Marquette, Michigan – Talking to new artists, especially artists just starting out, is just plain fun. This last week I met with Deianna DeValve (that’s DEE- ANN – UH; Not Diana, Deanne, Dean, Dee-AH-na). She brought her story of how she wrote her most recent three singles to the 8th Day Radio Show. She explained how the unique beauty and traits of the U.P. led to her writing her song, “In the U.P.” In the Sunny.FM studios, Deanna also played her ukelele live and sang her song inspired by a boy, “Extrovert Loves An Introvert.” Finally, she also talked the motivations behind her newest song, “Society Says.”
Sunday, June 24th at 7p.m. at the Marquette Commons, she performed her three singles. This event at the
commons was the initial event for the Marquette City’s 4th Annual Art Week (June 24th – 30th, 2018), celebrating community art scene with special exhibits, gallery events, concerts, workshops, and other live performances.
Her mother Debbie joined the conversation a bit to explain how she manages, supports and helps her daughter. Together both were a delight to talk to this last week.
Listen to 8th Day Interview with :
- Great Lakes Radio Player: ( 24 Min. mp3)
- Default Device Player: ( 24 Min. mp3)
Deanna DeValve, in her own words:
I was born in Connecticut and moved from there to Oklahoma at the age of four. When we settled into the southern state, I really started to discover my passion for music.
Even in the hot and humid, I could hear the songs in the wind, with the rustling of leaves, and of birds in the trees. I began singing shortly after and realized I had potential. As I grew in Oklahoma for 13 years, I felt joyous when I sang so I continued to develop my voice. Along the way I picked up piano and it was another beautiful discovery of sound; my fingers wanted to dance forever.
I was always the weird gal in school, but I found escape in the arts. I have sung in choir every year since I was four and did several 2-D paintings and drawings. During high school, my family of 5 and I moved to a different state each year. Our moving [to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan] began really when I got into a long-distance relationship at the end of middle school and my mother’s desire to travel.
From Oklahoma to Arizona to Wisconsin and now to Michigan, I would write down song ideas but never got to finish them. Once in Marquette for my last year of high school, everything came together [so] that I could finally complete my compositions by having some recorded and performed.
Because of my relationship, I was introduced to the U.P. and all of it’s natural wonders. When I lived in Wisconsin for my junior year, I participated in the Lake Country Film Festival at Oconomowoc High School and fell short of winning, coming in as a runner-up. I wanted to prove this year that I could win the Original Music Video category with my music. I drew inspiration from my many visits to God’s Country and once I moved here, I went around the peninsula for many months to record video of everything that makes a Yooper, a Yooper.
After editing footage, putting together the music, and having it recorded, I submitted “In the U.P.,” and it won 1st place! Feeling triumphant, even more goodness came my way. [I was also a Pricilla girl in Thoroughly Modern Millie for my last year at Marquette Senior High School in the November musical.]
Dr. Guy, a dear friend and chiropractor, introduced me to Anna Dravland who started Spread Goodness Day. She told me about Sing It U.P. at the U.P North Lodge and I entered the following month using my U.P. song. I would finish a song I hadn’t touched in years each week for the competition and got to third place only using my original music.
Thanks to Anna, I met Luke Noordyk through the singing competion. The awesome sound technician thought I should come by Great Lakes Radio station to record all these rough cuts of music. I am thankful for all my experiences in moving that have finally brought me to the most exciting point in my life. I will be attending Northern Michigan University in the Fall for a degree in Fisheries and Wildlife Management (another passion of mine!) and also pursue a Music Minor.
Song Lyrics
In the U.P.
The Northern lights
with frozen sights
White covered pines
And winter nights
White deer that dance
They have a chance
Free to roam
In the purest snow
So lead the way
Lighthouse rays
Across the lakes
to icy caves
You may think it’s made up,
But this is what Heaven’s made of.
In the U.P.
It’s you and me
It’s a place that I call home,
And I know I’m not alone
In the U.P.
Land of Grace
Where worries fade
You can’t replace
Freshwater wades
Summer grills
Biking hills
Yooper thrills
Hike at will
We’ll share a pasty
Everyone’s laughing
Forest camping
As night is passing
It starts with a glow you find in Moments when the sun is rising.
In the U.P.
It’s you and me
Another world,
That I can go,
Never on my own
In the U.P.
The calm and fury of
Lake Superior
All others are inferior
You can only find her shore
In the U.P.
It’s you and me
Nowhere else
On the earth
That i’d rather be
In the U.P.
Extrovert Loves An Introvert
I like my feet in the grass
you like your feet on the dash
I’ve been barefoot all my life
you’ve only ever done that twice
I like to laugh and smile
those kinds of things take you a while
I love the green of your emerald eyes
You get lost in my ocean blue skies
Extrovert loves an Introvert
How could two opposites seem to work?
Even when the world thinks we’re weird
We’ll scream and cheer
Love me Love me even though it’s crazy
Crazy Crazy how you get me baby
You are my best friend like
Sponge bob and Patrick
You go with the flow
I need a plan before I go
You are calm and collected
I can’t remember what I had for breakfast
You hold me together
even if I stress no matter the weather
You are a light in your shyness
I am a wild hot mess
Introvert loves an Extrovert
How could two opposites seem to work?
When others think we won’t last day
We know what to say
Love me Love me even when it’s crazy
Crazy crazy how you get me baby
You are my best friend like
SpongeBob and Patrick
You’re my man and I’m your girl
I love you more than the whole wide world
You thank God for McDonald’s everyday
But I want fries from Chick-fil-A
We’ll may be different
and that’s okay
No two fit better any other way
Extrovert loves an Introvert
How could two opposites seem to work?
Even when the world thinks we’re weird
We’ll scream and cheer
Love me love me even when it’s crazy
Crazy crazy how you get me baby
You are my best friend like
SpongeBob and Patrick
Society Says
Everybody’s singing la la la la la
I’ll try not to sing la la la la la
You are beauty, you are grace
but keep that tight around your waist
so your thighs can have some space
Yoy like reading books?
You are quite a hook.
But be sure to check out your looks.
Can’t have a blemish on your face
your makeup is too much that way
which one is the latest craze?
Cuz everybody’s singing la la la
I’ll try not to sing la la la la
You look like a model
but honey put down that pill bottle
we don’t wanna know your pain
This is how you behave
don’t throw your life away
you must be clinically insane
You want attention
the media is your complexion
They feed you lies
to need their eyes
Everybody’s singing la la la
I’ll try not to sing la la la la la yeah
And nobody knows
and nobody sees
the real you
the real me
Society says
that you can’t
be true
be you
Don’t give in to the la la la la
I’ll no longer sing la la la
Society Says
Everybody’s singing la la la la la
I’ll try not to sing la la la la la
You are beauty, you are grace
but keep that tight around your waist
so your thighs can have some space
Yoy like reading books?
You are quite a hook.
But be sure to check out your looks.
Can’t have a blemish on your face
your makeup is too much that way
which one is the latest craze?
Cuz everybody’s singing la la la
I’ll try not to sing la la la la
You look like a model
but honey put down that pill bottle
we don’t wanna know your pain
This is how you behave
don’t throw your life away
you must be clinically insane
You want attention
the media is your complexion
They feed you lies
to need their eyes
Everybody’s singing la la la
I’ll try not to sing la la la la la yeah
And nobody knows
and nobody sees
the real you
the real me
Society says
that you can’t
be true
be you
Don’t give in to the la la la la
I’ll no longer sing la la la
- The 8th Day – Airs 9:00a- 10:00a, Saturdays on Sunny 101.9 & online http://8thday.buzz
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