These days however her light is as likely to glint off of sequin and crystal as she exchanges star light for stage light in the perpetual glow of New York 's night scene.
"I had never been to New York before, but I knew I wanted to come here and do music. I came here for college. I usually hate flying so my mom and I took the train from Colorado . It took two days. We got to Penn Station at night. The moment we got outside, there was all this noise and there were so many people... it was like the biggest culture shock ever. The next day we went out and had a great time. I remember the first time just being out, on 34th street ; I'd never seen that many people or been in a place that was so noisy before. But you come to love it. It's really wonderful being here. I'm pretty much a New Yorker now, though I do miss Colorado . To wake up and see the mountains everyday... it's gorgeous there."
"I encourage everybody to follow their passion because sometimes it’s hard, but it's really worth it." says Markeisha. Her own passionate personality is witnessed in every scintillating facet. "I find a lot of my songs come from an experience and then I'll kind of just elaborate on it, or try and use that feeling with what I'm saying in the song. A couple of days ago I was not having a great day. I came home and was kind of upset, but I just felt really inspired to write a song about it. It was a really cathartic experience because normally I would come home and cry a little bit and be upset the rest of the night, instead. This time, I was able to put it into a song and it was this weird sort of thing where I was still kind of upset and sad, but I was excited because I was creating something."
Markeisha's drive to create and express has been with her since childhood, urging her onward in the development of both her music and self. "I found myself being really attracted to anything creative when I was a kid. I started singing when I was in church when I was real young. My mom forced me to be in the choir. I didn't really want to, but, then I fell in love with gospel music. My parents have always been supportive, too, so I just kind of really lucked out that way. I always played piano, wrote some stuff, did a little bit of poetry, but actually putting them together... well, you know, I probably started when I was in college. NYU has these great practice rooms and I would just kind of go to the practice rooms and stay until the building closed. That's when I really discovered I enjoyed song writing and that I had something to say that I wanted to express in song. What I really love is story-telling aspects in songs. I love to tell stories in my lyrics."
"I put out my first CD in 2006. It was nine tracks that I had written, that I had co-produced with one of my good friends from NYU. It's a labor of love. I'm going to be recording another EP starting in the next year or so. It's been awhile and I've got a lot of new material that's not been recorded so I'm very excited." she exudes. "I usually do a show once a month. I'm in a group called ‘Girl's Rock the Night’ and we've been doing it for several months out here in New York . We have gigs around the city, it's generally the same women with varying styles, but we sometimes alternate. My sound is a little old school, I guess. I think that makes me stand out a little bit more in the New York scene."
Markeisha's performances come directly from her heart, with one of the most evident examples being her volunteer work with LIFEbeat, an organization of the music industry dedicated to fighting AIDS. "They get performers and we go out to hospitals and rehabilitation centers and sing for the patients. Sometimes it's even more rewarding to go and sing for them than it is to do your own shows. It's like you are just bringing them music because they need to be uplifted. I had a person come up to me after a LIFEbeat show and say, 'You made me forget for, forty-five minutes, that I had a disease.' That was something that really stuck out to me, something that I'll always remember."
"I think that it's very much about staying positive, enjoying the journey as much as you possibly can. Just keeping your eye on the prize and on your goals, knowing and having faith that you're going to get there. That's so important because for singer/songwriters, it's difficult. It's not always a stable job situation financially. There's a lot of competition and there's a lot of rejection," Markeisha advises.
She's discovered, that despite all the hardships, joy and meaning can be found amidst the heartache and tears. "We had a show last night and I had a moment where I was sitting there and I was like, 'This is really a wonderful life'. I get to perform and do the music that I love and be surrounded by friends that enjoy music, too, and are really talented. It was just kind of one of those moments like, 'Hey, all of this hard work and the struggle is really worth it'. It's a wonderful blessing to be able to pursue it."
| written by Joshua Schrader
