Today we’d like to introduce you to Kelsey Wilson.
Hi Kelsey, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
At an early age, my mother and father enrolled me in a classical music program for children in East Texas called Childbloom. I was 7 years old. Before then, I had only played the kid’s guitar toy, pretending to “rock out” in my bedroom. The Childboom program introduced me to reading blues and classical music, working with an ensemble, and performing on stage. I stayed with this program for several years till I lost interest in classical music and focused more on rock n’ roll tunes and new teachers along with it. While in High School, my best friend and I started a punk rock band, Hartley, which got our first shows playing the various local churches in town that allowed live music. I also played music actively in my HS Choir, School Mass, and Youth Mass at the Catholic Church. After high school, I took a short hiatus from music to pursue a normal college degree. After two years of going back and forth with undecided majors, I concluded that music was my only interest. I moved back to my hometown, planning to finish my degree in classical guitar with a minor in voice. I worked with the classical guitarist Frank Kimliko, one of the greatest teachers I’ve ever had. I owe so much of my understanding of the classical guitar to him. While in school, I met fellow musicians wanting to start a metal band; joining up with them, I began a whole new chapter of life. I played locally in East Texas with 2 bands for a few years, eventually leading me to a gig in Dallas. At that gig, I had met local guitarist Erica Pipes and drummer Andi Cuba in the bathroom at a bar, who had asked for my info for a possible opening slot in their all-female punk rock group. Within 6 months, I had gotten a call for an audition, and by that next year, I had moved to Dallas to start the adventure with the girls. For the next 3+ years, I played with this group; we did regular Texas weekend runs and short tours around the Midwest and east coast. I learned so much from them about touring, the local life in Deep Ellum, and the work it takes to be in a touring band. The punk rock group fizzled out after a few years, and Andi and I, being roommates then, began working on a new project. We recruited Erica Pipes and Christian Wright as the first lineup of Temptress. In 2019 we cut an EP and started regionally touring 6 months later, which was cut too short due to the lockdown. After a year and a half hiatus from playing live, we settled in as the final trio, which is known as Temptress. Since then, we have put out our full-length album “See” in 2023 and toured across the Eastern and Midwest United States, working towards our West Coast tour in the Fall of 2023.
It wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
My deepest struggle is balancing life in rock music and touring with my family, friends, and personal life. My family supports my dreams, but since I moved away to start this career, I miss them quite a bit. I am very close to my family back home, and finding the time to visit nowadays while touring, having a personal life, and working has proven difficult. I do visit them as often as I can between work and tours. No matter how hard the struggles became or even the challenges that came out of nowhere, it has always been a wonderful experience and a fun time along the way. The Struggles are worth it, and the time I make for family and friends is much more special.
Let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a manager and part-time server at Sammy Lou’s BBQ and Home Cooking in Rowlett, Texas. It’s a small, locally owned business here in Rowlett, I’ve worked for the Campbell family for 5 years, and it’s been gratifying. I asked for a job at the restaurant shortly after it opened in 2018, and they’ve stuck by me through many ups and downs in my life. I’ve learned about running a small business and what it takes to keep a store open even through some of the worst times. Heath, the owner, has taught me how to run the front of the house of a restaurant efficiently and how to keep customers happy on some of their worst days. Always give back to the community as much as possible, and they will give back to you. I specialize in Customer Service in the Service Industry. I spend a lot of time getting to know our customers, their orders, their donations, and a lot of their lives; it makes working here very easy when you know many people who come in to support the business. Through the years, some customers have taken an interest in my life as well; they all know I am in a touring rock band and find all my travels and stories exciting. They always look forward to my return to Sammy’s after a long tour. I’m most proud of the impact that kindness has brought me. A couple of years back, I was featured in one of the local Rowlett papers as a local interest piece on being a Musician and Manager and how I balance that life, work, and dreams.
My attention to detail, kindness, and patience set me apart from others. Most of our customers are in the elder part of their years, which requires a lot of patience, which sometimes could be more convenient in our fast pace food industry, but it goes a long way. I truly enjoy my job, the people, and my work family, which also makes all the difference.
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
Everyone mentors me in my life, and I continue listening! I’m fairly new to a bigger music industry, so any time I am around bands who have toured before or even play regularly in their hometown or markets, I try to listen to all of their stories, suggestions, and advice they do give me, and do my best to absorb their knowledge and use it to the best of my abilities. If you want a mentor, go out to shows, make friends with the bands playing, and be bold in the merch table conversations, you never know who you will meet.
Networking, I mostly use Instagram to find like-minded individuals and musicians and connect with them on this platform. If you support others, they most likely will support you. Our world of heavy music is generally very kind and helpful, either with finding local support in new towns to play or helping book a show in a new market.
If we’re going for a specific mentor in the music industry, Christian Wright, my bass player, has opened my world up immensely to touring, booking, and routing since we began. I’ve learned so much from him in the last 3 years about what it takes to be a working band.
Contact Info:
- Website: temptressofficial.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/temptressofficial/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/temptressdfw/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/Temptressdfw
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMLMPn5noaRSG1MXzsz34nw
- Other: https://temptressofficial.bandcamp.com/album/see-2
Image Credits
Amy Seymour 1, 7 Joshua, Conlee 4, Maddie Turner 3
