Karyna Micaela
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Karyna Micaela

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Band Pop Singer/Songwriter

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Press


"Karyna Micaela Live at the Thirsty Armadillo"

"Over the weekend, I finally got the chance to see the awesome and very talented local singer-songwriter Karyna Micaela perform live. Karyna and I have been following each other on Twitter for a while now, as we are both ukulele players, and I've been meaning to check out a show of hers. A weekend radio broadcast from the Thirsty Armadillo in the Stockyards was the perfect chance.

Karyna did a great show, playing her uber-catchy brand of old-school vintage pop with jazzy stylings, shifting between the keyboard and her uke. Two members of her band, Zach Balch on guitar and Austin Chappell on drums, were also on hand and are wonderful musicians in their own right. It was a cool early afternoon of great, great music.

You can check out Karyna's music at www.karynamicaela.com - it's well worth a visit. She's finishing up her debut album for release later this year, and I'll be first in line to grab a copy." - 500px


"Karyna Micaela Live at the Thirsty Armadillo"

"Over the weekend, I finally got the chance to see the awesome and very talented local singer-songwriter Karyna Micaela perform live. Karyna and I have been following each other on Twitter for a while now, as we are both ukulele players, and I've been meaning to check out a show of hers. A weekend radio broadcast from the Thirsty Armadillo in the Stockyards was the perfect chance.

Karyna did a great show, playing her uber-catchy brand of old-school vintage pop with jazzy stylings, shifting between the keyboard and her uke. Two members of her band, Zach Balch on guitar and Austin Chappell on drums, were also on hand and are wonderful musicians in their own right. It was a cool early afternoon of great, great music.

You can check out Karyna's music at www.karynamicaela.com - it's well worth a visit. She's finishing up her debut album for release later this year, and I'll be first in line to grab a copy." - 500px


""Secret" Ernie Halter Concert @ The Aarvark Blew Our Minds"

"We got to the chance to hear and meet the beautiful and talented Karyna Micaela, not only did she capture our full and devoted attention by her music but she was one of the nicest musicians we've ever met, we were blessed to have met her and even more so blessed to have been able to listen to her wow us all with her music. Karyna Micaela will be releasing a CD later on this year so go on her site and make sure to follow this career for the world will be introduced to her soon and then small shows like this will be almost impossible to come by, if you are not familiar with her then please do yourself a favor and browse her site or look her up on YouTube and allow Karyna to blow your mind." - So Danca


"Generation acoustic: Folksters and their kin find a foothold in Denton"

KARYNA MICAELA: Pop with a dash of folk

Her catalog: Micaela has an album worth of songs in the hopper.

Sounds like: Erin Austin meets Sara Bareilles, with a retro twist.

Listen at: reverbnation.com/karynamicaela


Karyna Micaela is more pop than folk, but she’s absorbed a thing or two in her many sets at Banter, a downtown bar and restaurant that has been incubating a goodly number of Denton’s rising folk artists.
The California native came to Denton about three years ago. A choir student who majored in music, Micaela did her homework and knew Denton would be a good place to concentrate on music. She works full time in a University of North Texas residence hall, and has been hard at work with Dallas musician Zach Balch, who is producing her debut album. Micaela has recorded piano, vocals, drums and horns; all that remains is to mix and engineer the album.
“Denton is a good place to pursue music,” Micaela says. “Maybe because it’s not oversaturated, like Austin or Nashville. It’s accessible. Where we’re sitting is pretty much the heart of the singer-songwriter scene locally.”
And she was sitting at a table at Banter, where a two-person crew was setting up the sound system for the open mic that would begin in three hours. Like folk artist Mathew Grigsby and Balch, who plays Denton regularly, Micaela has found a reliable testing ground in Banter. The snug restaurant — with its small coffee menu and generous beer, wine and food menu — has continued to nurture the local music scene. Banter is as committed to jazz as it is to indie music; Le Not So Hot Klub du Denton earned its big following on the small corner stage.
Micaela makes the kind of music that gets picked up for shiny-happy advertising campaigns by Target, the Gap and J.C. Penney, and she admits that she worries that could be a liability in the North Texas music scene, which tends to favor insider music by not-so-radio-ripe acts like Midlake, the Angelus and Seryn — all of whom come by critical gushing honestly. Denton’s favorite music only reaches as far as public radio, unless you consider pop acts like Bowling for Soup — and they claim Dallas as home base.
“It’s been a challenge,” Micaela says. “It’s not an easy scene to break into. My record is a fully fledged pop record. Zach and I are interested in licensing and writing, and that’s not the focus of most of the music here. I’ve kind of wanted to go down to Dallas, because it’s closer to that part of the business.”
Micaela is right. Denton musicians emphasize community over cash, and sometimes, process over product. Take the now-dormant tradition of Rock Lottery, which created new Denton bands for one day by inviting musicians to draw names out of a hat, then write and perform a full set on the same day. The result isn’t always good, but it’s definitely enthusiastic.
But make no mistake: Micaela isn’t trash-talking community. The community was one of the reasons she left the temperate summers of San Jose for Denton.
So far, Micaela has created a set list of music that shows off her training — she studied classical music for a while before she realized she wanted to study vocal jazz. And both show in her lilting voice and stage presence.
Regardless of geography, Micaela will do her music — piano pop with that Billie Holiday vibrato — and she’ll tailor it to the venue.
“I can’t do anything else,” Micaela says. “It’s such a part of my identity that I’d feel like something was missing if I didn’t do music.” - Little d After Dark


"Generation acoustic: Folksters and their kin find a foothold in Denton"

KARYNA MICAELA: Pop with a dash of folk

Her catalog: Micaela has an album worth of songs in the hopper.

Sounds like: Erin Austin meets Sara Bareilles, with a retro twist.

Listen at: reverbnation.com/karynamicaela


Karyna Micaela is more pop than folk, but she’s absorbed a thing or two in her many sets at Banter, a downtown bar and restaurant that has been incubating a goodly number of Denton’s rising folk artists.
The California native came to Denton about three years ago. A choir student who majored in music, Micaela did her homework and knew Denton would be a good place to concentrate on music. She works full time in a University of North Texas residence hall, and has been hard at work with Dallas musician Zach Balch, who is producing her debut album. Micaela has recorded piano, vocals, drums and horns; all that remains is to mix and engineer the album.
“Denton is a good place to pursue music,” Micaela says. “Maybe because it’s not oversaturated, like Austin or Nashville. It’s accessible. Where we’re sitting is pretty much the heart of the singer-songwriter scene locally.”
And she was sitting at a table at Banter, where a two-person crew was setting up the sound system for the open mic that would begin in three hours. Like folk artist Mathew Grigsby and Balch, who plays Denton regularly, Micaela has found a reliable testing ground in Banter. The snug restaurant — with its small coffee menu and generous beer, wine and food menu — has continued to nurture the local music scene. Banter is as committed to jazz as it is to indie music; Le Not So Hot Klub du Denton earned its big following on the small corner stage.
Micaela makes the kind of music that gets picked up for shiny-happy advertising campaigns by Target, the Gap and J.C. Penney, and she admits that she worries that could be a liability in the North Texas music scene, which tends to favor insider music by not-so-radio-ripe acts like Midlake, the Angelus and Seryn — all of whom come by critical gushing honestly. Denton’s favorite music only reaches as far as public radio, unless you consider pop acts like Bowling for Soup — and they claim Dallas as home base.
“It’s been a challenge,” Micaela says. “It’s not an easy scene to break into. My record is a fully fledged pop record. Zach and I are interested in licensing and writing, and that’s not the focus of most of the music here. I’ve kind of wanted to go down to Dallas, because it’s closer to that part of the business.”
Micaela is right. Denton musicians emphasize community over cash, and sometimes, process over product. Take the now-dormant tradition of Rock Lottery, which created new Denton bands for one day by inviting musicians to draw names out of a hat, then write and perform a full set on the same day. The result isn’t always good, but it’s definitely enthusiastic.
But make no mistake: Micaela isn’t trash-talking community. The community was one of the reasons she left the temperate summers of San Jose for Denton.
So far, Micaela has created a set list of music that shows off her training — she studied classical music for a while before she realized she wanted to study vocal jazz. And both show in her lilting voice and stage presence.
Regardless of geography, Micaela will do her music — piano pop with that Billie Holiday vibrato — and she’ll tailor it to the venue.
“I can’t do anything else,” Micaela says. “It’s such a part of my identity that I’d feel like something was missing if I didn’t do music.” - Little d After Dark


Discography

"Everyday Surprises" EP

Photos

Bio

Armed with the encouragement of a former choir director to “save the world through song,” California native Karyna Micaela once brainstormed all the ways she could use music to do good, from sharing her passion for environmental sustainability to making statements about social injustices. After arriving in Texas' wide prairies three years ago, she realized that saving the world through song can be achieved in a more subtle way - through relationship and community. Karyna, who earned her bachelor’s degree in jazz studies, inherited the rich troubadour spirit that is tradition in this part of the country, transforming her into a more vibrant storyteller. The result is a blend of pop, jazz and folk that reflects an emotional journey to which listeners can intimately relate. The relocation changed Karyna in personal ways as well. “So many things have happened to me here that I never expected,” she says. “I’ve met incredible people. I’ve made mistakes. I’ve had my heart broken. All these things have taught me what it truly means to be human. I’ve come to realize that every day is a surprise.”

Karyna can be found sharing her piano-driven stories all over the greater Dallas-Fort Worth area, playing at such reputable venues as Opening Bell Coffee and Club Dada in Dallas, Live Oak Music Hall in Fort Worth and Dan's Silverleaf in Denton. She has made appearances at several popular festivals, including the Deep Ellum Arts Festival, Taste of Addison and ArtLoveMagic's GirlShow and opened for Ernie Halter at The Aardvark in Fort Worth. Her debut EP, Everyday Surprises, produced by Zach Balch, releases this spring.