Cari Q (born Cari Quoyeser, November 10, 1990) is an

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

singer, songwriter, lyricist, performer, artist, voice actor, and podcaster from

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, based in

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. Performing with a band and as a solo artist, Cari appeared on

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

Soundcheck A sound check is the preparation that takes place before a concert, speech, or similar performance to adjust the sound on the venue's sound reinforcement or public address system. The performer and the audio engineers run through a small port ...

with

Ben Folds Benjamin Scott Folds (born September 12, 1966) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and composer, who is the first artistic advisor to the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., since May 2017. Folds was th ...

, was a singer with the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...

cheerleaders Cheerleading is an activity in which the participants (called cheerleaders) cheer for their team as a form of encouragement. It can range from chanting slogans to intense physical activity. It can be performed to motivate sports teams, to ente ...

, and sang at the

2011 NFL draft The 2011 NFL Draft was the 76th installment of the annual NFL Draft, where the franchises of the National Football League select newly eligible football players. Like the 2010 draft, the 2011 draft was held at Radio City Music Hall in New York C ...

party. She played at the

SXSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...

music festival on-primary source neededand competed on

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to Ap ...

( season 11) in January 2012.

Early life and education

Cari Quoyeser was born and raised in Houston, Texas. She attended Stratford High School. Cari holds a bachelor's degree in history from the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

, graduating in 2013. In 2022, Quoyeser earned a Master of Business Administration from Bologna Business School.

Career

Cari began her music career as lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for Houston-based band Suburban Warfare in early 2009. The Cari Quoyeser Band made their live performing debut at

Fitzgerald's Fitzgerald's was one of the oldest and widely recognized live music venues in the Greater Houston area. The club has been at the top of the live music scene in Houston since it opened in 1977. Fitzgerald's is commonly referred to as "Fitz.” Fi ...

in Houston, Texas on June 25, 2010. Cari also started a solo project, Cari Q, recording her solo debut album ''Blueprints to Infinity'' in 2012 at

SugarHill Recording Studios SugarHill Recording Studios is a recording studio in Houston, Texas. The studio was important in launching the careers of such artists as Lightnin' Hopkins, The Big Bopper, George Jones, the Sir Douglas Quintet, Roy Head, and Freddy Fender. It is ...

. In 2009, Suburban Warfare appeared on NPR's Soundcheck with Ben Folds. As a solo act, Cari Q was a showcasing artist at the

Music festival in March 2010.. From 2011 to 2013, Cari performed as a singer with the Houston Texans cheerleaders, performing at the 2011 NFL draft party. Cari competed on

American Idol (season 11) The eleventh season of ''American Idol'' premiered on Fox on January 18, 2012. The show aired on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 8/7c. Ryan Seacrest returned as host, while Randy Jackson, Steven Tyler, and Jennifer Lopez all returned as judges. Inter ...

in an episode broadcast in January 2012. Starting in 2014, Cari Q embarked on a European tour, additionally performing multiple concerts in Israel, as well as at the 2014 Fete de la Musique in France. In 2017, she headlined at the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

From 2012 through 2018, Cari lived and performed in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

. She played the 2015 Heart of Texas Rockfest, a showcase for unsigned local artists during the annual

music festival. In 2018, Cari relocated from Austin, Texas, to

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. Upon graduating with her MBA in 2021, Cari joined Musixmatch as their global Artists Community Manager. In 2022, Cari Quoyeser founded the podcast ''The Mix'', where she interviews musical acts and discusses important trends in music and technology. She currently resides in Bologna, Italy where she is taking a break from recording and playing live to work on songwriting.

Discography

Albums

* ''Blueprints to Infinity'' (2012) * ''Driftwork Sound Sessions'' (2019)

Singles

* ''Fall of Rome'' (2015) * ''Byzantium'' (2019) * ''When You're Around'' (2020) * ''Kill Me Twice'' (2020) * ''Negev'' (2020)

References

External links

CariQmusic.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cari Q American rock songwriters American rock musicians 1990 births American women singer-songwriters American women rock singers Singers from Houston Writers from Houston Living people Singers from Austin, Texas 21st-century American women guitarists 21st-century American guitarists Singer-songwriters from Texas Guitarists from Texas 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American singer-songwriters