Madison Daley: The Dinner Artist

Interview By Lauren Elizabeth Campbell, Editor-in-Chief

After a year of limited - if any - live music, it is important to seek out live performances wherever you roam, including in restaurants and bars, which is where many well-known artists got their start. Taylor Swift and Garth Brooks got their first record deal playing at Nashville’s Bluebird Cafe and Jimmy Buffett started out playing for drinks at the Chart Room Bar in the Pier House Motel in Key West. Madison Daley, a New York City-based artist, is wellknown amongst the NYC restaurant/bar music scene, and gives Rock & Roamer an insight on what it is like playing restaurants and bars:

How do you choose the songs you play at restaurants/bars? Are they different song choices than you would choose in a more normal concert setting?

I use an iPad with tons of lead sheets on them, so most of the time I randomly select songs from that as I go. I also take requests! As far as specific songs, I try to do a mix of genres but lean towards Top 40s and classic rock. That being said, I always cater to what the crowd responds well to. If it's a sports bar full of older men, it's gonna be a lot of Rolling Stones and Beatles. If it's a bar with a lot of millennials, it'll be more T.Pain and Destiny's Child. When I perform at bars, it's almost all covers. I'll play an original if requested, which is rare haha. I actually keep my original music separate from cover gigs, performing under my real name at bars, Madison Daley, and under my stage name, Madame Daley, at original music shows.

Do you frequently play at the same restaurants/bars and do you feel pressure to play different songs each time or do regulars/fans rely on the same tunes?

Prior to the pandemic, I had a weekly gig at a restaurant in midtown Manhattan. In late 2020 and early 2021, I was in Tampa, FL and played frequently at the same bars. Like I said, I don't really have a setlist but a long list of songs that I'll randomly choose from at the moment. I tend to play tons of the same songs but try out new songs as much as I can. My regulars are friends and family. They're so sweet that they don't care what I play, they just wanna hear me! I tend to always cater myself more to the random patrons that aren't familiar with me.

What makes the perfect restaurant/bar song or setlist?

The perfect songs for bar gigs for me are any songs that people feel compelled to sing along to. Since it's just me and my acoustic guitar, it's not like a band where people wanna dance. Everyone in the venue singing along is the absolute best audience interaction I can get!

How do you, as a live performer, enhance the dinner experience at a restaurant/bar?

It's an added element to going out that you don't always get! It's sorta like being a human jukebox. People always seem to be very happy when you play a request or hear a song that they love. That being said, it's an interesting way to perform because people go in and out of listening/watching you and having conversations with their friends. I enjoy that way of playing because it's low pressure and I can just sorta have fun with the people who are interested in what I'm doing and if there's people who aren't, that's totally fine with me!

Where can people go to hear you play?

I have a gig lined up at Hanswell Green's in midtown Manhattan on May 30th! Other that that, I am actively trying to book some gigs again as NYC begins to fully reopen so keep an eye on my Instagram @madamedaley.