his, you know, nineteen fifties Mel Bay chord book.
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  And and I was like, cool.
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  Well, the chords haven't changed.
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  Right?
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  So you don't you don't need the fancy the fancy stuff in the courses, and we never paid for any
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  kind of lessons.
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  I just fell in love with it.
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  I think that's something, you
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  know, this stage where Like you said, I was writing.
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  Mhmm.
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  I was writing words forever.
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  I've been writing words forever.
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  It's just that when the guitar got put in my hand, it's like those two worlds collided or or
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  became one fused.
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  You know?
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  And and yeah.
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  That's the
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  rest that.
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  To hear you say that because I say it all the time.
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  I say it all the time that there's something incredible about the way the, you know, a human
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  voice and the six strings on a guitar just kind of blend perfectly and how they kind of pull
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  songs out of us sometimes.
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  Mhmm.
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  It's an incredible instrument.
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  There's a reason that it is so prevalent in rock and blues and country.
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  Right?
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  That these Right.
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  These genres rely heavily on storytelling and and the guitar is just a great vessel to bring
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  those melodies for the sake of storytelling.
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  So fun to hear someone else Yeah.
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  Was doing to to things I say a lot.
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  Yeah.
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  Isn't that crazy?
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  Because it was kind of like the missing piece, you know, because I was a writer, and then I
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  get this guitar and learn chords, and then it became the portal to this, you know I will say
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  I think that the guitar taught me how to sing.
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  I wasn't ever a singer.
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  But that reverberation, you know, when you're sitting there on the side of your bed with that
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  guitar, like, you know whenever you're in the right place.
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  The guitar guided me as far as staying on key or learning how
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  to That's something that I don't think I'd I'd ever really thought about.
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  But you're so right that having that right against your chest and then vibrating at the
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  same, you know, and being right there in tune, if you will, with the guitar, that probably
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  speaks to why the instrument is as powerful as it is, especially an acoustic instrument where,
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  you know, those waves are traveling through the wood and amazing.
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  Right.
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  What a what a great insight, Damaris.
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  Yeah.
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  Go face.
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  You should be
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  the host.
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  Afraid to sing with the guitar.
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  What's that?
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  I said you should be the
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  popular host.
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  Oh, okay.
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  No.
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  That's good, though.
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  Well, fantastic.
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  So we got a couple albums out.
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  You've been playing.
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  Are you playing out in your local area?
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  Where is your local area?
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  Well, I I live in Humboldt, Kansas.
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  It's a really small town in Southeast Kansas.
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  It's less than 2,000 people.
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  I like to kinda say that we're in the middle of everywhere because we're very rural, but two
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  hours in the circle around us is Kansas City, Joplin, Tulsa, Wichita.
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  Right?
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  So there's this Topeka.
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  So it's about 6,000,000 people in this little area.
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  And, yeah, when I started getting out there playing my music, I did all of it locally, but
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  really, really quickly, really quickly, it it just moved into everywhere else in the region.
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  So I do travel.
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  I play in all those towns.
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  And it's kind of a perfect blend because it's not or perfect route because it isn't too far
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  away.
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  So I go there and then I go play in I'll play in Tulsa.
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  Then I'll go play in Wichita, Lawrence, Topeka.
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  By the time I make it back to that town again, it's been a while and they're ready to see me
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  again.
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  So and I've built a quite a quite a sweet little endearing following because I am a
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  storyteller.
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  So people connect deeply to to, the songs, and I also talk quite a bit in between the songs
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  and tell a little bit more about it.
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  I kinda integrate both of those practices into what my show looks like.
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  And I think that's what people want these days.
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  Right?
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  The reason that social media is so popular for, a lot of us artists is because people have a
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  chance then to learn about the artist and the stories behind the songs.
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  And I think we are while attention it's weird.
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  Right?
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  It's a weird time because people's attention spans are so short, but yet if they're
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  interested in something, they will binge it, and you will give it all of your attention for
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  all of
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  And I and I think in this day and age, and this is kinda just coming to me now, is that we we
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  want to be less viral and more binge worthy.
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  Right?
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  And binge worthy is a lot longer
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  process.
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  Yeah.
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  Yeah.
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  It's a lot longer process because you kinda have to be a lot more invested in it, But the
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  rewards of that long term, I think, are much higher.
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  Right?
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  There there isn't the burnout that you get from just trying to be a a sensation when you are
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  out there building, you know, building a following, building a community around you and
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  your music.
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  So very interesting.
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  And you're in a great spot there.
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  Right?
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  I just blew through Joplin and didn't make it into Tulsa because we kinda routed.
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  We were on our way down to Austin from Plattsburgh, Missouri.
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  Where are
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  you from?
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  Weeks ago.
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  I I live in a small town.
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  Mine's smaller than yours.
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  That's our that's our South Dakota thing.
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  So Okay.
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  In a little town called Tyndall in Southeast in Southeast South Dakota.
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  About a thousand people, little farm town.
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  I'm sure very similar to to where you're at.
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  But, you know, while everything isn't two hours away, we're five hours away from the Twin
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  Cities.
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  We're, you know, four or five hours away from Des Moines, three hours from, you know, Omaha.
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  So we're kinda working the northern
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  It's kinda the same thing.
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  Where you're at.
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  Yeah.
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  And that's what we've been doing.
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  This the you know, this summer, I've been branching out a little farther.
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  I got down into the Saint Louis area, Kansas City.
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  But then, you know, next week, actually, in just a few days, now that's kind of occurred to
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  me, I'll be driving through Little Rock and going out to Memphis and then hitting a
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  festival called Vibe Fest, June, and that's in Summersville, Missouri.
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  So probably five hours east of you.
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  But
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  So are you doing are you playing music?
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  Are you taking your podcast on the road?
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  Both.
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  Right?
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  And that's the the great benefit of having a podcast that's about music and musicians is
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  that I kinda tour with both in tow, where I can set up and to just invite other musicians to
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  come out and talk to me like we will do in Little Rock.
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  Kinda almost an open mic, but it's a showcase for us to see who are the talented people in
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  the area that we want to work with, that we want to showcase out of your town, and to kinda
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  give each one of our markets out there a chance to a chance to shine.
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  And that's really I'm very invested in building, you know, our our Upper Midwest scene
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  and trying to get farther south.
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  But, you know, I say from the Great Lakes to the Rocky Mountains and from, you know, the
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  Canadian border all the way to the Gulf Of America, we wanna meet as many artists and as
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  many, you know, interesting creative people as we can.
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  And while we can do a lot of that from home to do these Zoom calls and and this kind of
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  communication, it's always better when we can get together live.
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  And having been a, you know, touring musician most of my life, not necessarily on a large,
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  you know, tour bus scale, I've always been out and not afraid to find new venues and to go out
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  into new communities and and to make new friends.
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  So that's what this summer has been about, is getting out and coming through and finding all
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  the little kinda hidey holes along this I 35, I 29 corridor here where we can start to build
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  ourselves into more of a regional name.
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  Right now, we're more of a local podcast.
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  A lot of people that were already in my network, Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, a
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  little bit in Nebraska.
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  And now we're just trying to expand that a little bit and spend the next, you know, the
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  next thirty years really digging into these relationships with people and growing our
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  community and building something that lasts the test of time.
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  We're we're not like I said, we're not trying to go viral.
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  We're trying to be binge worthy.
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  We're trying to be something that we want to dig into and and stay for life.
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  So now you're a big part of that, Damaris.
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  It sounds like we are perfectly aligned.
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  Thank you.
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  I know.
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  Thanks for thanks for letting me come in because the thing is is, I mean, I'm gonna take
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  that with me, the part about being binge worthy because, you know, it's kind of like that hook
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  of your storyteller, that engagement that you're talking about.
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  It does take that in the beginning to kinda you said the short attention span is if you're
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  engaging though, that attention span is instantly ignited.
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  And then so I need to be thinking what you just said about what that next layer is, and that is
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  turning yourself into binge worthy, which by the way, I had a lady come in the other day to
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  my work and she said, Hey, we found you on YouTube and we ended up listening to you all
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  day long.
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  So her husband and her just had me up on the big screen in their living room and they just
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  kept me on.
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  And they just let every video go.
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  And I'm like, okay.
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  So that's exactly what you're talking about.
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  She's like, never knew.
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  You're so yeah.
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  Yeah.
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  Yeah.
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  Well, and that's because I just I'm not chasing that lightning in a bottle.
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  Right?
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  Like, doesn't.
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  If that happens, that's gonna happen because we've put in the work every single day
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  throughout the years to to make ourselves, you know, to put ourselves in that position.
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  And I don't think in this day and age, I don't feel like you can make content.
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  Right?
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  You know, you're not writing songs to to try and make it on pop country radio.
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  Right?
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  I I for myself
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  I'm not.
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  I've never
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  all of my songs are deeply personal anyway, so I've never you know, if one of them make it to
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  that, it's a miracle.
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  But I'm never I'm never creating content in that way.
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  And, you know, maybe that's exactly why, you know, we won the content creator of the year
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  award from the Midwest Country Music Organization because we were committed to just
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  know we're gonna make this stuff that we care about.
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  And when other people start to dig into Can
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  I already tell by talking to you?
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  Yeah.
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  Well, I've I've always been a big music Right?
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  As well as a as well as a songwriter myself, I've always been a fan of other songwriters.
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  And a year ago, I kind of fell right into podcasting by accident almost and have found a
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  home for myself.
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  And now we're how do we create this into more magazines and publications and and all the
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  things?
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  All the things that used to be around twenty years ago that I remember that made the awesome
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  music scenes that I cared about really great, we're trying to bring that back.
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  And, you know, especially post COVID, a lot of these independent publications and things like
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  that, a lot of them just, you know, went went belly up because they had no they had no market
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  anymore.
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  And now that the world is, you know, reemerging over the course of the last several years, you
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  know, for us, Minneapolis is kind of our big scene, and, you know, they were completely shut
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  down where South Dakota and Iowa and Nebraska maybe kept going, and we had some gigs.
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  Minneapolis and Minnesota for the most part were completely shut down for almost two years
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  or longer, And now it's starting to kinda that beast is starting to reawaken, and we've
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  positioned ourselves right on kind of that cutting edge to be, you know, right there for
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  it and to be the people that talk about all of these artists that are out there doing it and
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  maybe alleviating some of the pressure of promoting themselves by making it easy, making
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  it a conversation.
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  I think it's necessary.
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  You know, we don't you don't get the opportunity very often.
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  And I can say, like, I can tell by the way that you are you're interactive with me.
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  It really is about community, and I like that.
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  I like the the free flow conversation type podcasting.
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  I've done some where and it's not I'll take anybody.
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  I I I love to speak to my music, but there is a difference between having your list of
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  questions ready and then just free flowing like this.
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  So I appreciate this because I, you know, I I didn't know what I was getting into today as
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  far but I am always ready.
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  At this point, I'm like, throw it at me.
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  So you know?
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  Yeah.
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  And maybe I would benefit in some areas by having a very structured podcast, and some
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  people have asked me for that.
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  But I wanna get to know you, especially on the podcast that I'm Right.
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  I don't know you at all.
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  Right?
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  We haven't, you know, a few emails and text messages back and but I wanna know your story.
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  And I think the the way that we communicate with each other and what makes it really drives
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  it home is that I'm an artist myself.
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  So the the questions that I'm going to ask about your career are going to be much
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  different than someone who's outside of the music, you know, maybe in the industry, but
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  outside of the performing songwriting aspect of it.
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  So I think that helps.
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  I think the insights that I have in from my own career helped to drive that a little bit and
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  make it very comfortable for any artist to sit down and just kinda roll with me.
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  But thank you.
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  I I appreciate you saying so because I I really I've been committed to keeping that because I
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  am a conversationalist.
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  I I don't want to be boxed in.
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  You know?
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  I I don't want to
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  That's what the comes sit by my fire.
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  Yeah.
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  Exactly.
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  That's kinda like that.
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  What the comes sit by my fire about is is that come in, you know, let's sit down.
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  Yeah.
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  Let's hang out.
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  Well, let's let's enjoy each other's company.
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  And I will say that I have fully enjoyed your company today.
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  We're running out of time on this episode, but I would love to have him back anytime you got
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  something to promote as well.
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  Go ahead and plug all your stuff one more time for everybody before I let you get out of here.
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  Alright.
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  Well, my name is Damiris.
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  You can find me at damirismusic.com to follow my shows, where I'm going right now.
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  What's coming in front of me, I'm getting ready to do a fundraiser in my local community for
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  Humanity House, so I'm excited about that, and it's helping with poverty.
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  And then I will head off to Wichita for a few gigs, and I've got the Tulsa State Fair, and
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  I've got church studios in Tulsa.
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  So I have some really good gigs coming up.
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  But you can follow me on any digital platform.
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  I've got, I don't know, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and then look at my website.
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  It's really gonna connect you to who I am.
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  Where's the website at?
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  It is demerismusic.com.
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  Perfect.
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  Does that help?
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  Well, Demeris
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  Okay.
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  Go ahead.
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  Go ahead.
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  Yep.
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  That's it.
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  That's it.
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  That's me.
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  Oh, alright.
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  Well, you got it.
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  It's demerismusic.com.
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  Thank you so much for being on the show today.
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  And Damaris, thank you for being part of the scene.
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  It's very nice to meet you.
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  See you later.