Mason performs boldy with country flair

For 22 years, Danetta Mason's bold voice has entertained crowds in and around Cape Girardeau, and the Danetta Mason Band has backed her up -- and she's done the same for them.

Their country stylings are poignant and rich, and recently landed them a prestigious Josie Music Award out of Nashville, Tennessee.

"It's a big deal," Mason said.

The singer, whose Danetta Mason Band has "four total, kinda five" members -- two "ridiculously talented" bass players rotate out as their schedules allow -- is passionate about music.

That's obvious, even to a casual, first-time observer of Mason's vocals over guitarist Mike L. Cokenour's accompaniment.

"I don't really have a 'process,'" Mason said, sipping at her coffee. Sometimes, she said, she'll bring a sheet of paper with lyrics scribbled across it. Other times, Cokenour will be "just pickin'" at his guitar and a particular run will grab at her.

"I'll tell him, 'Oo! Record that!'" Mason said, laughing.

Mason said it isn't as though she's holed up in a room writing for hours at a time. It's a much more free-flowing thing.

"However it lands is however it lands," she said, laughing.

They even wrote a song while on the set, shooting a video for another song, "Bad Goodbye," Mason said.

Cokenour was just on his guitar, she said, and what he was playing sounded like the beginnings of a song.

It turned out to be the seed for "Rain," whose melody borrows heavily from the liquid rhythm of a storm, and reflects the pain expressed and lamented in the song's lyrics.

Their music is getting airtime on several independent radio shows, Mason said, including one that broadcasts from Chicago to Memphis, Tennessee, the Country Blast Show.

Stations in and around Cape Girardeau have also been playing several songs, she said.

Mason said she's from Cape Girardeau originally, lived here all her life except for a brief time away, and that informs a lot of what she writes about, she said.

As for guitarist Cokenour, he's a musician with an unusually deep understanding of the instrument itself.

Cokenour's guitar, a Tacoma Guitars brand, was made in Tacoma, Washington, he said, and he came by it through a friend.

"It needed some TLC," he said, indicating the headstock, which needed to be glued back on, he said.

Other parts also had to be tended to, he said, and the sound hole is placed to the side of the strings instead of under them.

Cokenour, who lives at Sikeston, Missouri, said he worked at Dexter Music Center when he heard about the guitar.

"I'm not out a lot for it," he said, aside from the time he put into repairing it.

The Danetta Mason Band has a new EP out, "Balance," Mason said.

Six songs, released in December 2017, and several videos are available on the internet, Mason said.

In January, the band played at Fuzzys Cobden in Cobden, Illinois, and at Rustic Lodge in Zalma, Missouri.

"We love it," Mason said of playing music.

Find the band online at facebook.com/danettamasonfanpage.

mniederkorn@semissourian.com

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