From singing “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” for a hotel lobby crowd at just two years old to finding her way to Nashville and building a career as an artist with meaningful stories to tell, KIANA has been sharing her heart through music for as long as she can remember.
Born in Colorado and raised in Nebraska, the rising star was surrounded by a mix of country and pop artists throughout her upbringing. When she decided to visit Nashville for the first time in eighth grade, she instantly felt the magic that the city had to offer. Things would come full circle when she eventually found her way back to attend Belmont University.
But building a career in Music City came with its fair share of challenges, and it took stepping away for a few years and then returning for her to find the confidence to fully embrace the artist always knew she could be. KIANA has since discovered a new sense of purpose and is a growing collection of music that reflects some of life’s toughest experiences and gives listeners a more personal look into the experiences that built her.
Her upcoming EP, Jump, arriving November 20, brings together vulnerable songs about relationships, heartbreak and learning when it’s time to let go, while still holding onto a sense of hope. She has already given listeners a taste of what’s to come with songs like “Why Do I Stay?,” “Fixing You” and the title track, each highlighting her powerful songwriting.
Ahead of the project’s release, KIANA opened up to Country Now about the musical influences that have shaped her, her journey in Nashville and what fans can expect from this next chapter.
Thinking back to your childhood in the Midwest, what music were you surrounded by at home? Was there a specific moment that sparked your love of music?
Yeah, I would say when I was really young when I took a liking to it, My mom was the country music fan and my mom loved Alan Jackson, so that’s what I would listen to when we were in her car. My dad, he’s actually more of a… He likes doo-op and he actually, funny enough, would like a lot of the pop stuff, like modern pop as I grew up. And so I had two very different musical experiences depending on who I was in the car with, which was funny. But then I just took a knack for singing probably at two years old. I don’t think any of us know where that came from because my parents weren’t doing it. I think my uncle can play piano, but I would not say I grew up in an overly musical family. So when I started gravitating towards singing at two, three years old, my parents were shocked. They didn’t really know what to do with it. I naturally expressed myself through singing from a really young age.
How old were you when you started writing music and performing on your own?
My parents…They were at a hotel in Colorado and there was a guy on his guitar singing in the lobby. I think my dad was watching me at the time and my mom was at a work dinner. So this guy’s playing guitar, singing in the lobby. I’m two years old, I’m mesmerized by this. And so the guy is super nice and he’s like, “Well, why don’t you come up here and sing?” So I go up there and I sing “Row Your Boat” and the “ABCs.” So it was super cute, but then my parents were like, “Whoa,” I was actually really good, like “she can actually sing.” And so they were so blown away. And then I would say truthfully from that moment, I just always wanted to sing and perform. And then there was Britney Spears, and I remember seeing Britney Spears and Shania Twain, and they were cool, great singers, but they were incredible performers. And so from a young age, I just wanted to be on the stage as well. I wanted to perform and sing, and so it started probably around two or three.
Do you remember the first time you ever visited Nashville? Did that trip inspire you even more to want to move to Music City one day?
I was in the eighth grade. There was an eighth-grade project where you spent a whole year working on this project around something that you think you maybe want to do when you grow up. I, of course, wanted to do music, and my mom was starting to think about colleges and everything. My mom was the first person to tell me about Belmont. She’s like, “Well, how about for your spring break, eighth grade year…” She’s like, “Why don’t we go to Nashville and we can look around, we can look at Belmont.” I had a vocal coach at the time who had been like, “Hey, have you ever heard of Nashville? There’re great vocal coaches down there. I could introduce you to some.” And so my spring break of my eighth-grade year, we came down, I did some vocal lessons. We got exposed to everything for the very first time. I wasn’t concerned about going to college at all, but my mom’s like, “See how cool Belmont is?” “Sure, whatever, mom.” And so yeah, my first trip, I was 14. And then funny enough, I ended up going to Belmont when I did go off to college later.
What were those early days in Nashville like for you as you were trying to forge your own path and build a community in town?
To be honest, when I first moved here at 18, it’s so exciting, it’s so cool. But at the end of the day, when I look back on it, I think it was so overwhelming more than anything. You’re off on your own for the first time, you’ve never been on your own, and then you’re also trying to make a mark in the music industry, which is quite ambitious for an 18-year-old. You just have no idea what you’re walking into. I loved going to Belmont. I did find a good group of friends there and everything, but I would say ultimately just the trials and tribulations of life for me at that time. I was doing a ton of music stuff. I was working really hard, but this is such a hard industry. And I think especially at that time, I didn’t know who I was. Sometimes these younger 18-year-olds, they come to town, they know exactly who they are and how to do whatever we do in this industry. I for sure did not. I think I spent a lot of years learning just really tough lessons, and I think coming into myself. So this went on for such a long time. I ended up leaving Nashville for…maybe six years actually.
How did things change for you when you returned to Nashville about three years ago to continue pursuing music?
By the time I got back, I had come into my own and I had come into myself. And so it’s not like that the musical talent wasn’t there per se, but I just think being able to hold yourself as a human with confidence and conviction and really knowing… When I got back here, I knew exactly what I wanted to do…Which was funny, I’m doing what I always wanted to do, but I was second guessing myself. So it’s just having the confidence to really do what I had on my heart. I think that’s the only thing that changed as I finally came into myself. And I think that’s why I’ve had a different experience these last three years with my career. And I think I got so much of my drive back and my follow-through back because this is just not for the faint of heart. This is a really tough thing and you have to love it and you have to want to really do it every day. So it’s cool because…when you’re starting, you’re just not seeing a result and people say, “Oh, you have to do it because you love it.” And it makes sense because you’re like, “I do love this.” But I think also just being a little bit older, I really do appreciate that. I really do. I get to do this and that makes the experience really cool now too.
As you continue to grow as an artist and put new music out into the world, what do you hope listeners come to understand about who you are through your songs?
I would say for me as a person, when I view things in life, I tend to see them through a lens of good. I can always put a positive spin on things. I’m naturally upbeat and I naturally am like, “Oh, this is going to work out in my favor.” And I don’t know how yet, but it will. And I think that I naturally do that so well. And so even with my songs whether they are sad or whatever, I hope that people can listen to my music and they feel more empowered or they feel optimistic. Sometimes we just need to feel like there’s a little bit of hope and I think I generate that for myself well, so I hope that I can put it into my music and that other people can pick up on that.
Talk about the message you’re trying to send with your latest release, “Fixing You”?
I had been kind of writing sporadically these deeper, more heartfelt, more vulnerable songs. And the title was brought to me by one of my friends and one of my co-writers, her name’s Laurel Sabadosh, and she’s one of my really, really good friends. She brought the title and she was like, “Hey, I’ve been waiting on this title because I wanted to bring it to you because I think you’re going to get it. I think you’re the one that will help write it.” When we started writing it, we were writing it from a relationship perspective, but we were like, “Man, this is so universal. This could be a parent to child situation, just any family member, any friend where you’re endlessly giving and helping, and then you realize that they’re taking an advantage of it, and maybe you’re enabling this kind of toxic dynamic of “I keep trying to fix you, but you maybe don’t want it, and now I’m the one that’s actually breaking.” So we just felt it was actually a really universal experience. It’s a very heartbreaking experience that a lot of us go through. So that’s kind of where we started from.
Why did this feel like the right follow up to “Why Do I Stay?”
I have “Why Do I Stay?” out now. It’s talking about being in an abusive relationship. This definitely trails off of that or just wanting someone to be someone that maybe they’re not, and sometimes you have to just let it go, which is obviously very tough to do. And I think putting out “Fixing You” and “Why Do I Stay?” and “Jump” and all these songs, just me being able to be vulnerable of like, “yeah, I’ve experienced that too.” So when people hear that, sometimes there’s shame around that. We think we’re the only ones that tried to fix someone who was no good for us and we feel embarrassed or whatever, but I think getting to put this subject matter into songs, it’s like we all go through this, I’ve gone through it and it just happens and it’s tough and we do the best we can.
What can you share about the EP you’re working toward releasing?
I have an EP dropping November 20th, and the EP is called Jump. So off of my single “Jump,” it is the title track of the EP, and then we’ll have one more single coming out. It’s called “Love Me When I’m Leaving” that will also drop November 20th. And that next song, “Love Me When I’m Leaving,” I think really rounds out this project and will leave the whole project with a little bit of hope. Actually, it kind of rounds out the whole thing, which is cool and will kind of set us up for the next era of songs.
Is there anything else you want to share that fans can look forward to seeing from you next year?
I would say next year is going to be amazing. Bigger, better, all the things. I feel like we’ve laid so much great foundation, even this year and this current EP. This Jump EP is kind of my whole heart and my whole vulnerability in a project. And then I think what you’ll see from me more next year will kind of be that transition into just more of me, more of my personality, less sad girl era. So there is going to be more fun when we come into next year.
Fans can keep up with KIANA on Instagram.