For the past year, Dakota Danielle has taken advantage of quarantine by focusing and honing in on her craft of singing and playing guitar. Her newest single "Backroads" is the work of her and her two best friends. They wrote the song because they wanted something you could crank up while driving with the windows down and just have fun. Of their inspiration, Dakota said "We just thought of the trouble you can get into on backroads. I grew up in a small town where there's really nothing to do besides drive around."

Although Dakota took piano lessons as a child, music was not always the path she wanted to take. Once she reached high school, she decided to focus on sports and her social life. However, during her senior year she was ready for a change and that is when she discovered her mom's old guitar from college. She said "I remember going downstairs and told my parents, 'I think I want to learn how to play the guitar.' They weren't too convinced that I would stick with it because I had stopped playing piano years prior. Something about that made me determined to learn, and I ended up falling in love with it. Once I started to learn how to play really well, I started to get a bit braver to sing."

Photo by Jake Anderton.

From there, it was a domino effect and her love for singing and playing music began. She started branching out by writing her own music, and even studied Mass Media and Entertainment with a focus in Songwriting in college. She has recently added a new interest to the mix, which is putting patches on her own jean jackets. Keep an eye out for her designs, because she will be sporting them very soon!

Dakota hopes to move back to recording in a studio once Covid clears up because she loves being a part of the process of everything that goes into producing music. She said, "It's cool to be in that room and there's a certain energy and vibe when everyone is together."

Listen to "Backroads" here, or wherever you listen! Also keep an eye out for some new music later this year, including a tribute to her father who passed away. She'll also be playing a lot of live shows around Illinois and Nashville as more places open up. Make sure you connect with Dakota, she loves hearing from her fans, friends, and our COWGIRL family!