SHORT BIO

Dear Daisy is an independent girl group with members who write, produce, choreograph, direct, film, and edit their own content. Based in Oklahoma, the group's performances are a fun fusion of vocals and dance. Their music incorporates aspects from various genres while generally maintaining a base in dance-pop.

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HISTORY OF DEAR DAISY

Dear Daisy was first formed in October of 2020 when founding member Robyn Ardery contacted Makayla Powell, whom she had met while the two were attending the Academy of Contemporary Music, and invited her to join her endeavors of forming a girl group. Makayla accepted, and Robyn began writing and producing many songs, some of which would end up on the first Dear Daisy album: Roots. While doing this, she continued searching for more members - posting flyers around, reaching out to other vocalists and classmates - but would find no luck until meeting third member Jess Kassan at the same university she had met Makayla in and asking her to join in April of 2021. The three were briefly accompanied by another member that ultimately ended up departing from the group before its' first release due to incompatible schedules and differences in musical style, but the plans for Dear Daisy's first album continued on with the trio. The album contained 8 tracks, 6 of which the members filmed and released music videos for. After releasing Roots, member recruitment began once again since Robyn's original goal was a 5-member group. While attending a show at the Academy of Contemporary Music, Robyn and Jess spotted Caprie Gordon on the stage, who would end up becoming the next member in early November of 2022. At the end of November 2022, the fifth member to join was Anne Huynh Nguyen, who Robyn had met while at a K-Pop dance crew audition. On October 18, 2023, the quintet released Dear Daisy's second album: Thorns. The album contained 10 tracks, 7 of which had accompanying music videos. In January of 2024, Caprie departed from the group on good terms to pursue her individual aspirations. Dear Daisy then held auditions for a new member, but through these auditions ended up adding TWO new members: Lyssa Cox Druin and Paola Lazo Burciaga - Lyssa being a family friend of Jess' and Paola having met Robyn and Anne through the same dance crew they previously auditioned for.

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ABOUT THE MEMBERS

Robyn Ardery acts as the group's manager/representative and coordinator/organizer. She is Dear Daisy's main producer, mixing engineer, video editor, and social media manager, also taking part in songwriting and choreography. Robyn dreamt of being in a girl group from the time she was as young as 9 years old and spent her adolescence improving her vocal abilities, writing songs, and creating videos - much of it being posted on her various YouTube channels. Although she was urged to follow a more "reliable" career path by many, her desire to succeed only grew. She discovered the Academy of Contemporary Music while searching for colleges to attend in high school and attended it for almost 5 years, learning about various aspects of audio production and the music industry while making valuable connections with others in the Oklahoma music/arts scene. Robyn is also pursuing her passion for videography while leading Dear Daisy.

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Anne Huynh Nguyen is an excitable bundle of ideas, contributing many concept/visual/style suggestions to Dear Daisy. She also takes part in songwriting, choreography, and is the group's designated video transcriptionist. Much like Robyn, Anne also dreamt of being in a girl group throughout her adolescence, participating in as many performance-related events as possible while attending school. Originally born in Vietnam, she moved to the U.S. on December 15, 2018, which would coincidentally also become the anniversary date of the official announcement of her joining Dear Daisy 4 years later. Along with her aspirations of singing and dancing in a group, Anne has always dreamt of embodying different characters by becoming an actress and is currently pursuing that dream while also being a highly contributable and passionate member of Dear Daisy.

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With a notable history in dance, Jess Kassan acts as the group's dance leader, giving pointers and instruction to other members that she learned herself over years of experience in competitive dance. In Dear Daisy, she participates in choreography and songwriting. Jess began her journey in dance at the age of 7 at The Pointe Performing Arts Center, continuing at various studios throughout primary, secondary, and post-secondary school, even competing in The Dance Awards - a prestigious competition many dancers dream of being able to attend. Simultaneously, Jess' journey in music began with vocal lessons at the age of 5 and continued throughout school, landing her at the Academy of Contemporary Music where she ended up meeting Robyn and joining Dear Daisy. Jess is pursuing a career as a Pom Coach while remaining a prominent member of Dear Daisy.

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As the first person to join Dear Daisy with Robyn, Makayla Powell has been a supportive member of the group since 2020, before anything was even set into motion. She participates in songwriting and is the first one to notice and let the other members know about any new social media achievements the group has made. With a history in modeling, she knows how to work the camera with confidence. Growing up, Makayla sang in choir - beginning at church and progressing to her school's Honor's Choir. She attended choir competitions throughout her school years and then attended the Academy of Contemporary Music after graduating to study contemporary vocal performance. It was there that she met Robyn and joined Dear Daisy.

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Lyssa Cox Druin is one of the newest additions to Dear Daisy, participating in songwriting and choreography. Although new to the group, she has been a family friend of Jess’ for many years. According to her mother, Lyssa’s love of music has been present ever since she was able to speak. She began her vocal journey in honor choirs throughout school, eventually joining an a cappella group in college. Aside from singing, she has played numerous instruments over the years, including the flute, piccolo, bassoon, and piano. Having even been invited to play in Europe, she played in concert band and marching band competitions until graduating. Lyssa began dancing recreationally at the age of 11 and grew from there - dancing for The Pointe Performing Arts Center competition teams, college dance teams, competing at UDA on ESPN, and even furthering her schooling as a dance major for 2 years. For Lyssa, being a member of Dear Daisy is a great outlet for her creativity and passion for the arts.

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Although being one of the newest official members of Dear Daisy, Paola Lazo Burciaga actually considered joining back at the end of 2022 but ultimately had too packed of a schedule to join at the time. Once she heard that the group were holding auditions for a new member in early 2024, she auditioned and was welcomed to Dear Daisy along with Lyssa. She participates in songwriting and choreography in the group, and is also a member of dance crew Vendetta. Paola always had a desire for singing and performing from a young age and worked to improve her dance abilities over the years. In high school, she made it onto her school’s dance ensemble and auditioned for her school musical. After graduating, the desire to perform remained within her, so she joined a K-Pop dance crew and then eventually formed her own. Paola hopes to improve her vocal abilities in Dear Daisy since singing was a passion she always had but never had many opportunities to pursue.