North Texas Daily

Marlene Gonzalez / Senior Staff Writer

As she strummed her guitar and sang the Josh Abbott Band’s “Oh, Tonight” into a video camera, the smiling young woman with tousled blonde curls would have never guessed that she’d be touring with the band two weeks after and working on an album 11 months later.

When Macy Maloy’s Kappa Kappa Gamma sisters asked her to cover one of Josh Abbott’s songs for a sorority contest, she hesitated but was soon convinced.

The winning sorority would win philanthropy money and a private performance from the Texan country band.

The day after Maloy uploaded her video to YouTube, JAB posted it onto their Facebook and Twitter accounts. Their management, Ambiance Artists, then contacted UNT’s Greek Life to get ahold of Maloy.

The sorority not only won the contest, but Ambiance Artists signed Maloy a couple of months later.

The 19-year-old aspiring singer-songwriter attended UNT last year as a freshman.

While this semester she is focusing on her music, Maloy said she plans to return in the spring to pursue her degree in education and become a special education teacher.

“It’s the only thing besides music that makes me happy,” Maloy said.

Finding her voice

Maloy said she started writing songs in second grade and has binders full of songs.

Freshman year of high school, she picked up a guitar and taught herself how to play.

“I’d listen to a song and sit there for four hours,” Maloy said. “I’d be like, ‘I’m going to learn it.’ I’m completely by ear. I don’t read music at all.”

Advertising freshman Alexandria Lee said she’s known Maloy since they were in kindergarten. The pair shared a suite in Traditions Hall last year.

Lee said she remembers going to Maloy’s house after school and hearing her sing in their secret Narnia, a closet underneath the staircase filled with blankets and pillows.

“It’s [Maloy’s singing] always been good,” Lee said. “But over the years it’s gotten progressively better.”

Maloy said she has never received a guitar or vocal lesson.

“I’m opposed to that,” she said. “I feel that changes a lot of artists. I don’t want to ever be told how to sing. For an artist, that [their voice] is their art.”

Maloy’s decision to become a special education teacher fits her personality and describes her in a nutshell, Lee said.

She remembers Maloy helping students with special needs in middle and high school, becoming friends with them.

“She would assist if it was a bad day,” Lee said. “She’d help them calm down. She’s really good at calming people down, and she’d help resolve the situation.”

Followers tune in

Although she has done covers of other artists’ songs, Maloy mainly writes and sings her original work, and has thousands of views on her YouTube videos.

Her song “Pretty Little Liar” has garnered almost 84,000 views. She even has fans that perform covers of her original songs. On Twitter she has about 15,400 followers.

Because Maloy has followers in Chile, Argentina, Australia and Europe, she does online concerts.

She stages a show from the couch in her living room or the floor in her bedroom and performs for her worldwide audience.

Maloy said many of her lyrics come from real life situations.

“If someone pokes me in the eye or stabs me in the foot I’ll probably write about it,” Maloy said.

Maloy said Colbie Caillat, Tracy Chapman, James Morrison and Ben Rector are some of the artists who inspire her.

However, the Texas-born singer said she has been compared to Taylor Swift.

“I have an afro just like she does,” Maloy said. “I heard she’s weird so maybe I am like her, I just don’t want to believe it.”

Lloyd Banks, owner of Rockin’ Rodeo, wasn’t aware Maloy would be performing with the Bart Crow Band last Thursday at his venue, but said it was a pleasant surprise.

He said the band hadn’t met Maloy until that night either.

But Maloy was able to get up on stage and sing four songs with the band without any problems.

“I think she’s an amazing singer,” Banks said. “When she opens her mouth and sings, it’s pretty close to angels singing. I’m excited for when she gets her own show together and gets her own music to go on tour. I wouldn’t be surprised to see her go far.”

Future fame

English senior Alison Burkhardt said she and a couple of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sisters try to attend Maloy’s concerts when she is playing in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Burkhardt said they were excited when Ambiance Artists contacted Maloy.

“I freaked out,” Burkhardt said. “I thought it was so cool and so exciting, she deserved it 100 percent. We knew she had so much to offer and were surprised she didn’t have a record deal and that she wasn’t signed.”

Burkhardt described Maloy as humble and down-to-earth. She said Maloy lights up the room when she walks in, cracking jokes and doing funny faces to make people laugh.

“She doesn’t let the cameras blind her,” Burkhardt said. “She remembers where she’s from, the events that have made her the person she is today, and she loves being real and an advocate for younger girls. She’s a great person to look up to.”

In September, Maloy’s fans nominated her for Kors Karaoke, an event hosted by Michael Kors where people voted for an aspiring singer to perform at Fashion’s Night Out in New York City. Maloy was one of three winners who performed in NYC on Sept. 6.

Maloy currently resides in Irving and is working on an album to be released sometime within the next year.

For more information visit macymaloy.com.