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A Musical Life: Kimberly Bowie

courtesy photo

Kimberly Bowie (pronounced boo-ey) has been singing since she was four years old. She is assistant manager and lead vocal coach at School of Rock, Wichita.

“I don’t know what else I should be doing. Singing is my thing. I feel like I was created to do this. I have to share this with other singers like me. Little singers.

It’s like when a doctor, who does the nastiest medical thing you can imagine, loves going to work and no one can figure out why. ‘Dude, why do you do that? It’s disgusting.’ They’re, like, ‘Dude, it’s what I’m supposed to do.’ It’s a part of you, so people should feel that when they see you. People that walk in their destiny exude that destiny. You can sense this aura, you can see it in that person.

Everything comes from gospel. Blues, jazz, everything comes from that. It has greatly influenced who I am. There’s something about music in a black church. It doesn’t matter what church you go to, AME, Church of Christ, Baptist, you will feel something different than you would, you know, other places. It’s a different experience. It’s a cultural experience. It’s just a very warm feeling. It’s really cool.”

Jedd Beaudoin is host/producer of the nationally syndicated program Strange Currency. He has also served as an arts reporter, a producer of A Musical Life and a founding member of the KMUW Movie Club. As a music journalist, his work has appeared in Pop Matters, Vox, No Depression and Keyboard Magazine.