Asked at what point in her life she felt music would be her career, Dayna
Kurtz begins talking about her first mini-tour in 1990. Suddenly she pauses,
then adds with a laugh: "You know, there’s an intense pleasure that comes when
you’re asked what you do and all you can say is that you play music."
True enough, but many who’ve witnessed her shows would argue that the intense
pleasure is all theirs. Accompanying herself on acoustic guitar, Kurtz creates
an atmosphere that’s soulfully intense. In many ways her songs combine the
introspection of Joni Mitchell with the more subdued aspects of early blues
and jazz. Judging by the accolades and attention Kurtz has received of late,
many folks are impressed. In 1996, the NAS (National Songwriters Association)
named her Songwriter Of The Year, and recently she signed a contract with
renowned music publisher Bug Music.

At what age did you start playing guitar?

I picked it up when I was about 13 years old. I took a few lessons initially,
and then began to teach myself. When I started writing songs, that’s when I
began wanting to get better on guitar, so I always tell people I really
started playing when I was 17.

Did you immediately head in the direction of the style you play now?

No, not at all. I started out being a real James Taylor freak. Even today you
can draw lines to him in my stuff. This was in the early 80s, and the music of
that time held no interest for me. Then I discovered that James Taylor had
dated Joni Mitchell, so I though, "Okay, I’ve gotta check her out." So I put
on Blue, and that changed my life. She opened me up to jazz, and through that
I got into Tom Waits, Rickie Lee Jones, Ray Charles, people like that. And
jazz singers like Betty Carter have been a big influence as well.

Did you get a lot of encouragement from your family?

Absolutely. They’re great, and really proud of what I do. There are no
musicians in my immediate family, but my grandmother had a beautiful voice.
She always wanted to be a singer and an actress, but in her day nice Jewish
girls didn’t go into that. That was like going into prostitution, practically
(laughs). She was a bit of a frustrated performer all her life. I think
genetically that just had to get passed on to somebody.

How did you come to the attention of Bug Music?

I was working on a publishing deal with another company, and it wasn’t working
for me. We hadn’t signed yet, but we were talking about it. And around that
time I did a gig at the Bluebird (in Nashville), and Gary Velletri from Bug
Music was there to see the act that came on after me.

Obviously he was impressed.

Yes. But he knew who I was working with, so he didn’t encroach. He just said,
"I love your stuff an awful lot. Can I help?" Which made me think, "Wow, this
guy’s offering help without any promise of financial gain." I began to feel
more and more comfortable with him, and things were sort of falling apart with
my other publisher. Eventually I asked [Gary] if he would still be interested
in taking me on, and he said the nicest thing. He said, "I don’t want to
interfere with your relationship with this other person, but the thought of
working with you makes my heart pound a little faster."

How are your label prospects looking these days?

Right now they’re really good, but they’ve been good before (laughs). I’ve
been through the ringer a bit with labels, so in the meantime I put out stuff
on my own. My manager’s talking with people, and I’m having lunch with people
and schmoozing a bit. Lawyers are talking, too — so it’s serious — but there’s
nothing to celebrate yet.

How disciplined are you? Do you write according to schedule?