Sierra Kay

Sierra Kay
Kay performing on the 2010 Warped Tour.
Background information
Birth name	Sierra Kay Kusterbeck
Born	December 18, 1990 St. Petersburg, Florida, U.S.
Genres	Alternative rock, experimental rock
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter, model
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	2007–present
Labels	Fueled by Ramen
Associated acts	Blake Harnage

Sierra Kay Kusterbeck (born December 18, 1990), better known as Sierra Kay, is an American singer-songwriter and model. She is best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band VersaEmerge, which she joined in 2007.

Early life

Kusterbeck was born and raised in St. Petersburg, Florida.^[1] She began taking vocal lessons in the third grade.^[2] She attended the arts-centric PCCA Gibbs High School in St. Petersburg for three years as a Musical Theatre major,^[3] but dropped out of high school to pursue music as a career.

Career

VersaEmerge

VersaEmerge released their first EP, Cities Built on Sand, in 2005, featuring former members Spencer Pearson on lead vocals, Anthony James on vocals, programming and keys, Josh Center on rhythm guitar, Nick Osborne on bass, and Anthony Martone on drums, as well as current guitarist Blake Harnage. With the departure of Pearson, James, Center, and Osborne, Harnage and Martone recruited former bassist Devin Ingelido from Bury the Ashes.^[4] Kusterbeck auditioned to be VersaEmerge's lead vocalist in 2006, by sending a tape of herself singing one of VersaEmerge's songs, "The Blank Static Screen".^[2] While the other members of the band weren't too sure about her, Harnage convinced them that she was right for the job.^[5]

In 2007, at the age of 16, Kusterbeck claimed that she was 18 in order to get an audition. She later cleared up this misunderstanding and explained that it was more of a mix-up; she was turning 17 a week from the audition, and she told Harnage on the phone that "I'm 17, my birthday is in a week". This was misconstrued to mean that she was already 17 and was turning 18, but she actually meant that she would be 17 in a week.^[6] In 2007, Kusterbeck became an official member of VersaEmerge. VersaEmerge released their first EP with Kusterbeck on vocals, Perceptions, in May 2008. They were signed to Fueled by Ramen in 2008, and they released their self-titled EP on February 3, 2009.

Other work

Kay featured on English rapper Professor Green's album At Your Inconvenience, on the track "Avalon". The track was later used as part of an advertising campaign for the energy drink Relentless.

In mid to late 2011, Kay revealed that she was called to be the face of a line of shoes for Payless, a shoe company, called Brash. The line was released in early August.^[7][8]

Personal life

Kusterbeck has a tattoo of an adhesive bandage on her left kneecap, as well as a tattoo of the word "TOUR" on her right foot.^[9]

Discography

As featured artist

Title	Year	Peak chart positions		Album
		UK	IRE
"Avalon" (Professor Green featuring Sierra Kusterbeck)	2012	29	95	At Your Inconvenience

Guest appearances

Title	Year	Album
"If It Means a Lot to You"[10] (A Day to Remember featuring Sierra Kusterbeck)	2009	Homesick
"Contagious" (Anarbor featuring Sierra Kusterbeck)	2011	The Mixtape
"West Coast" (Brown & Gammon featuring Sierra Kusterbeck)	2013	Non-album single
"(No) Faith in Fate" (I the Mighty featuring Sierra Kay)	2015	Connector

References

1. "Sierra Kusterbeck".
2. "Back Words".
3. "Sierra Kusterbeck".
4. Bury the Ashes on Purevolume<purevolume.com/burytheashes>
5. FBR Plus: Other Videos: VE Q&A<http://fbrplus.com/>
6. RAW Interviews: Paragraph 1<http://csrawinterviews.blogspot.com/2009/06/sierra-anthony-from-versaemerge.html>
7. http://www.payless.com/store/brash/
8. http://www.collectivebrands.com/news-and-press/2011/07/payless-launches-new-teen-brand-brashtm-and-sierra-kusterbeck-lead-singer-alt
9. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/19/SierraatWarped2010.jpg
10. Homesick: Special Edition Deluxe (Booklet). A Day to Remember. Victory. 2009. p. 34. VR550.