About
Full time songwriter & producer at Big Yellow Dog, Zarni deVette graduated from the Berklee College of Music as the Scott Benson Scholarship recipient, the highest award given for songwriting. Though her roots take her all the way back to South Africa, the piano songstress toured relentlessly in the states for many years, residing in Boston, Seattle, Austin and now Music City. On the road she built a devoted following and got true insight into what it takes to be a touring artist before turning her eyes to Nashville and to her true love; songwriting. Her second love turned out to be helping the touring artists that she has come to respect so much say the things they have always wanted to say.
deVette’s work is pop at its core but it has been challenged to take those soaring pop melodies and marry them with well crafted, story-telling lyrics. In her diverse writing, her music talks about our ever familiar emotions of joy,sadness, fear, and desire, with a refreshing intimacy. In 2021, “Somebody Does” (written with and recorded by Country Duo, Tigirlily) penned the #1 spot on the Itunes All Genre chart. Her songs have been cut by several other artists including Elise Hayes, Julia Cole, Eric Dodd, Bradford Loomis, britty,Chris Bullard, Charlie Oxford, Sarah Clanton, The Gibbonses, and she has also had several placements on Spiketv, the Foodnetwork, Youtube Redbull, mistresses (hulu) and the late late show with James Corden. She also produced “Same Moon” the Acoustic version recorded by Riverhouse Artist, Zach Seabaugh.
In her years of touring –playing more than 200 shows a year - Zarni shared the stage with Mary Lambert, Anberlin, the Presidents of the United States of America, Jillette Johnson, Ari Hest, Liz Longley, Seth Glier, and Jenn Grinels. Her fans helped her fund two projects via Kickstarter; her self titled EP and her EP Honest Company) and those same dedicated fans even pooled their money together one summer and surprised her with her dream keyboard; the nord electro stage 3.
In 2016 devette caught the attention of Grammy-winning songwriter Steve Leslie. Leslie offered her her first Publishing Deal at Sng music (Marty Dodson, Mark Nesler,Lee Starr, Oran Thornton, Carson Chamberlain and Wyatt McCubbin) and she was there until 2021 when she inked a deal with Big Yellow Dog music where she currently continues to work hard to write the songs that artists will want to sing for years to come
Rumor has it...
Judges of the Great American Song Contest praised Build You Up for it's "impressive lyrical imagery, original story and well-designed melody"
“Behind that fresh young face is an old soul guided by an emotional wisdom beyond her years.” Chris KocherPress and Sun Bulletin
"It’s in that emotional core that you find at the center of all Zarni’s work. Skinless, it feels honest, unguarded, and vulnerable. Zarni channels her raw feelings and emotion into words and sound, in a way that few artists do, or even can."- Brian Snider, Secretly Important
" the music just consumes you in a big bear hug and even asks if you’d like to dance a time or two"- Seattle Wave Radio
“Zarni has rare talent and her interpretation of music is stunningly soulful. She has such stage presence and very comfy on the keyboard. She just oozed class throughout her show and the crowd fell in love with her on the first key.” Rustic Theatre South Africa
"In 32 years of the radio business, I have rarely heard a singer/songwriter with so much talent. Her music comes from her heart and a place beyond her years. Zarni is an original." John Majhor Canadian Radio Broadcaster
Big Yellow Dog Music is an independent music publishing and artist development company based in Nashville, Tennessee. Over our 20 years of experience our artist-writers have won 10 GRAMMYs (including Best New Artist and all-genre Song of the Year “Need You Now”) and received an additional 17 GRAMMY nominations. Other accolades include 40 number one songs, four Song of the Year awards (ACM, BMI, and two ASCAP), an ASCAP Global Award, five ASCAP/BMI Pop awards, and many more. Our catalog includes songs performed by Meghan Trainor, Maren Morris, Kacey Musgraves, Lady Antebellum, Demi Lovato, Rascal Flatts, Luke Bryan, Charlie Puth, Keith Urban, Jennifer Lopez, Chris Lane, Jason Derulo, Florida Georgia Line, DJ Khaled, Dierks Bentley, Cole Swindell, Fifth Harmony, Martina McBride, Michael Buble, Josh Turner, and more. Our film, television and brand division has procured numerous syncs, including uses in: Grey's Anatomy, Target, Apple, Pepsi, Station 19, Valspar Paint, Patron, XBOX, and many more.
shows
Big Machine Store and Distillery (122 3rd Ave S, Nashville, TN 37201) October 24th 8pm
with Emily Earle
Bluebird Cafe October 31st 630pm with Tori Tullier, Parker McKay and Elise Hayes
New Releases
Tidal Wave Album Credits:
Produced- Zarni De Vette
Mixing Engineer-Caleb Gilbreath
Drums (Track 12, Tidal Wave)-Matthew Singler
Guitar and Bass (Track 1 & Track 12, Magic & Tidal Wave) Pat Buchanan
Guitar (Track 5,Itch)-Rob McNelley
All keyboards, piano, wurly, organ- Zarni De Vette
Backgroud Vocals- Zarni De Vette
All other production elements/sounds- Zarni De Vette
Writing Credits:
Magic (Zarni De Vette, Lacy Green)
Mine (Zarni De Vette, Zoe Sky Jordan)
Talk To Myself ( Zarni De Vette, Risa Binder, Jenn Grinels)
Only Two People In The World (Zarni De Vette, Lacy Green)
Itch (Zarni De Vette, Madeline Merlo)
Where Does All The Love Go (Zarni De Vette, Kate Tucker)
Whisper My Name (Zarni De Vette, Mark Nesler)
Live Forever (Zarni De Vette, Madeline Merlo)
Killing Time (Zarni De Vette)
Lust (Zarni De Vette)
Happy Where We Are (Zarni De Vette)
Tidal Wave (Zarni De Vette)
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Album Tidal Wave
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Album Tidal Wave
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Album Tidal Wave
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Album Tidal Wave
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EP- Honest Company
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Zarni and Jilian Linklater
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EP- Honest Company
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EP- Honest Company
For booking and press inquiries, please contact zarnidewet@gmail.com