By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
Get our mobile app
ROCKTON — Singer and songwriter Danielle Juhre has signed a deal that sets the stage for the local musical artist to work with some of the biggest names in the industry.
Juhre, a 2012 graduate of Hononegah High School, announced on Tuesday her songwriting deal with The Stereotypes and Beach Wave Publishing. The Stereotypes are the producers and songwriting team behind “24K Magic,” the multi-Grammy Award-winning album from Bruno Mars. They’ve also written and produced songs for Justin Bieber, Cardi B and Mary J. Blige, among others.
Juhre will work with the production and songwriting team on both music for herself and songs designed with major artists such as Lizzo, Bruno Mars and Ariana Grande in mind.
“My goal is to have them teach me the way and then, hopefully, have a song charting on Billboard in every genre of music with them,” Juhre said during a phone interview from Los Angeles, where’s she’s been in studio working with the team. “I’m very adamant about writing for other people and just being that artist that wants to help other artists tell their story.”
More music: This Rockford violinist was born deaf. Here’s how ‘music became her voice’
The songwriting deal is roughly a decade in the making for Juhre, who performed in some of her first shows at Katie’s Cup in Rockford and Hope & Anchor English Pub in Loves Park. In signing with The Stereotypes, she’ll work with the team behind one of her all-time favorite albums in “24K Magic.”
“It’s insanely gracious on their part to have me come in and trust me as an unknown writer to come in and write these songs with them, lyrically and melodically, and them not question me, not once,” she said. “I’m so humbled. I never want to take this for granted.”
The Rockton resident, who says she was raised on Motown Records, has a vocal sound reminiscent of a blend between Adele and Amy Winehouse. Listeners of B103 in Rockford may recognize her latest single, “Love Someone Else,” which was released in February or previous singles “Sober” and “Burning” in rotation on the radio station.
She has summer performances in LA and Chicago, and she’ll perform locally again this summer at Anderson Japanese Gardens on July 11.
More music: ‘I want to show people it’s possible’: Rockford native aims to create ‘timeless’ hip hop
The Palentine native, who studied music business and artist management at Berklee College of Music, said she struggled for years to get to this point but continued her pursuit of a career in music thanks to the support of her parents. She recalled a time in college when she had just $100 in her bank account and spent it to go from Boston to New York to wait outside of Atlantic Records with her demos.
“I had scouted who the A&Rs were on LinkedIn, and I would sit outside and just wait for someone to come out,” she said.
Juhre was connected with The Stereotypes through her manager, Alex Barragan. She went to Los Angeles to work with them for what was supposed to be a week, and now will last about eight times as long as she continues to create with the group.
“I fully anticipated only staying a week. We had sessions almost every day and it felt like family. A week and a half later they offered me a deal,” she said. “I was supposed to take a flight home and I canceled everything. … A one week trip ended up turning into a two-month trip.
“It’s absolutely wild that this happened in just a couple weeks.”
This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on Twitter at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas