The story starts with an all-girl punk band in the 80s, touring alongside bands like Black Flag and recording with The Dead Kennedys. One of the band members ends up owning a diner outside of Portland and has a little girl who starts helping around the diner at the age of 5. This tiny diner girl, growing up in a community of punk musicians, diner workers, and blue-collar customers, spends her days listening to country music and making up dreamworlds while she works her shifts.
“I used to hide that I was the local diner girl and that I worked there with my parents,” she says now, “But I found the beauty in it… I was raised by a community of people that knew me before I could even see over the counter.” She’s grown so at peace with the simple beauty of her upbringing that she’s made it her name.
DINER is a singer-songwriter-cowgirl who’s performed at the Dreamy Draw and the Stagecoach music festivals. She’s a young musician at the start of her career, her Spotify hosting a mere three singles for an impressive 70 thousand monthly listeners. With her debut EP coming out this year, it’s a great time to find out what makes DINER special.
DINER has fought hard to reach this point in her career. She describes her musical journey as “pretty terrible.” She’s had six music deals collapse for various reasons, like one manager who opened a fake LLC in her name to funnel money into his own pocket, leading to fraud cases that stretched across three states.
“Especially being a young female in this industry, it’s not the easiest,” DINER says, but she’s happy to put it all behind her. “I am finally at a great place and just want the world to continue to experience my music.”
She’s embracing her youth and enjoying the new beginning. “This era in my career is about creating fun love songs,” she says, and her music definitely has that sound. Her most recent single, “Cowgirls Get The Blues,” puts her young, energetic voice front and center, with airy guitar twangs and an energetic drum keeping rhythm in the background. This is the best of classic country mixed with modern sounds, a careful dance between electric and acoustic guitars complementing one another in just the right way to elevate the singer’s voice.
Diner’s voice will remind listeners of the early work of Jennifer Nettles, a young Jo Dee Messina, or even Shania Twain’s earliest hits, but DINER isn’t likely to let herself be distracted by these kinds of comparisons. “All I’ll ever be is your local diner girl,” she says.
A New Leading Woman for Country
DINER sees a new wave of talented women rising to lead country music, and she’s excited to be part of that movement. She wants people to be inspired to follow their dreams and wants to create music that helps them along. “I want people to know that they should never stop dreaming… I hope my music helps them dream,” she says. “I can be anything when I’m listening to music. It becomes real for me, and I hope I can create that same feeling for others when they listen to my music.”
Collaborating with Saint & Citizen Music, DINER is releasing a debut EP in 2024. She has upcoming performances at the Two Step Inn Festival and at Live In The Vineyard Napa, both in April.
