Kay discovers 'More' with new music

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This article was published 8/6/2018 (724 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Recording two songs for her sophomore EP in Nashville with Terri Clark was a surreal moment for Elkhorn native Kendra Kay.

The very first concert Kay attended was a Terri Clark show in Brandon.

"Then to be 10-11 years down the road and be in the studio working with her side by side was an experience that I wouldn’t be able to probably replace," said Kay, 21. "It was great to have her experience and her knowledge from all the years that she’s recorded and had Juno-winning albums … I was really grateful for that."

Canadian country star Clark has had a successful music career in both Canada and the United States since her debut in the mid-’90s.

Kay’s second EP, "More To Me," has been a passion project, which she said incorporated a lot of soul-searching. Her first EP was released in 2014 when she was just 17 years old.

"I hadn’t experienced much life outside of high school. That I guess just kind of showed in my music a little bit, because I hadn’t had a general sound," she said. "So this whole body of music is me discovering myself, who I am as an artist."

She said she named it "More To Me" because listeners will "hear the growth and the discovery" that she found over the past four years.

"It really is more to me as a person and as an artist and more to my vocal abilities," she said. "It’s kind of an exciting feeling to really discover yourself through music."

Kay also recorded songs for the EP in Winnipeg and Saskatoon. She worked with Jeff Jones, Canadian Country Music Association producer of the year Bart McKay and Juno-nominated Murray Pulver.

"To have him lend his expertise as well, has been super, so I’m really lucky to have some pretty big names on this project," she said.

Songs were written by country artists Patricia Conroy, Jessica Mitchell and Meghan Patrick, as well as a feature with Juno-nominated artist Don Amero.

Kay is hosting a release party where it all started — her hometown of Elkhorn. It will take place on June 15 at Elks Hall from 8 p.m. to 12 a.m.

She said the goal is to give her biggest supporters the first chance to listen to her new music and show them the growth she has had over the past few years.

"The whole idea of this is just to give back to my home community," she said. "For them to get the chance to be the first listen, and see me perform these songs live for the first time. It’s kind of like a big homecoming so I’m really looking forward to it."

"More To Me" will be officially released later this summer.

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