News/Thoughts

Carrington Kay’s Folky Grass

It’s always good to get the chance to revisit with artists that we’ve featured here in previous issues. Rob and Kristen Smith are excellent examples of an act that just stays with it, stays at it, and keeps the musical fires burning as they pursue their passion for sharing their gift with whomever will listen.

Rob is a graduate from Virginia Commonwealth University’s College of Music, while Kristen graduated from Baylor University with a Bachelor of Music Education in Choral/Classical Voice with Piano and Religion Minors and from New York University Steinhardt with a Master of Music in Musical Theater Performance.

Their act, Carrington Kay, began as a duo after a chance meeting performing together at a summer theme park. Romance blossomed and their music along with it. As time progressed, so did their endeavors and the expansion of their act. “We’ve been trying to add a new band member every year,” Rob told me recently. “We’re now playing as a quartet most of the time,” he said, referring to the addition of Eric Hollandsworth on bass, and Curt Baker on Dobro. “We’re finally getting that full band sound and we’re really happy with the chemistry we have right now. We’ve really gelled as a group.”

“Adding Eric really helped shift us in a new direction musically,” Rob said. “The new album is really diverse, but we do have elements of a folky grassy feel in it for sure. I think that stuff has always been there in the spirit of the music we write, but just adding the instrumentation and the chemistry we now have has us leaning in that direction.”

The larger version of the band now opens doors that might not been available before, and it’s an element that has helped Carrington Kay find new audiences for the music. “We’re getting to do bigger festivals now. You know, you can fill up a bigger stage than we could with just two of us also.”

Look for their new CD featuring new music and all four members of the band out soon.

To find out more, vivit
www.carringtonkay.com