This 17-year-old from the Fort Worth, Texas, area has lived all her life on a small ranch and is a true cowgirl from the tips of her cowboy boots to the top of her worn out, white felt cowboy hat. Her young resume includes singing, playing multiple instruments, songwriting, horse training and writing historical fiction novels. She discovered her true calling of playing, writing and singing Western music when she, at 5, fell in love with Roy Rogers and Gene Autry movies – she even owns (and trained) her golden palomino named Trigger. To hone her passion for vintage music, Janet McBride, the “Yodeling Queen,” guided Mikki into the fascinating world of American cowboy-style yodeling. After that, Mikki began delighting audiences across Texas and then the United States with her unique style.
She has been writing stories since 1st grade, but during the past 4 years writing has become a very important part of her life. She draws inspiration from western legend authors Louis L’Amour, Zane Grey and others, as well as some of her own experiences in ranching and farm life.
When she was 11 years old, she began performing old western and cowboy music, and has now won over a dozen awards, including the prestigious National Cowboy and Western Heritage’s “Wrangler Award”. (She is the youngest recipient to ever win a Wrangler!)
She has a heart dedicated to sharing this precious, recesssing music and you can’t help but love the personality, charm and engaging smile of this young entertainer. Her story telling and charisma will have you on the edge of your seat and you can always be sure of an exciting performance.
Among her numerous accolades, she has been awarded the WMA Crescendo Award, the WMA Marilyn Tuttle “Best of the Best” Harmony Award, the WMA Janet Mc Bride “Best of the Best” Yodeling Award, the AWA Yodeler of the Year Award and the prestigious New Horizons Wrangler Award for her debut CD, “Gotta Be A Cowgirl” (which contains 9 songs that Mikki wrote).
“Mikki Daniel is the BEST of the new crop of young Western entertainers! Her infectious smile and top-notch delivery will have you shouting…’ENCORE!’” ~ Barry Ward
“Mikki writes and sings with such incredible depth and range! She is a credit to any genre but, lucky for us, she is, and obviously will be, an integral part of the Western
Music genre!”
~ Rob Wolfskill, Tumbleweed Rob and the Southwest Junction
“I think we’re looking at the next Cindy Walker here! The maturity in Mikki’s songwriting is incredible for someone her age and is almost unexplainable. Her ability to interpret her own tunes, as well as those of others, marks her as a performer with an outstanding future. Mikki represents great hope for the future of western music.”
~ Marvin O’Dell, Around the Campfire, Defenders of Freedom Radio
“Mikki sings so sweetly and from the heart. She plays and understands the guitar better than I ever will. But it is her songwriting that got my attention. Mikki weaves good stories with such depth and meaning. How she can see through the eyes of the diverse people she writes of at the age of seventeen is beyond me. Mikki, you can go in any direction you wish and it will be great.”
~ Rex Rideout, Time Travel Music