Growing up in Buffalo, New York , Kerri was surrounded by music and dance from an early age, “I’ve been dancing since I was three. I was always performing around the community. My mom was a ballerina. She's owned a dance school for the last seventeen years, the Performing Arts Dance Academy. I really didn't get into singing until my later teens. It’s really important to me to eventually be able to fully play out my songs where I can incorporate my dancing too. I guess it's one of those things that go hand in hand.”
Kerri’s transition from dance to music began with theatre after she graduated from high school. “I went to Mercyhurst College for a year. I studied voice and musical theater. My dream was always to go to New York; we went every year with the dance studio.” Kerri graduated from the American Musical and Dramatic Academy, which is a conservatory, located on the upper west side of Manhattan. " I received extensive training in basically everything; film and television, acting, voice, dance, and theater dance. It was really cool because all our majors were professionals, they’re in the industry, they are out working on Broadway, or they were already working on television. At the end of my graduation, I was a featured performer in the final showcase that we did. Briefly, after graduating, I worked on a small children's theater tour called StorysSalad Productions doing a show of Amelia Bedelia. I traveled with them around the United States playing at different theatres for thousands of kids.
After working on Story Sounds, I landed the Broadway tour of Cats. My sister encouraged me to go to the audition, she happened to be visiting me at the time in New York, and we were looking through a backstage magazine and she was like, 'Oh my God, you have to audition for Cats'. I was like, 'Oh, I don't know...' and she's 'Do it, you have to do it.' So I went and it ended up working out. It truly changed my life. The people that I met, the experiences! I was a swing for all the female roles and an understudy for Grizabella. We toured 42 states and 90 cities in a year. After touring with them, I did Cats again for Regional Production in Media, Philadelphia. I rejoined the Broadway tour again in 2006. I played the opera cat.”
“My biggest moment on Cats was when I got to play the lead role of Grizabella at the national theater in Washington D.C. It was this huge theater and it was so awesome to be there and experience that. It was one of those things like, 'my gosh, dude, did I just do that?’”
“For some reason, whenever, I'm in a new show; I always have a costume malfunction. It doesn't matter what show it is.” Kerri recounts laughing, “I remember one of the first times I was going on for Bombalurina. We were on Skimbleshanks, before my big singing number. We had to come on stage with these giant wheels. We just wore these one-piece unitards, and part of the wheel got caught on my costume and ripped a huge hole in the butt of it. It was the first time I'd gone on for her and I was like 'Oh God'. So, I did the whole number facing front and the moments I had to turn around… It's one of those things you’ve just got to laugh about.”
“After Cats, I was in a Kinkos printing out resumes for a call back. I met Bill Hearndon. I recorded a national voice-over commercial with him. From doing that, he introduced me to my music producer whose name is Michael Warner. I started writing music with him. I've been concentrating mainly on my original music the past couple years.”
Kerri thrives on versatility and her busy schedule reflects that. “I perform in two bands here in Buffalo. One of them is called the Diva Show Band. I've been with them since June. We're basically a seven-piece show band. We cover big diva songs, from 40's all the way through today; It's completed with costume changes. We won best new group last year in the Buffalo music awards. We’re nominated for a couple of awards this year, best group vocals and a show-band.” Kerri furthers her already extensive performance resume by branching out to classic rock and country by occasionally playing with the band Naughty Dawg. I am also starting an acoustic duo here in Buffalo called "Rising Soul" with my guitar player from the Diva Show his name is Ricky Chudzinski. We will be playing originals and will feature music from blues to R&B to rock.”
Having traveled all over the country, Kerri’s journey has brought her back to the place closest to her heart, “I spend time with my family whenever I can. Being away from home was always hard for me. I love touring and the friends that I made on tour, but family is definitely really important to me. It's nice to be able to be home during this time, working towards my album and working here at the dance school and getting to spend time with family while I'm working towards these other projects. I am Assistant Artistic Director, Vocal Coach. I work with kids a lot. I work with ages three and four through early teens. I try to use my experiences and I hope to be an inspiration to the students I have and to the kids that come into our school. We’re a very family oriented business. So it's nice. When I came out of my alcoholism, I came out still being grateful, even through all of my bad experiences, I came out being thankful to the Lord and to those in my life who helped me and inspire me, too.”
“I go back and forth to New York every few months to go do all my recording there. We’re currently writing and producing.” Kerri’s album, ‘My Life’ will be released soon. “ I used this album to express experiences I've been through, each song takes you through a different relationship that I've gone through or somebody else that's come across in my life. They’re good and bad, a reflection of my past. My song, 'My Life', is actually about my alcoholism and getting sober. I have a thank you song that thanks my family and those in my life that helped me through all my struggles. God especially, I have big faith in the Lord. Towards the end, the album kind of shows how I broke through, how I came out of it.”
| written by Krystina Rene' Miller and Debbie DuBois Miller
