Biography

Kara Kay was born and mostly raised in Phoenix, Arizona. As a child she spent a few years off and on living with her father. “With him it was all about living off the grid.” Camping in the national forests of Northern AZ and Utah. Bathing in creeks, living out of bread trucks, house boats and camper shells. Leisure time was spent hiking the many vast deserts, mountains and canyons, exploring Native American ruins and just living simply, away from big cities and society. Living with her father she learned the value of self reliance, nonconformity, resistance to the status quo and how to have joy without material pleasures.

For the rest of the time Kara lived with her mother in a house in Phoenix. Her mother was hardworking all her life in the male dominated trades of construction and house painting. “Living with my mom life had creature comforts and was more inline with society’s structures. For leisure I spent a lot of time at Disney Land and playing Nintendo.”

Through life with her mother Kara learned the value of hard work, self determination, independence, resistance to female oppression and gender roles, also how to have joy with material pleasures.

“Growing up my mom and dad were as different as night and day. I often feel the simultaneous pull of both lifestyles in my life.

I feel I gained from both my parents a strong rebellion towards the suppression of individual freedom from both sides of the track.”

“When did I find music? Well maybe when my uncle Tony shoved a guitar in my hand when I was three or four years old and taught me ‘Smoke on the Water’.”

While in school Kara was drawn to the arts. Always involved in choir, theatre and music. In the forth grade she played the trumpet in the school band and played it with honors through to junior high. She then picked up the piano and played it off and on throughout high school. “ I was always doing something creative. As a kid I’d often record myself, mix and then edit cassette tapes of my playing. I wrote a lot of poetry back then too, but I never shared any of this with anyone until I was about sixteen.”

All of this carried over into her adult life as Kara explored more artistic outlets such as poetry readings, dance, performance art and modeling. Also picking up more instruments such as hand drums, percussion, wooden flute, bass, hammered dulcimer and more guitar.

“I didn’t have much formal musical education after high school. I resorted to learning further through books, friends, drum circles, the various bands I was in and the Middle Eastern and West African dance communities. I still rely heavily on playing by ear.”

“There were many musical influences throughout my life, but I attribute a handful of artists most strongly with propelling me towards the reality of a career in music and performance art.”

First she met Olan who was a local poet and always pushed Kara to read her poetry for a live audience at an artsy coffee house in Phoenix called the Willow House. “Olan had to hound me for a couple years before I actually read and when I did my whole body and voice was trembling. I’m very thankful to him for that.”

Then she met musician Frank Mackey. “Frank told me to not just be a singer. He said I’d have more to offer if I played an instrument and sang. A lot of time was spent with him showing me blues riffs on guitar and how use alternate tunings.”

Kara started delving into ‘vibrational music theory’ when she met bass player & composer Slim Golba who taught her about ‘Just Intonation’. Also pianist, violinist & composer Dr. Harold Moses who taught her about ‘Harmonic Science’ and ‘Vibrational Theory’.

“Both of these men were big influences on the development of my musical ear. I’m not sure how much I consciously apply it all to my music today, but I’m sure their influence is in there somewhere.”

Then there was Noor and Kirk. Two extreme, avantgarde visual & sound artists who put on the Telemagica festival in Jacumba, California every summer.
“No one has ever encouraged the original, raw, artistic essence in my life as much as these two. Whenever I think what I am doing is too ‘out there’ Noor and Kirk are always right there with a huge thumbs up and lots of support.

As far as her songwriting Kara says she got a stronger grasp on how to formulate all of her poems and writings into songs when she met and spent time with poet & recording artist John Trudell.

“He always spoke of ‘just following the lines and finding the patterns.’ I was always nervous to put my words to music and then out to the world. He helped me overcome a lot of that fear and really pushed me towards going solo, continuing to write more songs and getting my ‘Just a Demo’ cd recorded and released.“

“The process of songwriting has always been tough for me to do on an emotional level and each of those artists helped me overcome creative and emotional barriers for which I’ll always be thankful.”

Currently Kara lives in southwest Missouri where she writes and plays the surrounding area. She has been touring the southern states to California each summer on her ‘Just a Demo’ Cd for a little over two years and says she is working towards the near future for a debut album to be recorded and released.

So keep your ears open for Miss Kara Kay.