Kyndon Oakes

“Sing from the heart and pray you make a difference...” 

Kyndon Oakes has been a star on one stage or another practically his whole life. Growing up in a combination of Pueblo, Colorado and Independence, Kansas he performed onstage in the school choirs and in plays from the time he was a small boy. Singing quickly became a lifelong passion for him. He equally loved sports, finding his exceptional ability as a tailback early on the football field and also shining on the baseball diamond as well throughout his early years growing up.  

“I’ve been singing and playing sports for as long as I can remember,” says Oakes about his dual loves. “I would sing in talent shows, and in choir the same week we had football games on Friday nights…it was just always something I loved doing.”  

His natural ability and success in sports led to him to being recruited by several Ivy League schools for football scholarships during high school as his grades scholastically drew attention from schools like Harvard, Yale, and Dartmouth. After electing instead to play college baseball for two years, he decided to transfer to CSU-Pueblo, CO to walk on as a football player there. But after making the team’s specialty squad, he broke an ankle two weeks before the season, so he decided to turn his full attention at that point to his music and performing. He eventually transferred to Nashville to receive his degree in exercise science and pursue his passion for performing full time. 

Though he didn’t even pick up a guitar until he was 17, Kyndon quickly began picking out chords and writing songs, and upon moving to Nashville found some kindred writing  partners in fellow artists/writers like Susie Brown from the former duo the JaneDear Girls and former “American Idol” finalist Josh Gracin. His writing buddy, Mark Vikingstad became another frequent collaborator as he began to make inroads into the Nashville music scene. 

Influenced by all kinds of music growing up, he found himself especially drawn to the stories and emotions country music offered, in both contemporary and 90’s country, from power ballads like John Michael Montgomery to the soulful sounds of David Nail. Inspired by artists like the Goo Goo Dolls, Don Henley, Bruce Hornsby, and Gavin DeGraw, Kyndon began to carve out his own special sound and brand of country, evident in songs like the sparkling up-tempo song, “Drive” or the heart wrenching ballad titled “What If You’re Wrong.” 

Hard at work on new music, Kyndon is looking forward to sharing his latest songs with fans very soon. As a writer he possesses an uncanny ability to tap into those universal emotions that stir the soul in songs like the upbeat “Domino,” a fun tune lamenting the hold a girl has over a guy she’s just met the first time he lays eyes on her. Or on the opposite end of the spectrum in his song “Hands,” a love song inspired by the miracle birth story of his brother’s youngest child. “Mark and I wrote that song and that’s where we came up with “Hands” explains Kyndon. “He and his wife adopted their first child at birth because they were having trouble having children. His wife Shannon then miraculously became pregnant, and they had their own little boy. He ended up being born prematurely five weeks early, though, and I remember talking to him about how helpless they felt watching the little guy in that incubator and how much they wanted to just hold him and take away his pain and isolation and be there for him. And that just inspired me so much that we came up with our song “Hands.”

The hardworking Kansas native is apt to find inspiration anywhere these days as he navigates his path towards country stardom, and though it can be a tempestuous path, Kyndon has never been one to shy away from a challenge or hard work, and is eager to make his mark on the country scene having lived in Nashville the last 8 years. “I’m about working hard and grew up that way with a supportive mother and father who remain a big part of my life. I believe nothing worth having comes easy, and I think that shows in who I am and what I stand for, and comes through in my music. And I just hope people enjoy my music as much as I enjoy making it.”