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Kayla
Thornton
Kayla Thornton was born on September 9, 1986 in the southeastern Kansas town of Parsons. It took her parents, Karl and Nancy, all of six months to realize that their little girl was musically inclined. Karl was holding his six-month-old daughter and casually asked Kayla to sing. To the utter amazement of Karl and Nancy, Kayla began humming and has been humming or singing ever since.
When Kayla was in the fourth grade, she was asked to sing her first solo for her church’s Christmas program. It was there, live and in front of the church audience, when Kayla truly discovered her passion for music and performance. From that day forward, every such opportunity to perform was accepted enthusiastically. It became commonplace to find Kayla appearing at church functions, weddings, funerals, grade school and high school graduations, D.A.R.E. graduations, college choir, and numerous talent competitions. Her dedication and desire to finely tune her innate talent know no bounds. Often you will find Kayla wearing headphones and singing along to her favorite tunes on her MP-3 player while driving the family tractor.
In April of 2003 Kayla’s dad, Karl, was driving through Neodesha, Kansas. He saw a sign that grabbed his attention. This is when destiny entered the picture. Karl’s pride in Kayla’s talent and his own curiosity caused him to park his car and enter Hall of Fame Recording Studio. There he met veteran producer Larry Brockway and the rest, as they say, is history. Two weeks later Kayla was in a recording studio for the first time. She recorded three songs with only the accompaniment of karaoke tracks. Kayla knew right then that this is where she must be, but she had no idea what doors this initial session would open for her.
Kayla returned to Hall of Fame Studio in December of 2003 to record “Strawberry Wine” accompanied once again by only a karaoke track. It was then after hearing the incredible maturation in Kayla’s voice after only 7 months that Larry knew she was someone special. He spoke with Kayla, Karl and Nancy about the potential that his years of experience recognized in Kayla. Larry also told them of the world-class studio musicians from Nashville whom he used regularly. He also spoke of the connections that he has developed over the years – especially with Gerd Muller; a world recognized artist consultant who shops new talent to all of the major record labels. Kayla’s dream was now visible on the horizon.
On March 11, 2004, after much consideration, a lot of prayer, and proud belief in Kayla’s talent and commitment, the Thorntons sold their largest farm and entered into a production agreement with Larry Brockway. Kayla will forever remember the sacrifices that her parents made to enable her to pursue her dream.
Immediately Larry began the search for just the right songs, just the right arrangements, and just the right group of studio musicians that could launch Kayla’s career. Larry contacted numerous writers for material. He and Kayla narrowed these selections down to eleven in the Pop/R&B vein and chose to remake
Aaliyah’s “4 Page Letter” for the 12th song. By September of 2004 all of the music tracks had been successfully completed.
During September of 2004 Kayla, just a senior in high school, began recording the master vocals for her upcoming album.
In the fall of 2005 a well-choreographed video of Kayla and some chosen back-up dancers was produced. Two weeks later Kayla opened for a concert featuring Confederate Railroad. Kayla performed an original song entitled “The Way I Do” and was enthusiastically received by the audience.
During the spring and summer of 2006 Kayla was asked to rehearse and perform with the 14-piece band “OZ-The Wizards of Soul.” Two of the band’s major performances were at the “4th of July Fireworks Show” in Coffeyville, KS and at “JazzFest” in Tulsa, OK. Once again Kayla’s remarkable talent resulted in enthusiastic responses.
Thanksgiving Day of 2006 brought the release of Kayla’s first Christmas album entitled “I’ll Be Home For Christmas.” In addition to many traditional favorites, this album contains some arrangements in the jazz/blues vein. This album should be your first in a collection of future Kayla albums.
During the 2006 holiday season Kayla will be back in the studio to begin another project. In addition to original material, very inventive arrangements of previous recordings by the likes of Etta James, Elton John and The Platters will be included.
Oklahoma has Carrie Underwood, and they are justifiably proud of her achievements. The day will come when Kansas will be equally as proud of Kayla Thornton. Some of us already are!
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