Music education student KIN to open Logan City Limits
“Music resonates with me so much because you can tell things through music, like you realize things through song that you might not realize if they were told to you,” said singer-songwriter Kinley Hess, also known by her stage name KIN.
Hess is a senior studying music education with a choral emphasis. She is opening this year’s Logan City Limits music festival after many performances on campus throughout her time at Utah State University, including in this year’s Aggie Voice.
“Aggie Voice was really cool but also intimidating because I was like, ‘Wow, I have this three-minute window to show them what I can do,’” Hess said. “Also, being in a competition setting, that’s a lot different than just performing for a gig where it’s like, you already have the job, you don’t have anything to prove. But it was also such a beautiful opportunity because it showed me just how great the community at Utah State is.”
Hess performs original songs as well as occasional covers of pop music. She said she finds music is a constant in her life, even when it varies in genre.
“I’m performing pop music, but my education is the classical side and more like operatic training,” Hess said. “It’s been cool to see how they’re still very different genre-wise, but they both still tell such incredible stories.”
Throughout her time at USU, Hess has connected with other musical facets around campus, such as Aggie Radio 92.3 KBLU-LP, as well as local musicians, such as her fellow USU Ambassador Presley Whitesides, who performs under the stage name Presley May.
The two connected via producer Justin Warnick and eventually wrote a song together titled “Josephine.”
“We landed on the idea of ‘Josephine’ and talking about this hypothetical girl that’s just picked apart by the world,” Hess said.
The pair explained they bonded over the vulnerability behind being singer-songwriters, and that is what inspired the concept of the song.
“Music is so vulnerable. You have to be vulnerable with people, like, ‘Hey, this is my story,’ and you share that with the world, and you just hope it’s received well,” Whitesides said. “It’s been a really cool experience, like embedded into our friendship, to see not only KIN’s success but also just KIN’s passion behind the music.”
Logan City Limits is on April 11 at the Carol and Jim Laub Plaza. Hess plans to sing, accompanied by herself on an acoustic guitar.
“It’s a really easy instrument to song write to, and you can make it as simple but also as complicated as you want,” Hess said. “I think like there’s something about the strumming element, like that percussive element, that I really like too.”
Post-USU, Hess hopes to not only pursue her own musical aspirations but also teach music to high schoolers.
“During COVID, my choir teacher just sent me an email randomly one day, being like, ‘Hey, I know this is random, but if you ever thought about being a high school choir teacher, I think you’d make a really excellent one,’ and I don’t know what happened. It just was like a switch flipped in my brain. I was like, ‘That’s what I’m supposed to do,’” Hess said.
Her current musical aspirations include an upcoming song titled “Chameleon,” which she plans to release at the end of April. She explained the song is inspired by her journey with vulnerability in music.
“I’m changing, and I’m trying to become a better version of myself and not be afraid of what the future holds, and that’s what ‘Chameleon’ is about,” Hess said.