MystiMayhem

Biography

Mysti Mayhem was born Misty Dawn Naholnik on May 14, 1984 in Pennsylvania, United States. Having artistic parents and with music being prevalent in the lives of her mother and grandmother, music was introduced into her life at the age of 2 or 3 when her mother encouraged her to sing. She began to sing before she learned to talk. At the age of 5 she began to play keyboards and by 9 or 10 began the guitar. This musical trend continued through her high school years and her ability matured during this time with the aid of private guitar lessons and through involvement in the school choir. Her high-school music activity included stage performances accompanying Mike Farris of the Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies and Damon johnson of Brother Cane.

Career

After graduating from Honesdale High School in Honesdale, PA a new phase of her life began and in 2003 she relocated to Gainesville, FL. In January 2004 she joined with luthier Shawn (Mandocello) Spencer to form Spellbox. Owing to her energetic stage performances and demeanor she was described as "full of mayhem" which led to the adoption of a new stage name, Mysti Mayhem.

While in Gainesville she met Bo Diddley in an accident of circumstance and he became her friend and mentor. He attended a birthday party in her honor. Later, Mysti became a neighbor of Bo Diddley and he provided her with private lessons in music and performing. She credits him with teaching her to "put the blues into music; to connect the emotions with the performance in a sincere way." They remained friends until his death in 2008.

Through the five years of activity with Spellbox she released 4 albums and supported this work with tours in the United States and online music sales. Two albums were produced in 2007 marking an especially active period for the duo. During this time frustrations with the traditional recording label system resulted in an attempt to reach out to Curb Records in Nashville, TN in which Mysti Mayhem gave a live performance of Time For a Change in the reception area of their office. This period marked a transition into a phase where online communities and internet marketing were used to complement traditional methods of career growth.

In 2006 Mysti Mayhem went on to join with the Sellaband label. In February 2008 she achieved success as the 13th artist on this label to reach the USD$50,000 baseline for the production of an album, the equivalent of 5000 copies. 523 supporters invested in the development of the album with the potential for gaining a share in royalties during the five-year period after the album sales began. The album Diversity began sales on August 15, 2008.

Spellbox disbanded in 2009 and in that year Mysti Mayhem began collaboration with percussion artist Anatude (Ana Mitchell). Her collaboration was extended to include a guitarist, and she continues to perform both as a solo artist and within a group. Engaging with the music and the players is a key element of maintaining the heart and soul of music recorded in the studio, opting to retain the organic sound of making music together and avoiding a sterile perfectionism.

She was the winner of the 2013 open mic competition sponsored by Deep South Entertainment in Raleigh, NC, a year-long competition where performers vie for recording studio time. Following her win and studio session time at Two Egrets Media and Recording, February 2014 saw the global release of the single Time for a Change, a song inspired by her frustrations with an industry that produces music performers as marketed products in favor of promoting true musicians and artists.

Use of the internet has become a key to her career development and music production, and she stays directly connected with fans through videos on YouTube, live performances on YouNow, and tweets on Twitter. Coupled with and complemented by stage performances at home and abroad, Mysti is using her knowledge of the old music industry to transition into a new industry paradigm involving fan-based funding and online distribution and marketing. Traditional mail distribution, studio work and stage performing form a balanced and sustainable production model for her music.

Style

Mysti Mayhem is an acoustic guitarist playing both 6 and 12 string guitars. Her music includes various styles such as blues, country and rock. She uses whichever sound services the emotional communication of the song which is her main focus.

Influences

Mysti Mayhem cites her mother, Janis Joplin and Ani DiFranco as three of her major influences along with many of the people she performed with through her career.

Spellbox

Egyptian Death March (2004)
Long Way To Rock (2006)
Believe (2007)
Misty Dawn (2007)

Mysti Mayhem

Diversity (2008)

Violin – Robert Britt
Drums – Cactus Moser
Cello – Brian Bromberg
Upright Bass – Bill Bussman
Mandocello – Mandocello (Shawn Spencer)
Guitar, Vocals – Mysti Mayhem

Produced by Mysti Mayhem, Cactus Moser of Highway 101, and Chris Stamey
Mixed by Chris Stamey at Modern Recording (Chapel Hill, NC, USA)
Mastered by Brent Lambert at Kitchen Mastering (Carrboro, NC, USA)
Recorded at Bardsong Studios (Truth or Consequences, NM, USA) and Modern Recording (Chapel Hill, NC, USA)

Time for a Change (single) (2014)

Produced by Mike Garrigan
Recorded at Two Egrets Media and Recording (Greensboro, NC, USA)

Endorsements

The Epiphone Company officially endorsed Mysti Mayhem due to her use of Epiphone instruments. The company gave her one of their advanced acoustic/electric guitars as a gift in recognition.

Reviews

Diversity received favorable review by Don Sechelski who labels the album a well-written, well-produced work, and one of the best he had heard that year.