Mckinney
McKinney, formerly Kayla Lynn is a bass player, singer, songwriter, empowerment speaker, living in Asheville, NC. She is attending UNCA as a jazz performance major with a vocal minor. She has immersed herself in the funk music community in Asheville and become a regular at The Tuesday Night Funk Jam. Since moving to AVL, McKinney has played with the Alive After Five Concert Series with The Asheville All-Stars, was the bass player for the sold-out LIZZO/Talking Heads tribute with members of The Fritz, and performed with the Women who moved the Needle event sponsored by The Asheville Symphony. She has played with numerous bands throughout Asheville as well as with her own band at venues on the East Coast. K is a resident artist with LEAF Global Arts, an ambassador for Free2Luv, and a founding member of The One Voice Project. She is released her debut solo album in 2021 entitled "Stay," produced by Josh Blake at Echo Mountain. With K on bass and vocal, Thommy Knowles of the Fritz on keys, Derrick Johnson from Yo Mama's Big Fat Booty Band on trombone, Alex Bradley of Empire Strikes Brass on trumpet, Isaac Hadden of IHP on guitar and backing vocals, and K's drummer of 13 years Aryan Graham on drums, the 4 song EP is young, fresh, and fun. K is now also co-fronting Asheville's newest band Funk'N Around, a New Orleans based funk band with King Garfield.
THE CHange
K got her start performing at an early age. Growing up in a music school owned by her mother in WV, she was immersed in music and joined her first band at age 7 with her best friend and current drummer, Ary'an Graham. The all-girl band, Miss Behavin' toured the state for 4 years before changing their name to Distraction. Distraction then became The Change when the band made the decision that they wanted to make a Change in the world with their music. They started touring the East Coast with an empowerment message aimed at their peers in middle and high School. They were on a mission to connect people and to send out a message that There is Hope. Many of the members of the band, including K, had struggled with anxiety and depression and they wanted to de-stigmatize mental health and let kids and other young adults know that they were not alone. After several lineup changes and teenage girls growing into young women, K made the decision to pursue a solo project for the first time in her life at 21 years old. Her best friend and drummer of 13 years still plays with her often and hopefully forever. K hopes to continue her empowerment tours when the pandemic slows down.
