Courntey Dayne: A Life Shaped by Music, Creativity and Reinvention

Music has been part of my life for as long as I can remember.

My mother was a musician who began performing when she was only 18 years old. For more than 30 years, she sang with bands and performed at weddings, community events, funerals, birthdays and nearly every kind of gathering imaginable. She even had a song played on the radio. Some of my earliest memories involve traveling to small-town fairs and local events to watch her perform.

Growing up around music gave me a deep love for it, but for many years, I was too afraid to sing in front of anyone myself. It was not until I was about 25 years old that I finally found the courage to step up to a microphone.

At the time, a good friend of mine owned a DJ business and was considering expanding into karaoke. One night, a group of us went to a karaoke show, and I sang the only song I felt confident enough to perform: Bonnie Raitt’s “Something to Talk About.” That one song unexpectedly changed the direction of my life.

My friend asked whether I would be interested in becoming a karaoke DJ. I was still in the early stages of building Monarch Media Designs and could use the additional income, so I agreed. What began as a side job quickly became a major part of my life. For the next four or five years, I hosted karaoke three to four nights a week.

Those years gave me far more than a paycheck. They helped me become comfortable onstage, taught me how to connect with a crowd and slowly brought out a part of myself that had been waiting for the chance to be heard.

One night while I was hosting karaoke, a musician approached me and asked whether I had ever considered writing songs and performing with a band. I had always loved poetry, storytelling and music, so I decided to take a chance.

The musicians gave me an instrumental track and asked me to write lyrics for it, then come to rehearsal and perform what I had created. That first song was called “Dead End Road.”

After that, the songs kept coming.

I began writing constantly and eventually wrote more than 40 original songs. The alternative rock project was initially called The Dropbox before later becoming Convincing Jane. As one of the band’s primary songwriters and vocalists, I had the opportunity to turn my thoughts, experiences and emotions into music and perform those songs throughout the area.

Not long afterward, I was invited to join Puss in Boots, an all-female classic rock cover band made up of incredibly talented musicians. It was an exciting chapter that allowed me to explore a different side of performing and share stages at festivals, community celebrations, casinos and other major local events.

One of the musicians in that band was my friend and bassist Lisa Showers. Lisa was exceptionally talented and a true inspiration to me. Her passing several years ago was a heartbreaking loss, but I remain grateful that I had the chance to know her, perform alongside her and be influenced by her musicianship.

Eventually, life began to shift. I became pregnant with my daughter, and when the world changed during the pandemic in 2020, performing came to a stop. For the next several years, I focused on being a mother and continuing to grow Monarch Media Designs. I began to believe that perhaps my years of singing in bands were behind me.

But music was not finished with me.

In 2024, a close friend repeatedly encouraged me to audition for Section 8, a classic rock band that was searching for a female lead vocalist. After spending several years away from the stage, the idea was intimidating, but I decided to give it a chance. The band invited me to join in late 2024, and I returned to performing with them for the 2025 season.

Around the same time, my friend Joey B. Banks reached out and invited me to become one of the featured female vocalists for The Funkee JBeez, his Clyde Stubblefield tribute band. The group is a powerhouse funk ensemble with more than a dozen members, including a full horn section, multiple vocalists and Joey behind the drums. Performing with musicians of that caliber introduced me to an entirely different musical world and gave me the opportunity to grow as both a vocalist and performer.

Then, in the summer of 2025, another unexpected musical chapter began.

I was performing with Section 8 when I met Kayce Holoubek. She was already involved in other music projects, but we connected almost immediately. We were given the opportunity to perform a couple of shows together and originally planned to simply see how things went.

Those first performances became Beaches & Cream.

What began as a few casual gigs quickly grew into one of the area’s exciting new acoustic duos. Our performances combine harmonies, unexpected mashups, a wide range of musical styles and plenty of personality. Beaches & Cream has become a project built around friendship, creativity, spontaneity and the genuine fun we have performing together.

Today, my life is a blend of all the things that have shaped me. I am a mother, a business owner, a singer, a songwriter, a designer and a lifelong creative person. I continue to operate Monarch Media Designs while performing with Section 8, The Funkee JBeez, Beaches & Cream and a growing variety of collaborators and solo projects.

My journey has not followed a straight path. There have been beginnings, pauses, unexpected opportunities and complete reinventions. For years, I was afraid to sing in front of people. Later, I thought I might never sing again. Now, music is once again one of the most joyful and meaningful parts of my life.

And I am still expanding.

In December, I will attend THE ARTS in Charleston, South Carolina, where I will begin exploring additional areas of performance, including acting, commercial work, voiceover, photography and improv.

There are still more songs to sing, stories to tell and creative paths to discover. This next chapter is only beginning.