Micaela Kingslight Performance
Liz McCord
Editor-in-Chief
Local musician, Micaela Kingslight, will present a coffeehouse-style performance on Monday, March 1 from 11 am to 1 pm in the Student Center.
With a powerful voice and a fiercely elegant guitar style, Kingslight never fails to amaze and inspire crowds throughout the Midwest with her original songs. Kingslight’s songs cover a wide range of topics from social change, spirituality, the environment, to life in general. She tells stories with her lyrics in a way that can silence a room and captivate the audience. Her voice is often compared to Fiona Apple and Alicia Keyes, while her guitar playing is reminiscent of Carlos Santana, David Gilmore, and Jimmy Page. Her ability to include other instruments and layers of guitars through the use of audio loops ensures that even as a solo artist, her performances will never lack depth and diversity.
Born into a musical family, Kingslight grew up on tour surrounded by musicians and music. At the age of five, she recorded her first songs at a professional recording studio in Taos, New Mexico. By age nine, she was performing concerts in Austin, Texas with the Austin Girl’s Choir. After relocating to Kalamazoo in 1994, Kingslight’s interest in the guitar soon became a passion. Through her first few lessons, she realized playing the guitar came naturally, and was soon writing her own songs. As early as age 17, she was performing at local venues and concerts in, and around Kalamazoo. Since then, Kingslight has performed at hundreds of venues throughout the region, and has collaborated with an array of diverse groups, such as, The Crossroads Blues Band, Allison Downey, Fractal, Forte Productions, Kinetic Affect, and Sister Outsider. Kingslight has expanded her knowledge of the guitar and different musical styles over the past seven years through teaching. Currently she teaches jazz guitar at Kalamazoo College, and all styles of guitar at the Crescendo Academy of Music. Kingslight recently has been awarded the Emerging Artist Grant from the Gilmore Foundation in order to record the album “Still.” The album was released in October 2009. Kingslight is accompanied by a high energy rhythm section featuring drummer Ryan Andrews and bassist Joe Chamberlin on the album. The three-piece band fuses elements of rock, folk, and blues into an unforgettable musical experience. A truly talented performer with timeless songs and insightful lyrics, Kingslight’s performances will be remembered long after the stage lights go out.
For more information, contact the College Life office at (269) 965-3931 extension 2634 or by e-mailing collegelife@kellogg.edu.