Your future, our focus
P O W E L L, W y o. - Kyler England, an alternative rock and indie singer, comes to Powell Wednesday, March 5, to perform in an 8 p.m. concert at the 7th Street Grille on the Northwest College campus.
A rural North Carolina native, England, graduated as a valedictorian from North Carolina State University with two degrees (one in chemistry) before she realized what she really wanted to do was sing and write songs. So she went back to college, this time to Berklee College of Music in Boston, Mass. Since then, she's been piling up awards and recognitions for both her singing and her writing.
She's shared the stage with such notables as Sting, Annie Lennox and Melissa Etheridge. Her songs have been featured on Nickelodeon's "Zoey 101," the daytime drama "Guiding Light," on E!s reality show "Paradise City" and on the A&E network's "Rollergirls."
She was named one of the hot 100 unsigned artists in 2007 by Music Connection Magazine and has traveled across most of the 50 states singing to small coffeehouse and college venues, in addition to opening for celebrity musicians in mega arenas.
Her first CD, "A Flower Grows in Stone," was released in 2003 and a year later was named the Best Alternative Rock CD by the Indie Acoustic Project. Songs from subsequent CDs have also won awards and also been used on compilation CDs to benefit World Hunger Year and young cancer survivors.
One critic said that when listening to an England song, "It's easy to believe you're hearing a classic in the making: gorgeous, organic pop music that speaks to your heart like a close friend. Her soulful voice draws you in with its fragile strength, then leaves you breathless when it soars to brilliant heights. She sings like you'd always wished you could, with all the raw honesty of your most painful moments and all the beauty of your fiercest hopes. There is something universal going on here, something magical. Comparisons to Sarah McLachlan and Patty Griffin are mere approximations; Kyler has a style and charisma all her own."
England's appearance at NWC is sponsored by the Student Activities Board. The 7th Street Grille is located on the top floor of the DeWitt Student Center on Seventh St.
Admission is free.