Rum Bum's Funny Girl

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Danielle interviews The Wailers at Denver's Mile High Music Festival.

If you've seen any of our festival coverage you know that Rum Bum is lucky enough to have a star on board our ever-crowded festival ship. As she interviews bands, she's often caught singing, rapping and generally yucking it up with her subjects. And why not? One day, Rum Bum's own Danielle Hartnett could be sitting on the other side of the couch, being interviewed by some other gal. That's because Rum Bum's interviewing diva has big dreams of her own.

The Southern California native, music fan, classically trained soprano and actress in her own right (she's been in Delta Farce, an episode of CSI:NY, and played the lead in the award-winning film Looking for My Brother among others) just might start up a band herself. And why not? She can sing, has a thing for theatrics, and thanks to this summer's packed festival season, she's made a lot of friends in the biz.

"At the risk of starting another ridiculously hard and roller-coastery career, I still dream of being in a band myself. Recently, I had been thinking I would not at all mind just singing for a wedding band!" she says. "As far as my real deal professional aspirations, I always thought I'd do a lyrical thing like Dido or quirky like Regina Spektor or something. But I've been thinking more lately of starting a punk eletronica band. I'm sort of joking, but sort of not."

And why stop there? The Yale graduate (yeah, that Yale) may even like to start writing. "Among things I dream about being, novelist and entrepreneur come up in addition to actor. See, I'm all over the place!"

But at heart, she's a comedienne and always has been. Danielle's been doing comedy from the very beginning, starting off with some friends from Yale in the sketch comedy group Key Grip and the Best Boys, which performed at Caroline's on Broadway (yes, that Broadway); she also did standup at Caroline's and at The Improv. She's currently a regular on the comedy web series Fantasy Over Reality and does improv at the Acme Comedy Theater in LA.

And when she's not doing that, she works with the family consulting business, Hartnett & Associates, and does voice-over work.

It's a wonder she even has time for us. But we're glad she does. Danielle will be joining Rum Bum once again when we cover the Austin City Limits Music Festival. She'll be sure to talk to lots of your favorite bands and may even do some singing of her own.