Meet Kira Morrison | Vocalist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kira Morrison and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kira, what role has risk played in your life or career?
Every decision in life has a risk – some bigger than others. Every move we make is assessing risk and the worth of that risk. I do believe there are risks in the life that aren’t worth it, but I think some of the most beautiful and meaningful things we experience in life are the result of taking risks. You can’t experience the full spectrum of everything life has to offer if you choose to remain static and never step outside of your comfort zone. There will be times where you take a risk and things don’t turn out the way you want them to, or you get hurt or mess up, but at least you can look back at those moments and know that you tried, that you took the leap of not knowing the outcome.

I took a big risk deciding to dedicate my life to pursuing music, knowing that trying to make a living in anything creative is extremely difficult. I pretty much work exclusively freelance, which means I almost never have a constant state of income that I can always rely on – I’m always having to figure out what the next gig is, what gigs will or won’t be worth my time and energy, and how I can sustain my life with working in music. I don’t have any kind of job that provides me with medical benefits, retirement, or vacation time. It can be quite scary, but I never wake up regretting trying to make music work, because I know in my heart that this is what brings me true and pure joy in life, and I will take whatever risks I need to take to keep that joy in my life and share it with others.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I’m more passionate about singing than anything else I do musically and am always focused on pursuing a career as a vocalist rather than as a songwriter, but I am very proud of my original music. Once I let go of the pressure pursuing a career as a recording artist and just allowed myself to write only when I really felt moved to do so, I saw some of my best and most meaningful songs come out of me organically. Overtime I’ve been able to practice songwriting as a healing process and a way to express my feelings and experiences in the most honest and vulnerable way possible. At the end of 2020 I finished my first-ever self-produced EP, which was a huge accomplishment for me. No matter how many streams I end up getting, I will always be proud of how I turned a painful experience into something that helped me grow as a person and an artist.

Right now I’m really excited about building my work as a vocalist and being able to be involved with a lot of different projects and groups as a singer. I gravitate a lot towards background vocal work and am currently singing for an incredible artist who is a singer/rapper/drummer by the name of ImReallyATRex – I absolutely love the energy of being involved with an original project that everyone in the band is so passionate about.

I’ve been very fortunate and privileged to have had a lot of support from my family and friends throughout my life and my journey pursuing music, which I will always be grateful for. I try as hard as I can to harness all of this love, support, and opportunity to build the life I want for myself with music. Although there is no way of knowing the magic steps it takes to get to achieving your goals, I know very clearly what I want with music and singing and I will put my heart and soul into whatever it takes to achieve that. I invest in relationships with people who are passionate about the same things as I am, I practice and prepare as much as I can for whatever material I need to learn, I show up for people and show up on time, I commit myself to always learning.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I’ve lived in Los Angeles my whole life and am still not tired of it – there is so much life here to experience and explore. If I wanted to share some great live music with someone, I would love taking them to a show at The Troubadour or the Hollywood Bowl. There is also so much great live music just at local bars and restaurants, like Perch in DTLA or Tabula Rasa in East Hollywood (my favorite bar). I’m also a coffee nut so I would want to visit all my favorite local coffee shops all over town – some of those are Cafecito Organico in Silverlake, Paper or Plastik in Mid City, Stories Cafe in Echo Park, and Caffe Luxxe in Santa Monica. And for dinner and drinks I always love the adorable patio at Alcove in Los Feliz or some yummy pasta at Terroni in Beverly Grove.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would love to dedicate my shoutout to my family, who have always supported and loved me in the most pure and unconditional way. They have always in the audience at my shows, helping me pack all my gear into my car, streaming my songs, putting up with all my annoying vocal warm-ups at home – I know they would do anything to help my dreams become realized, and that means the world to me.

Website: kiramorrisonmusic.com

Instagram: @kiratotherescue

Youtube: youtube.com/lalakiraa

Other: Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/artist/4QlRJk2l9GqAE4IIQ9FyDZ Apple Music – https://music.apple.com/us/artist/kira-morrison/838347471

Image Credits
Jordan Peterkin