Hannah Dasher, a rising star in the country music scene, has captivated audiences with her bold vocals, infectious energy, and authentic storytelling. Hailing from just outside Savannah, Georgia, Dasher grew up surrounded by the sounds of classic country music, which heavily influenced her musical style. With a voice that blends Southern charm with a rock ‘n’ roll edge, Dasher brings a fresh perspective to the genre.
Drawing inspiration from her own experiences and observations, Dasher’s songwriting explores themes of love, heartbreak, and the highs and lows of life in the South. Her honest and relatable lyrics resonate with listeners, earning her a dedicated fanbase and critical acclaim within the industry. Her social media channels are funny & engaging too, with a knack for self-deprecation and a stand-out ‘Stand by Your Pan’ cooking channel, Dasher is one of the most engaging country artists to have embraced platforms like TikTok and Instagram.
Dasher made her musical mark in 2021 with her debut EP, ‘The Half Record,’ which introduced her dynamic sound to the world. Tracks like ‘Left Right’ and ‘Leave This Bar’ showcased her powerhouse vocals and unapologetic attitude, while ‘Girls Call the Shots’ revealed her vulnerable side with its poignant lyrics. Late last year, after a couple of years of industry frustrations, Dasher released ‘The Other (Damn) Half,’ with songs like ‘Crying All the Way to the Bank’ and ‘That Thing You Like’ reflecting her ability to channel fierce lyrics alongside fiery Country sounds. She’s playing the C2C festival in London in March and we think she might emerge as one of the break-out artists of the whole event. We were thrilled to catch up with her to talk all about it.
Thank you for your time today Hannah, it’s lovely to touch base with you ahead of your trip over here to the UK for the C2C festival.
Oh no, thank you for taking time out of your day to talk to me. It will be the first time I have been across to Europe and let me tell you, I am absolutely elated about it! I’m so excited.
Have you got any bucket list sightseeing you are going to try and do whilst you are here?
Yes! You know me, I’m a big rock ‘n’ roll fan and I checked out where Headley Grange is. It’s where Led Zeppelin recorded many of their greatest albums and I wrote them a letter, a snail mail letter of all things, and they responded and said that I could come and visit anytime. So I’m going to see Headley Grange!!
I’d love to see the Churchill War Rooms and some other important historical things like that in London too. A lot of people don’t know that I am a twin and my sister is coming out with me too so we are going to have some fun, I can tell you! She’s sassy and she’s a foodie as well so we have a number of reservations at various places like the Gordon Ramsey grill at the Savoy hotel.
Do you think we could ever get a UK themed episode of ‘Stand By Your Pan’ at some point, that would be fun. (Hannah’s cooking channel online) Are you looking forward to eating any particular British food whilst here?
Oh my gosh! Who knows? There’s a bakery in London that we’re going to that I’d love to do something with and a couple of places in Camden Market that we’re going to go to. I’d love to try some proper fish and chips, obviously. What do you recommend?
You’ve got to try our national dish and have a nice spicy Indian curry!
Oh really? You know, and this is a bit of a spoiler, but I am not the biggest curry fan. Chicken and a sweeter curry or a milky gravy with some rice, I can do but it’s not something that I crave although I do appreciate it and maybe I just haven’t had a good one yet?
The other thing you should try is Yorkshire puddings or maybe Toad in the Hole, with is a big Yorkshire pudding with a load of sausages embedded in it.
Oh yes! I’ve tried to make those a hundred times and they’ve turned out OK but I would love to go and see how it is really done. The Toad in the Hole sounds yum, yes please! When I made them before I used left over steak batter, beef fat. I love it all – I have a large appetite for life – Country music, rock ‘n’ roll, music, people and that’s part of what makes my music and my live show fun and I hope that people will walk away in a better condition than I found them after seeing me play live!
It must have been frustrating having to wait two years to get ‘The Other (Damn) Half’ out into the world after the first part of the album came out in 2021?
I had to build up the money to put it out. As soon as I released the first half in 2021 the label pulled the plug on me. A lot of people don’t realise that I have been independent that long so I had to pick up the pieces and work out what I was going to do. It’s expensive to put music out and when you lose a record deal it knocks you back somewhat and I got tired of being told no so I decided to do it myself!
I decided to put songs on this half of the album that the fans have been singing back to me for the past two years at my live shows. Reba and Ashley McBryde had one of them on hold for a while, ‘That Thing You Like,’ I almost didn’t have that on the album but when they didn’t pick it up I recorded that one too.
‘That Thing You Like’ is such a cheeky song. Would it still be considered too rude for radio, even in 2024, do you think?
(thinking) Who knows? Who knows? Wynn Varble, one of the co-writers on that song, is a clever, clever man and a gem of a human. He called me with that idea and was like, ‘I don’t know anyone else I can write this one with but you!’ So, we jumped on it! I shied away from the song for a while because it had to be vulnerable and very feminine and I pictured something akin to a Lee Ann Womack video, almost, right? Her sitting in a bar talking to the other woman and it was hard to see me in that role at first.
There hadn’t been a vulnerability in a lot of my songs up to that point really but with that song and with songs like ‘Ugly Houses’ I hope that my fans appreciate me going outside of my usual boundaries to give them more of myself than I have in the past. My gay fans love that song and I love them back!
The shots that you did for the video to ‘That Thing You Like’ were a little outside of your usual boundaries too!
(laughing) I’m a big Burt Reynolds fan so they were inspired by his 1972 Cosmopolitan shoot which a lot of folks actually think he posed for Playboy but it was Cosmo. I had been on this weight loss journey and I had finally had some success last year and I wanted to encourage women to embrace their curves and for all people to embrace their bodies. I wanted to empower women who have a similar body shape to me as well and so I decided why not?
My daddy was not very happy that I did it, though! (laughing)
You’ve been around the industry and around Nashville for a while. You’ve written songs for the likes of Lainey Wilson, Ian Munsick and Brad Paisley so you know how everything works. Has your experience soured you towards labels? Are you going to stay fiercely independent or would you say yes if another label came a-calling?
I haven’t been soured towards labels I don’t think…………My eyes have been opened towards the industry and the insecurities of the younger generation that seems to be now running the business. For example, the girl that was in charge of me at my label, which was one of the largest labels in the business, didn’t know who Tammy Wynette was! (laughing) Right?
I mean, I’ve got pieces of Country music history that belonged to Waylon and Hank Jr sitting in my house but I also have a viral TikTok channel too – so I can exist in both worlds. I’m trying to carry the Country music torch forward and connect the dots with the younger generation too but they missed that. I see labels that are just waiting for people to go viral before they jump in on top of that as opposed to seeking out and developing true talent. A boiled egg went viral a couple of years ago – it’s not a representation or reflection of talent. I really wish that labels would put their efforts into acts like myself, Zach Top, you know, instead of these overnight sensations that are here today and gone tomorrow.
It sometimes takes sources outside the genre to highlight the great people and talents that we have inside it – think of what that one performance that Justin Timberlake did with Chris Stapleton a few years ago and what’s happened to Chris since. It took someone outside of Nashville to say ‘You have something great here’ for people to catch on. Look at what artists like Brandi Carlile and Jason Isbell have done – Jason just started following me on Instagram! I need to brush up on my guitar chops a little if I’m going to do something with him! (laughing)
What do you think about Beyoncé’s recent foray into Country music which has got everybody talking?
Let’s be real – I think she’s a brilliant talent and fierce person. I wish she would have covered a Country great or paid homage to a Tammy Wynette song or have done something like Ray Charles did with his ‘Modern Sounds in Country Music’ album, you know? I would have loved for her to come to Nashville and to have written some songs with some Nashville writers and to have written a country record here and not just have taken advantage of a market. She is a Queen, though!
‘Ugly Houses’ might well be my favourite song on ‘The Other (Damn) Half’ although it’s a hard choice because there are so many great songs. Do you have a favourite or does that change depending on your mood, the day, the situation?
You know? ‘Crying All the Way to the Bank’ is such a fun song to sing and play. For years, when I was at the label, I kept praying for a kind of ‘Buy Me a Boat’ or ‘Beer Never Broke My Heart’ big, uptempo anthem song. We found it in ‘Crying All the Way to the Bank’ but the timing was just not aligned but that’s the song I believe could really do something for me if radio would pick it up. It’s starting to gain traction and it’s great to see fans singing that one back to me every night.
I interviewed Annie Bosko recently, who has cut one of your songs, and Phillip Lammonds released the terrific ‘Love is Love’, which you co-wrote, a couple of weeks ago too.
Annie is a lovely girl, she’s such a kind person. Wynn Varble and I wrote ‘Sometimes I Forget’ which Annie cut. ‘Love is Love’ is a song that just really fell out right away. We were on this little writing retreat and those lines and that first verse just fell out in the same way that ‘Left Right’ did, which I also wrote with Wynn. Phillip is a brilliant man – I hope people listen to his new upcoming album, he’s one of the most interesting humans you could ever hope to meet – a good, old South Carolina gentleman. He encourages me to be a little Saturday night but also a little Sunday morning too, which is what you get when you come to a Hannah Dasher show!
Let’s finish with a debate, Hannah. Whose version of ‘Go to Bed Early’ is the best?
(Brad Paisley cut a version on his ‘Love and War’ album but changed the verses. Hannah released her version with the original verses on ‘The Other (Damn) Half’)
(Laughing) Brad did a great version, for sure, and the production on that song is killer. I think their recording is better but I think my live version with my band would be better. I’ll say that. I got a call one day from Chris Du Bois and he said, ‘Hey, Brad Paisley wants to record our song!’ I was, like, ‘Are you kidding me?’ and he said, ‘But he wants to change the verses,’ and I was, ‘WELL, ALRIGHT THEN!’ (laughing)
He invited me over to go and sing the background vocals. Brad is a great guy, great talent – I’ve always looked up to him as a songwriter, singer, guitar player and entertainer. I wish he would take me out on the road with him! (laughing)
You do know he’s headlining in London at C2C on the Saturday night? Maybe the two of you could do a version of ‘Go to Bed Early’ on the main stage together?
Wouldn’t that be great?!!! Someone needs to put that bug in his ear! (laughing)
Hannah is playing the Barrelhouse (Saturday 11.10am), the Big Entrance stage (Sunday 13.00) and The Wayside stage (Sunday 16.40) across the weekend of 8th to 10th March at C2C in London. Keep your eyes peeled for a meet and greet on the Saturday too.
