Darah Hubbard
For Mollie Danel, music isn’t just a career — it’s a way of being. It’s melody and meaning, stage lights and soul. It’s where she finds herself, one note at a time.
If Danel seems familiar, it’s probably because you’ve already seen her — she plays regularly at Magnolia Wine Bar (every Saturday night), has gigged in almost every local venue, and is a regular on the local open mic circuit — her finger-picking folk grooves quickly becoming a staple on Fort Worth stages.
Informed by artists like Bonnie Raitt, Susan Tedeschi, Mavis Staples, and Carole King, Danel’s sound is a quilt of influences, stitched with folk storytelling, blues grit, and soulful honesty.
“It’s the storytelling tradition I connect with most,” Danel says. “But I also want to sing like a soul singer. I just love that raw energy.”
While now a Fort Worth mainstay, Danel didn’t “grow up” in the area. In fact, being the daughter of a military parent, she didn’t really grow up anywhere — moving every two or three years until the family settled in the metroplex when she was 14.
This constant uprooting perhaps even carried into adulthood as a slight case of stir craziness. In 2016, Danel moved to Australia, where she soaked up the culture in Oceania and Southeast Asia while working for a faith-based nonprofit. But the pandemic would bring her back to the Lone Star State, where she plans to remain.
“Returning home made me realize how much I’d missed my roots. Texas holds a big piece of my heart,” she says.
But it was years earlier, while still on the move, when music took on more meaning in her life.
“My parents set me up with a neighbor for piano lessons when I was 7 or 8,” Mollie says. “She wasn’t even a teacher, but I loved it. I’d knock on her door every week, eager to play.”
Piano would lead to Danel playing the flute in the school band, which would later lead to guitar — an instrument she picked up out of necessity when her longtime songwriting partner moved away. “I had no guitarist to play my songs, so I just started learning,” she says with a grin, reflecting on nearly six years of guitar know-how under her belt.
Though Danel plays with confidence today — her constant gigging giving the impression she feels right at home in the spotlight — performing wasn’t always second nature for her. Though musically inclined, she didn’t muster the courage to sing in front of others until she began writing her own music in her 20s.
“Writing my first song and singing it gave me a confidence I didn’t know I had,” Danel says. This led to Danel embracing Fort Worth’s open mic circuit and live music scene, which she’s used over the past year as her workshop. “Performing helps you work through nerves and grow as a person,” she says. “It’s been a year of learning — not just musically, but emotionally.”
Part of that learning has also been attending literal school — Danel is studying to become a licensed therapist and now has one semester under her belt. But even this journey to getting a professional degree ties back to music, as she hopes to use her schooling to help musicians navigate their mental health.
Her journey is deliberate — like her songwriting process: “For me, it’s an idea first, then melody, then agonizing over the lyrics.” And as she works toward recording her debut album, Danel muses on the idea of “making it” as a deeply personal concept.
“I want to love what I do and challenge myself. It’s about enjoying the art, not being controlled by the industry.” Her goals are simple yet profound: hone her craft, connect with people, and keep growing.
BY THE WAY ...
Darah Hubbard
What are your favorite local places to gig?
The Magnolia Wine Bar — “It’s the place to be! The Magnolia Wine Bar gave me my first gig in Fort Worth. I have so much gratefulness and love for the Magnolia crew.”
Southside Preservation Hall — “It’s been standing for over a hundred years, and you feel all that history when you play there. It makes for such a special playing experience.”
From The Feed
1. At The Magnolia Wine Bar when Danel’s weekly residency began.
2. Playing live at the Rusty Nickel IceHouse.
3. With the Songbirds of Fort Worth, a local songwriting group.
4. At a Fort Worth house show with Theo Carracino.
5. Debut single, “Unveiled.”
6. Songwriter night at The Cicada.
7. Adventures in at-home recording.
