Keep Your Eyes on Kelsy Karter
Tattoos are widely accepted, bordering on un-interesting, but a face tattoo of one of the hottest singers in the world? That’s still going to turn some heads. That was only part of Kelsy Karter’s logic when she posted a picture of what looked like a fresh tattoo of Harry Styles on her cheek on Instagram in early 2019. The New-Zealand born Aussie singer, who moved to Los Angeles in 2012, decided a while ago that turning heads was what she did best. A new song (“Harry”) and music video accompanied the tattoo, pledging Karter’s love and loyalty to the 1D singer turned classic rock solo artist, whose rapid career 180 is clearly an inspiration.
Since her Styles stunt, Kelsy Karter has rocketed into a whole new phase of her career. She looks like Angelina Jolie, dresses like Debbie Harry, and kicks ass like Joan Jett, but she isn’t a copy, a wannabe, or the “next” anyone. She has a background in musical theater, Motown and jazz, and though she loves to tap dance, she lives for rock and roll.
In the past three years alone, Karter has released songs that sound like they belong everywhere from the swingin’ 1960’s (“What U”) to a smoke-filled cabaret theater (“Sad Sad Summer”). She has theme songs for Bond girls escaping with all the cash in the briefcase (“Catch Me If You Can”) and for when you’re in the throes of heartbreak so deep it requires a gritty power-chord guitar solo from your new boyfriend just to get through the track (“Liquor Store on Mars”). She changes it up so often, in fact, that my personal favorite sport is watching music critics trip over themselves trying to define her style or put her in a box.
I’m not even going to try.
Although she got international media attention for “Harry,” Karter is still in the phase of fame where she has a small but loyal rabid fanbase she shows time and again how much she adores. She spent 2019 as the opener for the Struts (see my last article; I promise I occasionally listen to other bands), and in this hell-year 2020 we have already been graced with two new singles and teased with newer material still. “Stick To Your Guns,” her most recent single, was released on July 10th, and its message could not be clearer: F*ck the Haters, F*ck the Standards, and F*ck You If You Don’t Like It.
Karter is very open on social media that she is proud of herself and what she’s doing, but the road has not been without its blocks: she’s packing a chart-topping, rock and roll attitude, but rock and roll isn’t exactly topping the charts anymore. “Stick to Your Guns” plays like a reminder to her fans, but also to herself, that staying true to yourself and what you believe in is the strongest thing anyone can do right now, and to never change that no matter what. It’s not exactly an original message, but Karter’s alto powerhouse voice makes it sound like she’s been around the block a couple of times and we should just trust her on this one.
The single is accompanied by a video, shot during the COVID-19 pandemic with a skeleton crew and her band, the aptly named Boys with Long Hair. In the video, she’s pouting at the camera in the middle of the Los Angeles desert and dressed in all black, but she’s tap dancing and making funny faces, and having so much goddamn fun with the song you can see it shining out of her eyes.
The Harry Styles face tattoo was fake, in case anyone was worried. Her face remains free of pop-star likenesses for now, but the idea was genius. As much as Karter parties in the 60’s and 70’s with her music, she couldn’t have pulled off anything like that idea without social media, and she knows it. Think about how much music is out there simply because it’s so easy to put it out there. There’s more than enough people who would fill stadiums for Kelsy Karter, but without the help of the ins and outs of musical trends, how is she meant to find them? We can argue until the end of time about the death knell of rock, but in the meantime there are fresh artists out there who’ve been told their whole lives that rock is not worth resuscitating and are still actively ignoring that advice. When people say rock and roll is dead, what they’re really saying is that they’re lazy. Rock used to be at the forefront of culture (counterculture) and now that it’s not as big, loud or sparkly, it’s much harder to find.
But failing to look for rock and roll ignores the women, the people of color and the LGBTQ community that have found ways to make the genre theirs.
Not only is Kelsy Karter the best opening act the Struts have ever had, she’s made every club she’s played in feel somehow both incredibly intimate and like a stadium tour. Her voice fills every crack of every room she’s in, but it’s more than that. Keep your eyes on Kelsy Karter, because she’s here to rock the world.