Meet Tatiana Mayfield

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tatiana Mayfield.

Tatiana, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I was born in Fort Worth, Texas and as far back as I can remember, music was always all around me–from the moment I woke up to go to school to the moment I went to sleep. I, fortunately, grew up in a household with parents who are very open-minded musically and very supportive. They listened to everything from straight-ahead jazz to classical, R&B, blues, rock, and world. The only styles I didn’t get much of was country and gospel (just Mahaliah Jackson) mainly because I grew up Catholic with a lot of traditional liturgical music; gospel influences came much later.

I started learning and studying music when I was 11 years old playing trombone in my middle school band and by taking piano lessons. But I started to get serious about jazz when I was 13 after attending a jazz camp at UTA. Flash forward to my high school years and I was in the top symphonic band, jazz band (playing trombone and singing), varsity choir, and even did a bit of musical theater one semester. I also started taking dual credit vocal, piano, and jazz lessons and classes at Tarrant County College (TCC) and took every available performance opportunity I could, including talent shows and singing the national anthem weekly for football, basketball, and some baseball games. Looking back, I think I became a serial overachiever for a while. LOL! But I just had hunger for getting better musically.

After graduating high school, I auditioned and was excepted into the University of North Texas jazz program. I was so excited about starting that journey. While at UNT, I focused on developing my artistry in addition to mastering my craft. I participated in the jazz singers groups, classical choirs, and other on-campus jazz ensembles. I also started my first band called “Intonation” that included Ben Bohorquez (sax) of the Funky Knuckles band. We started getting professional gigs and began performing around town. I started an R&B band for a while also called “Soul Cleff” that included various Dallas musicians as members where we performed at Buttons in Fort Worth often. As time went on, we all started playing with different people and I started performing as “The Tatiana Mayfield Quintet”. I started singing at my favorite venue The Scat Jazz Lounge in 2008 and began building a fan base from there; I have been a regular ever since.

I released my first album (while finishing up at UNT) in 2009 titled “From All Directions” with Dallas pianist/producer Erskine Hawkins III. It’s a two-part album with standards and contemporary jazz covers. We recorded the album to perform at more venues across the state and beyond and it worked out pretty well. We landed a write up in JazzTimes magazine (online) and performed in several local and regional venues and festivals. A year later I was chosen as one of the 12 semi-finalists in the “Thelonious Monk International Vocal Jazz Competition”. A few months later, I decided it was time to record a new album and began recording my 2nd album “A Portrait Of LadyMay”.

“A Portrait Of LadyMay” was released in the summer of 2012 and by the fall, one of my original songs “Real” landed #1 on the “UK Soul Chart”. I was so excited and shocked by this that I knew that I had to find a way to London to continue my new found success. So in 2013, I decided to launch a Kickstarter campaign to raise $16,000 to bring my band from here over to the UK. After a successful Kickstarter campaign, we (Brendalyn Jackson (manager at the time) Caleb Sean McCampbell, Ben Bohorquez, Brian Ward, and Brian Harmon) traveled to the UK and did a series of really fun shows. I even interviewed at several radio stations.

Upon returning, I was super inspired and started writing a lot of new music. That music eventually led to the concept for my latest album “The Next Chapter” (2018). I wanted my third album to showcase another side of my musicianship and upbringing in music as well as show my growth in songwriting. “The Next Chapter” includes elements of contemporary jazz, R&B/Soul, and pop. I also wanted to record and create with more of my favorite DFW musicians that I didn’t get a change to make music with on my last album. I ended up being blessed to have some of the most talented musicians on the planet to record on this record (you can check out the album credits on my website.) I collaborated with the amazing Bobby Sparks II for my song “Me and You” and the Pocketbook (PKTBK) band led my JeMarcus Bridges for a socio-political song about police brutality entitled “Freedom”.

During the process of these albums, I’ve had amazing opportunities to perform for many different types of audiences with many different types of ensembles like the Cincinnati POPS Orchestra and the Hilton Head Orchestra in South Carolina. I’ve even had the wonderful opportunity to perform for the honorable Congressman John Lewis and the EPA. I am very grateful and feel blessed to have had these performance opportunities throughout my lifetime thus far and hope to continue them throughout my future.

Currently, I am involved in music full time because I teach jazz voice at UNT (Denton), commercial voice at Cedar Valley College (Lancaster), and perform at various venues all over DFW and sometimes beyond on weekends. I am also currently working on my Master’s Degree in Jazz Composition at UTA in Arlington.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It has definitely not been a smooth journey. Between financial difficulties to finish album projects, teaching at multiple schools over the years, and performing as much as possible to get my music heard, it’s been hard at times. But with the support of my great parents, family, and friends it’s made difficulties bearable. It’s also been rewarding to see the fruits of my labors. The current challenge is being back in school in the midst of teaching and performing.

One of the most challenging things about being an artist is having to fund all of your recording projects, concerts, and media on your own. You have to save up every dime from every gig or lesson that you’ve taught to put towards your music on top of keeping yourself afloat ( bills etc.) A lot of people don’t realize how much money goes into recording an album correctly without a record company. I feel like music is one of the most expensive professions with the least amount of kickback. You don’t want to ask for funds from your audience all the time because you don’t want to come off “needy” if you do it too often, so you feel like you walk a fine line with crowdfunding. Entertainment, in general, comes with a million challenges and I’m sure I have many more awaiting me on my future but I’m looking forward to figuring out how to move past them.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Tatiana LadyMay Mayfield – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
People know me as Tatiana “LadyMay” Mayfield on stage and I’m known for singing a mix of straight-ahead jazz and soul music. I’m also known as a music educator because I’ve been teaching for the last nine years. I’m proud of the fact that I’ve found a way to bridge all my favorite music together in a way that people of all ages and cultures can enjoy.

One thing that sets me apart is the fact that I love using effect pedals (vocal processors) on stage to create multiple effects depending on my current mood within a song. I also like to play kazoo through my effects pedals to make it sound like a horn or guitar! It’s so much fun and sometimes gives the audience a laugh too. 🙂

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
My overall big goals/plans are to continue writing more music this year, do more traveling overseas to perform over the next several years, record several more albums, and to continue to spread the love and joy of music to everyone who will hear it. Currently, I’m looking forward to traveling to China to participate in the Zhuhai Golden Jazz Festival and jazz camp where I will be teaching and performing this August. This will be my first time in China and I’m really excited!

Pricing:

• Purchase album on CD Baby – https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/tatianaladymaymayfield1
• Purchase album on Itunes – https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-next-chapter/1343937680
• Purchase album on Amazon – https://www.amazon.com/Next-Chapter-Tatiana-Ladymay-Mayfield/dp/B079K7HLKQ
• Listen to my albums on Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/artist/3WcvxnW4o8RLwT6qZOvRZX

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.tatianamayfield.com
• Email: ladymaybooking@gmail.com
• Instagram: @ladymayjazz
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TatianaLadyMay/
• Twitter: @ladymayjazz

Image Credit:
Takiyah Wallace (Some Sweet Photography), Jirard (Jirard Fotography), Carlos Iglesias

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