Kelli Leigh is one of those talents you want to keep an eye on. She is currently touring all around Europe providing the backing vocals for Adele, but still has time to write her own music, tour with the female collective group High On Heels and prepare her solo EP which will be out later this year. Her secret is her love for music. At a really early age she decided music was her dream, and that dream is coming true for Kelli Leigh, so remember her name because she’s here to stay.
Who is Kelli Leigh? Tell us about you, how and why you decided you wanted to be a singer.
Music is key in my family. I’ve been surrounded by it since I was a little girl. It was the thing I found most exciting and I wanted to do it for the rest of my life.
What are you main influences? What music did you grow up listening to?
I grew up listening to a bit of everything, Soul, rock, jazz, funk, blues, reggae, indie, folk, etc. My main influences are music, musicians, artists and singers that can move me emotionally by their music.
What can we find on your iPod right now?
Skunk Anansie, the script, Rachelle Farrel, Rachael Price, Prince, Ellie Goulding, Sam sparrow, 4Hero, Kings of Leon, Cold Play, Athlete, Kirk Franklin, India Arie, The Kooks... As you can see I have quite a mixture of music on there and my own obviously!
You have been singing backing vocals for Adele. How did that opportunity come up?
A producer I work with offered me the job after he got asked if he knew of any singers for the royal variety performance in December last year.
What have you learned from this experience?
The land of TV and more indepth touring and more about the ins and outs and running of a large performance with crew to manage, dates and timetables, Adeles tour manager is astounding he’s on top of everything and everyone all the time but is always smiling.
Do you write your own music? What do you think of artists that don’t write their own lyrics and simply put their voice on a track?
Yes I love writing my own music it’s a freedom for me. Especially when you write something that moves someone. To be honest I don’t mind that too much. If a singer can deliver a songwriters music well than fantastic, Whitney didn’t write a lot of her biggest hits, neither did Celine, or Mariah, Aretha or Ella yet they are key stand out singers in the history of vocalists that made waves.
What are your future plans? Single and album release?
An EP release in the middle to the end of this year, I’m very very excited about this! Can’t really go into details yet as the ball is only about to start rolling but when it does I’ll be shouting it from the rooftops haha!
How would you define your musical style?
A fusion of Rock/Funk/Soul.
It is very difficult to get out there nowadays being an independant artist. How is it working?
It’s getting better, the more gigs I play and the more I record my music and people hear it and tell their friends the more I am being noticed and recoginsed… Hopefully by the end of the year it will be going a lot better.
If you could collaborate with any artist, dead or alive, who would it be?
Ella Fitzgerald as she would teach me some vocal skills that I still to this day haven’t heard another singer sing with, that effortless perfect pitch and control smothered with feeling- gorgeous!
I’d love to collaborate on a gorgeous piece of film music by composer Joe Hisaishi – he composed the soundtrack to Spirited Away and a stunning piece of music I downloaded from itunes called ‘Drifter in Lax (brother)’ the original soundtrack. I know that I would get to sing and write in a way I’ve never done before.
What lays in the future of Kelli Leigh?
Well hopefully with this EP plan and the possibility of music being synced with TV & Film, I’ll be getting my name & music out more into the public eye and ear!
Where do you see yourself in a couple of years?
World touring with my 1st or 2nd album – only time will tell!
Who is Kelli Leigh? Tell us about you, how and why you decided you wanted to be a singer.
Music is key in my family. I’ve been surrounded by it since I was a little girl. It was the thing I found most exciting and I wanted to do it for the rest of my life.
What are you main influences? What music did you grow up listening to?
I grew up listening to a bit of everything, Soul, rock, jazz, funk, blues, reggae, indie, folk, etc. My main influences are music, musicians, artists and singers that can move me emotionally by their music.
What can we find on your iPod right now?
Skunk Anansie, the script, Rachelle Farrel, Rachael Price, Prince, Ellie Goulding, Sam sparrow, 4Hero, Kings of Leon, Cold Play, Athlete, Kirk Franklin, India Arie, The Kooks... As you can see I have quite a mixture of music on there and my own obviously!
You have been singing backing vocals for Adele. How did that opportunity come up?
A producer I work with offered me the job after he got asked if he knew of any singers for the royal variety performance in December last year.
What have you learned from this experience?
The land of TV and more indepth touring and more about the ins and outs and running of a large performance with crew to manage, dates and timetables, Adeles tour manager is astounding he’s on top of everything and everyone all the time but is always smiling.
Do you write your own music? What do you think of artists that don’t write their own lyrics and simply put their voice on a track?
Yes I love writing my own music it’s a freedom for me. Especially when you write something that moves someone. To be honest I don’t mind that too much. If a singer can deliver a songwriters music well than fantastic, Whitney didn’t write a lot of her biggest hits, neither did Celine, or Mariah, Aretha or Ella yet they are key stand out singers in the history of vocalists that made waves.
What are your future plans? Single and album release?
An EP release in the middle to the end of this year, I’m very very excited about this! Can’t really go into details yet as the ball is only about to start rolling but when it does I’ll be shouting it from the rooftops haha!
How would you define your musical style?
A fusion of Rock/Funk/Soul.
It is very difficult to get out there nowadays being an independant artist. How is it working?
It’s getting better, the more gigs I play and the more I record my music and people hear it and tell their friends the more I am being noticed and recoginsed… Hopefully by the end of the year it will be going a lot better.
If you could collaborate with any artist, dead or alive, who would it be?
Ella Fitzgerald as she would teach me some vocal skills that I still to this day haven’t heard another singer sing with, that effortless perfect pitch and control smothered with feeling- gorgeous!
I’d love to collaborate on a gorgeous piece of film music by composer Joe Hisaishi – he composed the soundtrack to Spirited Away and a stunning piece of music I downloaded from itunes called ‘Drifter in Lax (brother)’ the original soundtrack. I know that I would get to sing and write in a way I’ve never done before.
What lays in the future of Kelli Leigh?
Well hopefully with this EP plan and the possibility of music being synced with TV & Film, I’ll be getting my name & music out more into the public eye and ear!
Where do you see yourself in a couple of years?
World touring with my 1st or 2nd album – only time will tell!
