Young Strummer
Menomonie 13 year-old releases folk album
As Kenzie Joy sits down at the Acoustic Café, hot chocolate topped with whipped cream in hand, the first thing I notice is that she never stops smiling. Of course, what artist wouldn’t be all smiles after having scored regular gigs and produced an album by age 13? The Menomonie middle schooler has traveled pretty far pretty fast, having gone from not even knowing how to play a guitar last February to now playing once a month both at the Acoustic Café in Menomonie and the Sail Away Café in Afton, Minn.
“It’s crazy,” she says. “All my friends can’t believe it. I’m like at my gigs signing autographs and stuff on the CDs and it’s really cool.”
Her self-titled album, which Kenzie produced with the help of fellow local artists Patchouli, contains 10 original songs written and performed by the teen. The songs themselves are soft and smooth, a cross between Norah Jones and Colbie Caillat. Though it seems that Kenzie has yet to really come into her own as a writer (which she has plenty of time to do), her deep, caressing voice more than makes the album worth a listen. The sheer intensity of emotion she displays on her tracks is something one would be lucky to find coming from any artist, much less a 13 year-old.
Kenzie seems to be bringing that same intensity to furthering her music career. Between her and her father, they’ve set up a website, made videos, and continue to negotiate regular gigs with the ultimate goals of landing a record contract and singing the Star-Spangled Banner at the Super Bowl.
“I want it to be my career because I enjoy it so much,” she says. “People say I have the talent for it, but I can’t really say so myself because I’m not sure.” There’s one area, at least, where she’s already light-years ahead of the competition – modesty.
Listen to Kenzie Joy’s self-titled debut album on MySpace.com/kenziejoymusic or visit her website at KenzieJoy.com.
