Kessi Blue, born Alanna Clarke, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, guitarist, and pianist from Cochrane, Alberta.
Kessi grew up near Cochrane. She was ten years old when she started to pursue songwriting, playing music, and performing. She attended Cochrane High School, but at age 15, she decided finish her high school over the internet, so she could devote herself to a musical career.
She has won various awards and honours for artists in Calgary, including the Calgary Breakfast Television Spotlight and Toast ‘n Jam Battle of the Bands 2007 held at Canada Olympic Park. She won the Don Weldon Award for most promising performer at the Calgary Stampede Talent Search in 2008. She won the Cochrane Youth Talent Festival two years in row.
Her first demo CD, titled Kissing Booth, was released in 2006. Her third CD, Wild Rose, a six song EP, was released in 2010. It was recorded in Toronto, while working with Christopher Ward and Luke McMaster. Some sings were written by her alone, and others in collaboration.
Her song Fine Line can be heard on the 2010 movie, Degrassi Takes Manhattan (also titled “The Rest of My Life) and its soundtrack, which is a continuation of the Degrassi: The Next Generation TV series. Her song “Lose Myself” was featured in the short film titled Kessi Blue, which is the stage name she adopted around the same time.
Through her participation in U22, a mentorship program for performers under 22, she performed at the Canmore and Edmonton Folk Festivals. In 2010 she performed her original song, Bedroom Window, unplugged and acoustic, at the Caffe Crema Music Showcase in Calgary.
On November 12, 2014 Alanna premiered a new single Heartstrings, which was produced by Mike Wofford and Adrian Bradford. She performed the song on BalconyTV in Los Angeles.
The best place to find Kessi’s music is on her Facebook videos page.
Photo notes
The still pictures (excluding the embedded YouTube video) were taken by me on August 28, 2008. She was playing on a mobile stage setup on Stephen Avenue Mall in Downtown Calgary.
© 2021 Robert Thivierge