Dacey Orr Sivewright is a writer, editor, and producer based in Charleston, South Carolina.
Dacey Orr Sivewright is a writer, editor, and producer based in Charleston, South Carolina.
Dacey Orr Sivewright is a writer, editor, and communications strategist based in Charleston, South Carolina. For nearly five years, she was the digital editor at Garden & Gun, an award-winning bi-monthly magazine covering the best of the South, where she interviewed Amanda Shires for the August/September 2018 cover, talked Sinatra with Willie Nelson, dished on college-town dives with Tennessee legend Phillip Fulmer, and assembled hotdogs at Atlanta institution The Varsity.
For the last decade, Dacey has also contributed blogs, artist bios, SEO content, lists, features, retail copy, and news items to various brands, agencies, and media outlets as a freelance writer. Clients have included Skillshare, The Kitchn, The Spruce, Billboard, The Bluegrass Situation, The Village Voice, Stereogum, and more. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, running, and spending time on the water. Dacey is always looking for new ways to volunteer her time and professional skills for good causes, so please be in touch if there’s a project that could use her help.
“How to Build Customer Connection Through Empathy”
Case Study/Customer Spotlight | Mailchimp | May 2022
“At Graft Wine Shop, Community Comes First”
Interview, Customer Spotlight | Mailchimp | February 2022
“From Death Metal to a Fishing Boat, How Billy Strings Finds Renewal”
Interview, Music | The Bluegrass Situation | September 2021
“Two-Stepping Through Texas with Miranda Lambert”
Interview, Music | Garden & Gun | May 2021
“How Illustrator Danielle Coke Gained 300K Instagram Followers in 1 Week”
Blog, Content Marketing | Skillshare | February 2021
“Kelly Fields Wants You to Stop Overthinking Baking”
Interview, Food | Garden & Gun | October 2020
“The Never-Ending Education of Reba McEntire”
Interview, Music | Garden & Gun | September 2020
“Love Is a Handwritten Recipe”
Personal Essay, Food | Garden & Gun | May 2020
“John Legend Stumps for Elizabeth Warren in Charleston”
News, Music | Billboard | February 2020
“Listen Now: Hailey Whitters, Nashville’s Next Big Star”
Interview, Music | Garden & Gun | February 2020
“The Simple Joy of a Perfect Whole Roast Chicken”
How-To, Food | Garden & Gun | January 2020
Before Garden & Gun, Dacey got her start in the music business. Internships in video at Paste Magazine and in social media marketing at AC Entertainment gave her an appreciation for the industry well before she graduated from the University of Tennessee in 2012, and she spent the summer after college on the road with Kenny Chesney’s stadium tour, learning the high-pressure business of event management as a VIP coordinator for CID Entertainment.
In August 2012 Dacey returned home to Atlanta, Georgia, for a role as the multimedia editor at Paste Magazine, a music and culture website with a monthly audience of five million. In addition to managing an editorial calendar, securing publishing rights for weekly music downloads, and working with a roster of freelance writers and photographers, she booked and produced videos and events all across the country. In 2013, she helmed forty-four concerts over four days at her first South By Southwest. Sets from then-newcomers like The 1975 alongside legends like The Animals’ Eric Burdon made it one to remember, but marathon recording sessions like that one became the norm, from soul-satisfying performances at Newport Folk Festival to on-the-fly recordings at Forecastle Festival and whirlwind summers booking and producing concerts for the Live at Aloft Hotels series. On top of her day-to-day A/V duties at Paste, Dacey contributed longform cover stories on Chris Stapleton and Eric Church; caught up with her hero Dolly Parton; charted the rise of future Grammy-winning artist Kacey Musgraves (twice!); and showed off an embarrassingly discerning taste for cheap beer along the way.
She left Paste in 2015 to pursue freelance writing and event production, kicking things off by spending six weeks on the road producing VIP activations for the Kendrick Lamar tour and going on to contribute to the Village Voice, Stereogum, Consequence of Sound, VICE, Nashville Scene, and more before moving to Charleston in winter 2016 and joining the team at G&G.
long-form features
“Maren Morris Is Showing Country How Not to Give a Sh*t About Its Expectations”
Feature, Music | Noisey by VICE | September 2016
“FarmBorough Hopes to Strike Gold with NYC Pop-Country Festival”
Cover Story, Music | The Village Voice | June 2015
“Chris Stapleton: Firing Away”
Digital Cover Story, Music | Paste Magazine | April 2015
—
profiles and interviews
“Meet Yola, the Breakout Star Behind the Country-Soul Album of the Year”
Interview, Music | Garden & Gun | December 2019
“Miranda Lambert on Homemade Pickles, Dark Bars, and Good Dogs”
Interview, Music | Garden & Gun | November 2019
“An Interview with Willie Nelson”
Interview, Music | Garden & Gun | September 2018
“Meet the Entrepreneurs Shaping Southern Motorcycle Culture”
Profile, Lifestyle | Garden & Gun | March 2017
“Margo Price Doesn’t Care About Your Party”
Profile, Music | Creative Loafing Atlanta | October 2016
“It Only Took Five Songs for Maren Morris to Change Country Music’s Game”
Profile, Music | The Village Voice | December 2015
“How a Bathroom Break at The Bluebird Sold Superproducer Dave Cobb on Anderson East”
Profile, Music | Nashville Scene | July 2015
“Old Dominion Finds New Audience”
Profile, Music | Creative Loafing Atlanta | January 2015
“Kacey Musgraves: The Best of What’s Next”
Profile, Music | Paste Magazine | August 2013
—
lists
“The Best Southern Albums of 2019”
List, Music | Garden & Gun | December 2019
“How the South Does Sous Vide”
List, Food | Garden & Gun | August 2018
“The 10 Best Dolly Parton Songs”
List, Music | Stereogum | August 2016
—
live coverage
“Taylor Swift’s '1989' World Tour hits the Georgia Dome”
Concert Review | Creative Loafing Atlanta | October 2016
“Shaky Knees 2016: From Worst to Best”
Festival Review | Consequence of Sound | May 2016
“Chris Stapleton makes good on a landmark year at the Tabernacle”
Concert Review | Creative Loafing Atlanta | January 2016
“Sturgill Simpson Kills for Hometown Crowd at Third & Lindsley”
Concert Review | Nashville Scene | March 2015