The two Kansas City artists on this installment of Up to Date’s KC Soundcheck have gained popularity with their soulful sounds and electric performances.
When listeners hear Keelon Vann, many don't know what genre to put him in. But Vann prides himself in being different and doesn't like to put himself in a box.
"I don't believe in genre. I love to pay tributes to my influences, like specific artists opposed to a genre," Vann told KCUR's Up To Date. "Artists like Prince, Lenny Kravitz, Jimi Hendrix and Michael Jackson."
Vann is a self-taught singer, song writer and guitarist, who released the album ŠUÑFŁØWĘR PÂRĀDØX in 2022. He's currently working on a new project, which he describes as rock and soul influenced.
"It's all about the groove on this one. Less contemporary, more so focused on the music," Vann says.
Love, Mae C. is a singer, songwriter and vocalist who has been making music since she was a kid. Mae C. says she soaked up international influences through living in the city.
"Literally east coast, west coast, it's like you're soaked into so many sounds and you get to feel everything," she says. "I love that about Kansas City."
Mae C. reflects on times when she was in kindergarten performing in the church choir, but said it wasn't until she discovered poetry in the 7th grade that she knew music was what she wanted to do.
"An incident happened where a friend's brother had passed away and I wrote this poem that ultimately turned into a song in my mind," she says. "Then I just started to touch the stage after that."
- Keelon Vann, artist
- Love, Mae C, artist
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