Meet Dana
I learned to understand my voice and built a life around helping other voices take shape.
I’m a singer-songwriter, voice teacher, and the founder of The Song Spot. My work lives where music, curiosity, and thoughtful teaching meet.
Art · science · people
I was not “born with it”.
Growing up, I never thought of myself as the singer. I played clarinet in the school band, taught myself guitar at thirteen, and loved singing, even when I felt stuck trying to sound like the artists I admired. Voice lessons gave me a place to practice, but I still wanted to understand the how behind what my voice was doing.
At twenty, I was studying biology on a pre-med track when a voice professor believed in me enough to encourage me to audition for the music program. That invitation changed the trajectory of my life. I earned my B.A. in Vocal Performance from UMBC, then moved to Nashville and completed my Master of Music in Vocal Pedagogy at Belmont University.
From student to founder
Art, science, and people were never separate paths.
My formal training began in classical singing, but the music I loved most extended far beyond it. Contemporary pop, rock, country, folk, and singer-songwriter music made me curious about how rigorous vocal study could serve the voices people use every day.
That curiosity shaped my teaching, my graduate research on person-centered learning for musicians with ADHD and dyslexia, and my continued training in vocal anatomy, health, and contemporary pedagogy. It also drew on earlier work supporting autistic children and young adults, along with a psychology background that taught me to pay attention to the person, not only the instrument.
In 2021, I founded The Song Spot to create the kind of music-learning environment I valued: knowledgeable and ambitious, but still personal, welcoming, and human. Today I lead a growing team of teachers and recording professionals while continuing to teach, write, record, and perform my own music.
Great music education should be technically excellent and deeply personal.
The longer version, in four notes.
01
Biology came first.
I began college on a pre-med track. That scientific curiosity eventually found its home in vocal pedagogy: the place where anatomy, acoustics, learning, and art meet.
02
How people learn matters to me.
My background includes psychology, autism support, and research into person-centered voice teaching for students with ADHD and dyslexia.
03
I trained in both worlds.
I hold degrees in Vocal Performance and Vocal Pedagogy, with additional study in contemporary voice, vocal health, Somatic Voicework™, and the Blaylock Method.
04
I am still making music.
I write, record, and perform as a singer-songwriter. Staying inside the creative process continues to shape the way I teach and lead.
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