It’s late fall and to my left is a young woman by the name of Katelyn Duran who has been spending the greater part of the day belting out her new album here in NYC. To say she is overwhelmed is an understatement, but to say that this young lady has got presence and a great grip on her material is also an understatement. I continue listening to her from the other side of the studio and within time I am finding myself in the paradoxical position of tapping my foot to a budding young adult star, something I have until now sworn off that I would do…
What impresses me about Katelyn’s lyrics, never mind the catchy tempos and her smooth ingratiating voice (which grow on you) are also the lyrics. One feels listening to Ms Duran that she takes to heart the messages that she sings about which frankly can’t be a bad thing in an over saturated music industry pumping out cookie cutter tracks one after the other. In other words this young lady who heralds from rural Pennsylvania is a heartfelt conscientious young lady valiantly trying to make sense of the world, stay fresh to her ideals and resist the temptations of being anything but herself.
One of her songs ‘Monopoly,’ equates the chances of life and its lessons in a boppy catchy tunes, ‘Heart on my sleeve,’ a young woman’s desire to be loved and discovered in the big world- pressing themes one can imagine in young ladies coming of age.
Winner of ‘Wake up your dreams teen vocal competition in 2009,’ Ms Duran felt emboldened to further pursue her passion for music, never mind her high academic aptitude her mother sitting near by reveals. It’s a toss up- precocious musical ingenue or heart surgeon, well you catch my drift.
Curious as to what artists influence her she immediately replies Christine Aguilera, Aretha Franklin and Joss Stone, something that one could certainly attest to listening to the young ingenue as she makes her way round in a musical world that by all extensions has just met her and will be eagerly waiting for her as she hits the circuits and one supposes your hearts as well…
Katelyn’s cd- ‘Heart on my sleeve,’ can be acquired on I- tunes and CD.
