Country Artist & Martina McBride’s Father Daryl Schiff Has Died


He was a local country music legend who went on to be nationally recognized, and also happened to be the father and mentor of country superstar Martina McBride. Daryl Schiff of The Schiffters and the small town of Sharon, Kansas has died at the age of 86.

Daryl Schiff was a dairy farmer and cabinet shop owner in Sharon, Kansas just north of the Oklahoma border, and moonlighted as a country and country rock musician. Schiff exposed his children Martin, Steve, Martina, and Gina to country music as they were growing up, with Martina especially taking interest in the music, coming home from school every day and singing along to albums from artists like Reba McEntire, Connie Smith, and Patsy Cline for hours.

By the time Martina was 8 years old, she was already singing in her father’s band The Schiffters, with her brother Marty also performing in the band. Martina would continue to perform in her father’s band, including playing keys and other roles up until she married engineer John McBride in 1988, and moved to Nashville the following year. In total, The Schiffters performed nearly every Saturday night for some 17 years at local functions, VFW Halls, and other local venues.

After Martina left for Nashville, Daryl Schiff continued to play music around the Sharon, Kansas area. As Martina McBride began to find fame—first as a more neotraditionalist country performer before going in a more country pop direction—her father began to find his own level of national fame too.

Daryl Schiff would go on to perform on the Grand Ole Opry numerous times, and recorded two albums in Nashville, including 2021’s Satisfied, which was produced by Martina, and included performances by McBride and her brother Marty, reprising family harmonies on some of the songs they grew up singing together like “Heartaches By The Number” and “Satisfied Mind.”

Martina McBride started her singing career in a family band, and in many respects she carries that legacy forward today. McBride’s brothers Martin and Steve regularly play with Martina in her touring concert band.

Daryl Schiff was born on November 7, 1938, and graduated Salutatorian of his 1956 high school class. He would go on to attend Kansas State and Southwestern College before enlisting in the National Guard. He passed away on January 14th at his home in Sharon, Kansas, where a sign is now displayed at the city limits proudly declaring it as the home of Martina McBride. It’s also where Martina McBride Park resides.

“I really don’t have the right words. My dad passed away Tuesday night. Our hearts are broken,” Martina McBride said. “He taught me so much about music, about life, about how to treat others … He kept active, still driving and living in his home, and ‘going down for coffee’ with his friends at the local CO-OP. He passed away suddenly and peacefully at his home.”

Daryl Schiff’s family band legacy and mentorship would reach all the way to the top of mainstream country. But it all started in a small Kansas town in a family band, singing for the love of the music.

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