Kendi Jean is a local emerging artist in Fort Worth, TX merging her Motown roots with her Cowtown Boots. Though most of Kendi's music falls straight into the Texas Country category, she is just fine with blurring the lines of genres.
On Kendi's debut double-album,’ Lasso the Moon,’ you will find Blues & Funk, Violins & Horn sections, power vocals compared to those of Carrie Underwood and Janis Joplin, and even some sweet throwbacks to classic styles like Patsy Cline & Brenda Lee.
Kendi's debut single, ‘A Real Good Handful,’ released in April of this year, made it to #85 on the Texas Country Music Chart and #12 on the Texas Internet Radio Chart. She has also released 'Girl's Trip' and 'Pony Up' as singles.This new-to-the-scene Singer-Songwriter is just getting started!
Keep your eyes and ears out for new music coming out a single at a time or get a listen before anyone else by pre-purchasing her album, ‘Lasso The Moon’ from her web site now!
I met with Kendi Jean on a warm August evening prior to her performance at American Revelry. We took a 'handful' of photos and then visited on the patio about her music about to go worldwide on all the streaming platforms.
Alan Mercer: When did you start getting into being a musician?
Kendi Jean: I went to college on a vocal scholarship thinking I would major in music, but I quickly dropped that. I had lost my passion for the classical part of music.
AM: I’m sure you were thinking, “I’m never going to do this.”
KJ: Exactly! I switched things up and lost my scholarship, but I think it was all for the best. My dad gave me his old guitar. He was in a cover band in the 70’s up in Detroit.
AM: Did you grow up in Texas?
KJ: I did. I was born in Detroit, so I say I’m Motown born and Cowtown raised. (laughter) I still have a lot of heart for the Soul music. I feel like it’s ingrained in me.
AM: Is that what you listened to growing up?
KJ: My dad listened to a lot of Sam Cooke and artists like him. We love Gladys Knight. I listened to her all through my growing up years. ‘Midnight Train To Georgia’ is still my go to karaoke song and it’s on my set list for shows.
AM: I enjoy the blending of music genres.
KJ: That’s how I am too. I like to blur the lines.
AM: Did you write all the songs on your album, ‘Lasso The Moon?’
KJ: They are all written by me. We tried to have a nod to Motown when we could. There’s a couple of songs that have horn sections, which isn’t typical for Country music. We put some funky, bluesy stuff on there.
AM: You don’t label yourself a Country music Singer, do you?
KJ: I do have some straight up Country songs, like the singles that have been released to radio. I feel I’m more in the Americana, Singer/Songwriter style.
AM: That’s perfect. You are a Singer/Songwriter.
KJ: Even now while I’m developing my songwriting, it’s still so eclectic. Sometimes it’s real folksy and everybody tells me whenever I’m singing Blues songs, that I seem to enjoy myself the most. Even my producer said that’s where I need to go because you come alive when you are singing them. I do love the Blues. I like the grittiness and the guitar licks. We do a lot of Blues. My guitarist is really good at that.
AM: What did you do when you stopped going to school?
KJ: I had gone to Florida State, so I came home and got a pretty good job. I started working and making some money. It didn’t make a whole lot of sense to be a starving artist anymore. Eventually I had a family. On weekends I would still play piano, but it did get fewer and further between when my kids were small.
AM: Do your kids have an interest in music yet?
KJ: My first born, who is fourteen now, when she was nine months old, started having some health issues. She had a couple of surgeries and some developmental delays. It was a rough road for a few years. They were placing her in the autism spectrum, but she isn’t really there. Now we’re in the intellectually disabled category. It was a struggle for many years trying to figure out what to do for her.
AM: That’s a full-time job.
KJ: She has insane superman hearing. When we would be in a restaurant and she would hear music, she could recognize the guitar or the piano. My radar went up and I could see she had some musical stuff going on. Then when she started singing, it was like a baby swallowed Adele. She belts it out and she has perfect pitch. We then started using music therapy with her. We started doing what we call Rockstar Jam Sessions. Once a month we would learn a song together where we would harmonize and then we’d post it to social media. We even got a couple gigs as a duo. She still sings with me. I wrote the title track on my album for her and she sings it with me. It’s nice that she has perfect pitch so I can harmonize with her and I don’t have to worry about her leaving her note.
AM: Is your album coming out digitally?
KJ: I’m not the wisest businessperson, so my music distributor is releasing a single a month through October and then they are releasing Volume One. Since there are fourteen songs, it’s a double album. Then next Spring they will release more singles and Volume Two.
AM: Are you already planning your next recordings?
KJ: Yes, I have so much material. We write songs all the time and I want to write more Bluesy stuff too.
AM: What do you say to other women who are in your similar situation, who want to pursue music?
KJ: I tell them to just do it. You have to get out of your head. The good thing about today is that it doesn’t matter what you look like or how old you are, or any of those things. You don’t have to get recognized anymore or fit into somebody else’s mold. If you come from your heart, I think it speaks to people.
AM: Is that what you do?
KJ: I think so. I certainly try to.
