Kristy Sims

Kristy Sims has been singing ever since she could walk. Born in Denver, Colorado on August 23rd 1989, then at age 4 relocating to Seattle, Washington, young Kristy didn't realize that she actually wanted to be a singer until much later in life. "My mom always told me that I should be singing, but I never felt like I could do it. I didn't think that I could walk up on a stage and be able to hold an audience long enough for them to be truly entertained," she says. For years whenever anyone told Kristy she should sing she just brushed it off. But for someone who said she didn't want to sing she sure did a lot of it. "I could hear her bouncing around in her room singing her heart out to her favorite music. She had an uncanny way of being able to imitate the artists that she loved," recalls her mother Linda. "From Britney Spears to any one of the Spice Girls, even singers like Mariah Carey, she could hit the notes just like them and she was only 11 or 12." Kristy's talent really started to shine in the 6th grade when she joined a school choir and got a solo. "It was my first time singing in front of many people and I was really nervous. I had done a play in elementary school but this was very different. All eyes were on me, but everything changed when the first note left my mouth and the audience started to smile and bob their heads. I honestly couldn't believe what I was doing, but I knew I loved it right away; the music sparked something inside of me." Although you could say the young future singer had finally found her, calling she still resisted. Her family moved from Seattle, Washington after her 6th grade year and re-established themselves in Frisco, Texas. Frisco, thirty minutes North of Dallas, was just starting to bloom as one of the fastest growing cities in the US. Kristy started 7th grade on a bad note. "I was really shy and felt like no one liked me, but I was just feeling what every kid does after moving to a new place. I was too scared to join the choir and expose my hidden talent, so I just stopped singing in front of people." Privately Kristy would jam out in her room for hours everyday singing her favorite songs. She was discovering new music at a fast pace. "My real education in music started around 8th or 9th grade when I started listening to artists like Elton John, The Police, U2, and Michael Jackson." The latter having the most profound effect on the young singer. "Their music has transcended time and to me that's what it takes to be a great musician or singer." Throughout high school Kristy maintained a relatively low profile. Being a shy person, Kristy had a core group of friends from which she never strayed. "I never partied, or became a member of the upper echelon, in high school. I had a hand full of friends that I hung out with all the time, but for some reason I couldn't relate to that many people outside of my close friends." As time went on and graduation drew nearer, so did the task of choosing what Kristy wanted to do with the rest of her life. As she watched her friends go off and pursue college with dreams of being doctors and international business execs she found herself in an odd place. "I've always been the kind of person with direction. I always felt like I knew where I was heading but when I got to that point I realized I didn't want it." Kristy quickly realized school wasn't for her. It seemed no matter what she was studying, her head was always up in the clouds and never in the classroom. "She would walk around and tap on things and make so much noise, it was like she was listening to some beat within her head 24/7; you just couldn't get her to stop" said her dad. While still going to school she decided to enroll in some vocal classes. "I don't know why I started the classes at the time, but I guess I just needed an outlet where I could sing, other than just alone in my house. That part of me was starting to come alive." At the sessions, Kristy would vocalize and train her voice to become stronger - singing different tunes from current contemporary artists. This training also led to some opportunities to perform live in front of people. "It was like all of those years of being scared had finally melted away because I was doing what was instinctually right for me." Just as she felt that she was going down the right path, she had to stop taking the lessons because they became too expensive. "I remember being calm and collected on the outside when my parents told me I had to stop, but when I got alone I cried for hours. I took it hard." It would be another year until Kristy got back into the groove of things - with music so to speak. She continued going to school and living her life, but satisfaction never came for her. "I was living my life in a haze. I felt like I was in a rut, and I was only 19! I was angry and sad all the time and I didn't know what to do about it. I was breathing, but I wasn't really living. I was confused to say the least." Things were like this for