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Kara Jelly
Kara Jelly is a study in opposites. As sweet as she is edgy, shy but gutsy, fresh and experienced, this bilingual songbird is poised to make her unique mark on the musical world.
Kara was born in Elliot Lake, Ontario (the uranium capital of the world…no wonder she glows) but grew up in Ottawa. Her mother is from Atlantic Canada and her Francophone father grew up in Quebec. She inherited her musical ability from her paternal grandfather, according to family lore. He was a teacher, pianist and conductor who toured North America and even played at Carnegie Hall. As a child, the house was filled with music – whether it was her older brother’s hard rock, her mother’s Linda Ronstadt or her own music, there was always something to sing along to.
Noting her talent from an early age, her mother nurtured her interest in music. Kara made her big stage debut to “The Funky Dinosaur” at the ripe old age of 8. Though she was immediately passionate about dancing (jazz, tap and ballet), she was too shy to speak or sing on stage, preferring instead to immerse herself in movement and in her notebook, penning original poems and stories. Despite her introversion, it was no secret she had a beautiful voice. Though she did not lack encouragement from family and friends, she elected to remain silent on stage for many years.
It was only upon majoring in Dance at De La Salle, Ontario’s only French High School for the performing Arts, that she truly began to emerge from her shell. In this timeframe and kinetic environment she found the courage to sing. Surrounded by other creative teenagers, Kara admits in a conspiratorial tone that she didn’t spend that much time actually in class, but boy did she learn a lot. Aside from being on stage constantly at school, Kara ran her own touring company of artists before she was old enough to vote, providing a taste of the performing arts for children in grades 1 to 8 in both English and French.
After high school, Kara attended Randolph School for the Performing Arts in Toronto. Since then, her vocal coaches have included Ian Garrett who coached Shania Twain and Elaine Overholt who coached the stars in the musical Chicago.
Throughout her career, Kara has been a competitor in various recitals, festivals and variety shows. With her versatile voice she was frequently a gold medal winner. In 2000, she auditioned for the original season of Pop Stars, landing a coveted spot in the top 20 finalists. After her reality TV experience she focused on being a singer/songwriter with her own band, honing her skills the grassroots way in local bars and pubs. Between gigs, however, she found herself in the position of being a killer singer/dancer for hire. She even had the performance chops to tour in a “legends” show, resulting in a North American tour to hundreds of venues and audiences of up 15,000, not to mention a trip to Taiwan, performing on national television to an audience of millions.
Her debut single “This Time Around” releasing on the fledgling “ The Orange Record Label” (home of Lindy, Melissa McClelland, Jim Bryson, Paul Brandt, Billy Klippert and Dave Ogilvie’s Jakalope, to name a few) is a radio friendly, edgy and retro punk-pop song sure to catch everybody’s ears. The track was produced by Jon “The Rabbi” Levine (Nelly Furtado, Philosopher Kings, Prozzak) and was co-written by Kara, Robbie Patterson and Brent Setterington.
In addition to writing songs in both English and French, she can dance like a demon, sing like an angel, bring it to her live show like a seasoned pro and is just about the sweetest girl you could ever hope to meet. She even writes children’s stories. Keep your eye on this one - she is going places.
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This Time Around
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Kara Jelly
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That Girl
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Kara Jelly
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