Savoring the Moment with Kailee Spark
By Sara Stover
It was 1997 and Kailee Spark was sitting in a sunny patch on the floor in her California home, listening to her parents’ CD Wacky Favorites over and over. The more that little, sapphire-eyed Kailee played the CD, the more certain she was that becoming a musician was her destiny, even at around seven years old.
By eight years old, Kailee’s interest in songwriting had escalated to a fascination with penning songs as a form of self-expression. Around the same time, she began taking piano lessons.
“Piano was my first instrument,” Kailee affirms. “Guitar didn’t come into my life for a few more years.” It was a family friend, known affectionately as “Uncle Billy,” that introduced Kailee to the six-string instrument.
“Uncle Billy was this interesting character who gave my family an acoustic guitar for Christmas when I was 14 years old,” Kailee recounts.
It wasn’t long before young Kailee was learning chords and writing songs, influenced by the singer Jewel and the band Saves the Day, as well as punk rock music. She also remained true to the dreams of grade-school Kailee by forming a few short-lived bands herself, and singing in both her church and school choirs.
Sometimes It Only Takes a Spark
By 2010, Kailee’s pursuit of an education in anthropology and desire to travel in search of stories began to grow from a spark to a burning flame, leading her to relocate from the Bay Area in California to Pāhoa, Hawai‘i. On the surface, it didn’t appear to be the most direct path to manifesting her dream of being a songwriter. In reality, it was the most auspicious move Kailee could make.
A complement to her anthropological education, Kailee settled into life at the intentional community of Gaia Yoga for an internship in permaculture and sustainable living. Although the internship was to be a mere three-month commitment, the same union of heart and soul that was apparent the day Kailee repeatedly spun her parents’ CD confirmed she should make Hawai‘i her home—before the end of her third day on Hawai‘i Island!
“It was the perfect Hawaiian day, so I headed down to the beach at Ka‘ena Point State Park. And I had a moment of clarity, driving on the Red Road [Kapoho-Kalapana Road],” Kailee recalls. “I had never seen such a beautiful place and I knew that I had to live here!”
By the time she had finished her internship and received her bachelor’s degree in anthropology from the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo, and a master’s degree in cultural anthropology from Humboldt State University in California, Hawai‘i Island had thoroughly worked its magic on Kailee.
“Inspired by the beauty, nature, and people of the island, I opened up creatively, writing a lot more songs. Some of them made it onto my upcoming album,” says Kailee.
“It has been said that the task of the anthropologist is to ‘make the strange familiar, and the familiar strange.’ In my songs, I often try to encapsulate that experience of making the foreign familiar,” Kailee says of drawing further inspiration from time spent in environments that are foreign to her.
Savoring the Moment
From the mesmerizing stars, serenity of the ocean, songs of native birds and coqui frogs, and power of the Kīlauea Volcano, Kailee has experienced an energy here on Hawai‘i Island that she has yet to feel elsewhere. Living in Lower Puna, no doubt, plays a significant role in her connection to this energy.
In 2018, Kailee was living in one home in Leilani Estates and had just bought another house when Kīlauea erupted. “By 2019, my current house was finally livable, but I did lose the other house. It’s the price we pay to experience nature’s power.”
“For me, the eruption drove home the reality that this moment is all there is,” she says of the notion that nothing is permanent, which surfaces in her debut album, Savor This. Alongside this concept, listeners will also hear the island’s essence shine through in Kailee’s voice and lyrics.
It seems that Kailee Spark has a knack for turning difficulties into life lessons and creative opportunities. While the world reeled from pandemic-related challenges, Kailee was making a full-time commitment to her music. The result is the release of her songs “Sparkle & Shine” and “Passageways,” which were released in April, followed by the full album, Savor This.
Since then, Kailee hasn’t lost any momentum, and is currently working on a second album and drawing an abundance of inspiration from different spiritual experiences she’s had recently. “For this album, I’m tuning into a lot of life’s lessons and making peace with parts of myself that I haven’t in the past.”
She hopes to share at least one of these lessons with other budding creatives. “Be yourself. Tap into your own creativity and inspiration. Get into the flow where you’re able to receive inspiration for songs.”
Kailee has some additional advice for musicians facing those inevitable times when things don’t go as planned. “When things don’t seem like they are working out, don’t beat yourself up and resort to doing what you think is popular. Stay true to what’s already present in your heart and soul!”
“Accept all the parts of you,” says Kailee, who insists that this is exactly what she did on her new album. Another theme that will be apparent on her next album is the idea of having faith, “and trusting that the universe has your back!”
“The concept behind one of my favorite quotes by Terence McKenna shows up in a lot of my songs because it’s how I aspire to live,” she continues. “‘Nature loves courage. You make the commitment and nature will respond to that commitment by removing impossible obstacles…This is how magic is done. By hurling yourself into the abyss and discovering it’s a feather bed.’”
The Heart of Kailee’s World
In Kailee’s song “Sparkle & Shine,” many listeners will identify with the urge to break up with their mobile devices.
“I get the urge to drive down to the ocean and throw this stupid phone off the cliff,” she sings. Like many of us, Kailee has a love-hate relationship with her phone.
“It’s so easy to get addicted to it but I’m making a huge effort to not be on my phone as much. Not always have my face in a screen,” Kailee says. “I have to disengage from all the noise and info I’m consuming. We all do. We need to have breaks to uncover new ideas!”
For Kailee, these breaks include spending time in nature and pursuing other skills she honed during the pandemic, including practicing yoga, learning Hindi, fermenting sauerkraut, and reading epic travel books.
“Sometimes I even make food inspired by the country or place I am reading about,” Kailee shares. “I just finished a book on Tibet and made tsampa and butter tea for the first time!”
It’s from these breaks that the inspiration for timeless songs like her debut single “Passageways” emerge. The song is poised perfectly between upbeat ballads with a folksy sound that transport fans into the heart of Kailee’s world.
Both the upcoming album and the brave choice to make music her career have been a process for Kailee.
“This was very much a process! I started playing my music and live streaming on a few websites in 2020. Then people began asking where to find my album!” Kailee says, humbled. “I received so much encouragement from others about songs I was playing on my acoustic guitar. They suggested that I make a GoFundMe page.”
“The generosity of my fans supported me and gave me the hope I needed to continue to make this my livelihood. Now I want to bring to fruition my dreams about creating some songs that will resonate with audiences around the world.”
With a voice that sounds like Hawaiian sunlight dancing on the waves and lyrics that challenge listeners to embrace their inner free spirit, Kailee’s global appeal is highly probable.
It doesn’t hurt that in addition to YouTube videos that are a visual celebration of our island’s charm, Kailee has recently begun a weekly live stream, Friday Night Fun with Kailee Spark, which includes acoustic music, banter, and occasional appearances from her cat and dog, Tweaker and Kiai. Judging by the 1,300 views her second live stream garnered, it’s clear that the talented recording artist has a growing fan base.
You don’t have to watch her videos or live streams, however, to recognize the themes of embracing nature outwardly, and cultivating peace within, that are woven into Kailee’s songs. Her music captures the diversity and wonder that seem to be around every corner on Hawai‘i Island with a poetic clarity.
“It’s true, the island really does spark many nature themes in my songs,” Kailee muses. “From snow-capped Mauna Kea to the lush, tropical forests, the natural beauty here is incredible!” ❖
All photos courtesy of Kailee Spark
For more information: allmylinks.com/kaileesparkmusic
