Singing, Songwriting, and Success as an Independent Artist, with Kendra McKinley

Kendra McKinley is a singer, songwriter, and cover artist whose voice fits beautifully with everything from psychedelic rock jams to raw love ballads.

She first showed up on our radar with her cover of Father John Misty’s “When You’re Smiling and Astride Me”, in which she took a song with complicated orchestration and stripped it down to a simple guitar-and-vocals arrangement while managing to retain the tune’s incredible impact and beauty.

Musical U invited Kendra to sit down with us to talk about her influences, her songwriting style, her career as an independent artist, and the vocal coach who helped her make it all possible.

Hello to all those at Musical U and beyond! Thank you for the feature!

Music was always a big deal in my family. Records were spinning, guitars and pianos were played, and I was constantly singing. Though I always knew music was important to me, I didn’t pursue it seriously until I declared a major in music at University of CA, Santa Cruz.

During college I studied music theory, ear training, and classical guitar while concurrently writing songs and performing at local venues. After graduation, I time spent some time abroad, performing on a riverboat tour in Portugal, studying jazz in Amsterdam, and traveling around continental Europe playing shows everywhere I landed. I wrote songs based on personal experiences and was determined to collect as many experiences as possible.

In 2014 I moved to San Francisco, where I am still living and working today, and started my first electric band which lead to the release of my record TREAT.

My list of musical heroes is long and ever-expanding, so instead I’d like to focus on my beloved vocal coach, Raz Kennedy.

Raz Kennedy is a vocal wizard whose holistic and philosophical approach to singing has transformed vocalists across the Bay Area and beyond. In fact, he made such a profound impact on the Bay Area music scene that the City of Berkeley proclaimed July 19th as Raz Kennedy Day!

I sought his instruction after experiencing recurring vocal strain and within minutes of our session he was able to pinpoint the source of my strain and teach me the technique to overcome it. Because of Raz I’ve learned to sing sustainably, I’ve broadened my range, and I have been challenged to further explore my vocal expression.

Speaking of covers, Raz Kennedy and I were involved in a Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band tribute concert in Berkeley, CA, this past June (2017) wherein we were asked to cover a song from the classic record.

He covered “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds” and I covered “Lovely Rita”. Check out the album here, featuring 12 killer Bay Area acts!

My big brother A.J. had a large influence on my music library, but I also attribute my musical tastes and curiosities to the Beatles’ vast and dynamic catalogue. Both A.J. and the Fab Four presented music as a limitless medium and that really inspired me.

Songwriting certainly is a mysterious endeavor and the process will be unique to each songwriter. For the most part, my songs start with a melody popping into my head. There’s a sort of “lather, rinse, repeat” approach where I record myself playing whatever evolution of the song exists, listen back, and then make a new recording until the song fully develops.

Sometimes these melodies come in bursts and I’ll complete a handful of songs at once, other times I’ll live with a melody for months, maybe years, waiting for the song to present itself when it’s ready. In my experience, allowing a song to develop at its own pace usually yields more interesting results.

I always equated songwriting with writing poetry (lyrics aside!). One doesn’t necessarily need technical training to be an effective poet, but having a grasp of language, spelling, and reading allows for a greater command of your craft. Knowing music theory doesn’t make me a better songwriter, but developing my ear and vocabulary has helped me understand the music I love, as well as allowing me to communicate musical ideas to my collaborators.

Teaching music, particularly songwriting, to younger people has been an interesting challenge in balancing the intellectualization of the subject whilst simultaneously seeking to nurture the development of their personal processes.

I often tell my students that the most challenging aspect of songwriting is just finishing the song, so I encourage them to focus more on the process and not be too precious with the final product.

I don’t mean to suggest that they be indifferent to what they create, but I’ve observed that when one becomes consumed in the minutiae of the song, they will struggle to see their ideas to completion. By finishing a song, you gain a new perspective that will ultimately teach you a lot more about songwriting.

My musical interests are varied and I only cover songs/artists I love, so I suppose that underlying enthusiasm makes the performances seem consistent though the instrumentation and influences are varied.

I have always considered discovering and learning to play new music to be enjoyable, so I’ve never really thought about it in terms of finding a balance.

I think the core of a musician’s confidence is their passion for music. If they are clear in their devotion to their craft everything else will fall into place. Cliché? Yes. True? Absolutely!

In my experience, I’ve learned the value of building a team and that the music itself has to be the main focus. To be an independent artist in this day and age means you’re expected to wear all of the hats (performer, songwriter, manager, accountant, publicist, etc.) and the reality is that you just can’t do all of it without it having a negative impact on your art. So continuing my music education and asking lots of questions to fellow professionals has proved helpful.

My next project is an artist residency at The Henry Miller Memorial Library in Big Sur! I’ll be spending the next five weeks focusing on songwriting!

Finish more songs.

Welcome others into your process.

Persist.

Learn to play and sing as many songs as you can.

Abundant Identity

Just when you think you’ve got to know Kendra, take few clicks through her YouTube output and you’ll find surprise after surprise from this prolifically creative, tenaciously individualistic singer-songwriter. Though many successful artists talk about how important it is to “be yourself”, in Kendra’s case it’s more appropriate to say, “Be yourselves – all of them.”

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