Singer, songwriter to again play Island Hopper fest
The Island Hopper Songwriters Fest is Lee County’s largest scale music festival and it’s coming to its sixth year.
One of the scheduled performers, Kyle Anne, a performer/singer/songwriter out of Cape Coral, was in last year’s festival and was invited to perform this year as well.
Having studied songwriting at Berklee College of Music in Boston, with vocals being her principle study, she is also proficient with guitar and piano.
She’s called Southwest Florida, and most specifically Lee County, home for a number of years, saying she’s played every range of venue from Cape Coral to Naples.
A self-described “Americana folk” artist, she said she is often developing her sound, either on her own or with her band, to create new sounds and songs that may not fit into the “folk” section of local record stores.
This week she answered a few questions about the Island Hopper, her career and more.
What made you decide music was it for you? That it was going to be the thing you did for the rest of your life?
“It’s one of those things, right? I’ve never considered anything but music. People ask me what I’d be doing otherwise and I have no idea, I don’t have some reactionary answer like a doctor or a lawyer.”
You just recently started doing music full time, not just as a per gig basis outside of normal work hours. How does it feel finally making that jump?
“I feel like I’ve unplugged myself from the matrix. I started doing music full time and now I’m every part the ambassador to my brand: pr rep, marketing, sales, social media manager. It’s exhausting being your own one stop business, but I don’t think I’d have it any other way at this point.”
Were your parents or where you grew up inspirational for your musical growth?
“My parents were basic New York music snobs; my dad was a musician and they had pretty eclectic tastes. Oingo Boingo was big in the house, anything from Roxy Music, Til Tuesday, 10,000 Maniacs, a lot of semi-obscure one-hit wonder bands that had impressive catalogs. My dad and his friends had music around me all the time when I was little, so I’m used to house shows and being surrounded by musicians.”
What are you listening to right now? What specific artists do you think are influencing your growth as a musician?
“My influences are pretty widespread. Recently I’ve been into a lot of Canadian indie bands, Metric, Feist, but I like anti-folk Jeffrey Louis, too, so I try not to put myself too much into a box. My soon-to-be husband has pretty different tastes as well. He’s a hip-hop musician, so I’m learning all about that world right now.”
What’s your approach to songwriting? What are you aiming to accomplish?
“I get really nerdy about songwriting. I try to make layers and feelings. I want songs to evoke something personal in everyone, maybe something deep they didn’t know they were looking for.”
Got any favorite locales down here?
“I’ve played a lot of venues, so it really depends on what kind of production I’m looking to put together. Each place requires something different, but The Buddha Rock Club in Fort Myers and Scotty’s Bierworks out in Cape Coral have been some of my favorite communities locally.”
You’ve got an album coming out towards the end of the year in November, “Eulogy,” anything you want to give us a sneak peek on?
“I don’t want to give too much away, but even my producer said it’s a bit of a departure for me, which is fine. Growing as a musician is the point, right? It’s kind of based on the death of a bad relationship, one that probably isn’t the best for you, but you’re doing your best to survive it.”
Tell us about Island Hopper last year.
“Island Hopper last year was wild. I got to play because I won the Sydney-Berne Davis songwriting contest. It’s so many amazing songwriters that it’s daunting. I met the guy who wrote the Bluebell Ice Cream jingle and it blew my mind.”
Any hopes for this year?
“I’m looking forward to working more, I have more appearances, but I’m so excited for networking and seeing all of the uber-talented artists.”
Any thing else you want the community to know?
“Kickstarter is coming out for album support, and I’ll be using it to release some promo material.”
Find her at: kyleanne.net/home and www.facebook.com/KyleAnne Music/.