Student manages young Peoria musician originally written by Patrick Cavanaugh, Features Editor
Like most students, Illinois Wesleyan University senior philosophy major Kiara Blake-Knight experiences a lot of late nights.
But she's not losing sleep just to reading or writing papers. Instead, she spends her nights managing a pop artist from her hometown of Peoria,IL.
The artist is Leshai, a 16-year-old musician who's been singing since she was four. For almost a year, Blake has been working with Leshai to try and build a fan base and spread her music.
According to Blake, Leshai is "very motivated" for a 16-year-old, keeping a notebook dedicated solely to the music she writes almost daily.
"I asked Leshai what she wanted to do with her life, "Blake said. "And she said 'there's nothing I'd rather do than [music].' So I said, 'all right. let's start working. '
With this drive behind them, Blake and Leshai began the long process many starting musicians must deal with: home recording. Though neither Blake nor Leshai had experience with producing or recording music, they decided to tackle those parts of the process themselves.
"We had no experience with [recording], just interest. And it was time to put our passion to good use, " Blake said.
But completing the album was just the beginning. Now Blake faces the challenge of spreading the word about her client and co-worker. In order to gain publicity, Blake followed the trend set by many young artists and took to the Internet.
Using websites such as Facebook, Myspace and ReverbNation, Blake made Leshai's debut album, Devil's Kiss, released Nov. 29, 2011, available for digital distribution. Though achieving popularity is no easy task, the managing-singing duo has had some success with this strategy.
Leshai released her first single, "You're Like," on ReverbNation.com in August of 2011, which peaked at No. 7 on the local pop charts of the site.
Her second single, "Easy," fared even better, debuting in the Top Ten of the pop charts. On the Xsite Radio charts, "You're Like" managed to climb to the top of the local pop chart.
But successfully managing an artist isn't as simple as putting her music on the Internet and letting the world absorb it. It requires a lot of hard work from Blake every day and can sometimes result in disappointment.
"I'm constantly looking through and reaching out to blogs, press, music reviews, etc, " Blake said of her managing duties. "Sometimes you don't get emails or calls back. That's the hardest part."
Blake commented that the distance between her and Leshai also makes managing the artist difficult. With Blake busy with schoolwork at IWU and Leshai in Peoria, communication problems frequently come up. Blake finds time to talk with Leshai a few times a week, but rarely more than that.
The duo doesn't let these issues deter them though. They plan on starting new material over spring break, an effort that Blake estimates will take four to six months to complete.
While producing another album will definitely require difficult, time-consuming work, it's well worth it for Blake and Leshai.
"Music has been both of our passions since we were very young, "Blake said. "We just started producing it so it seems new, but it's really not. It's always been there, the passion for it."
For more information on Leshai, you can look her up on Facebook, ReverbNation, or Purevolume.
Her debut album Devil's Kiss is available on CdBaby. for $5.99.
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