For aspiring Ridgefield singer Lexi Kiemele, hearing her music on the radio for the first time was a big step. Kiemele, a 17-year-old senior at Summit View High School, was featured on the Portland country radio station KUPL 98.7 FM earlier this month.
KUPL aired an interview with Kiemele and also played two songs she wrote and recorded: “Movin’ On” and “What It Feels Like.”
“Movin’ On” deals with the aftermath of a breakup, while “What It Feels Like” is about falling in love.
“When I first heard the ‘Movin’ On’ song come on, I dropped to my knees. I was crying my eyes out. It was a dream come true,” said Kiemele, who also rides motocross.
Kiemele hopes to release her first album in late winter or early spring, and would like to pursue music as a career.
“Growing up, I always wanted to be a singer,” she said.
Vancouver musician strikes the right note at Juilliard
Vancouver musician Javier Nero graduated from Evergreen High School in 2008 and has spent the two years since then making the most of his time at The Juilliard School in New York.
That includes arranging his first big band composition, “Back to the 360.” He wrote the song while in high school but arranged it for a big band as a freshman at Juilliard.
He has since performed the piece at Alice Tully Hall in New York’s Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.
It was exciting to hear a live band perform the piece, he said. “I really enjoyed it.”
Nero, 20, was drawn to the big band sound after he first performed that style of music in middle school.
“I’ve been hearing and playing that for years, so that was the first thing I started to write,” he said. “I’ve always liked the big horn sound you get from the larger ensembles.”
Most recently, Nero has been playing in small ensembles at jazz clubs around New York City.
While on winter break from school next month, Nero will perform at Jimmy Mak’s in Portland.
He’s excited for the chance to perform before a hometown crowd.
“It’s always fun to play back at home,” he said. “It’s always fun to come back and show them the new tricks I’ve learned since I’ve been at school.”
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