Sierra Kay Kusterbeck (born December 18, 1990), better known as Sierra Kay, is an American singer-songwriter and model. She rose to prominence as the lead vocalist of the rock band

VersaEmerge Versa (stylized as VERSA) was an American rock duo formed in Port St. Lucie, Florida, in 2006, as VersaEmerge. The group consisted of Blake Harnage (guitar, vocals, and programming) and Sierra Kay (lead vocals). They had a revolving line-up, their ...

Early life

Kusterbeck was born and raised in

St. Petersburg, Florida St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the fifth-most populous city in Florida and the second-largest city in the Tampa Bay Area, after Tampa. It is the ...

. She began taking vocal lessons in the third grade. She attended the arts-centric PCCA Gibbs High School in St. Petersburg for three years as a Musical Theatre major, but dropped out of high school to pursue music as a career.

Career

VersaEmerge

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". VersaEmerge released their first EP with Kusterbeck on vocals, ''Perceptions'', in May 2008. They were signed to

Fueled by Ramen Fueled by Ramen LLC is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by 300 Elektra Entertainment. The label, founded in Gainesville, Florida in 1996, is now based in New York City. History John Janick conceived of the lab ...

in 2008, and they released their self-titled EP in 2009 and their debut album ''

Fixed at Zero ''Fixed at Zero'' is the first and only studio album by American experimental rock band VersaEmerge, released through Fueled by Ramen on June 22, 2010. The album was made available for pre-order on iTunes and the Fueled by Ramen store on May 11 ...

'' the following year. In October 2010, Kusterbeck appeared alongside her bandmates from VersaEmerge on the

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

documentary series called

World of Jenks ''World of Jenks'' is an American documentary television series on MTV. The series premiered on September 13, 2010 following the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards. The second season of the series debuted on March 4, 2013 and consists of ten one-hour epi ...

, which followed the band around documenting their experiences performing at

Warped Tour The Warped Tour was a traveling rock tour that toured the United States plus three or four stops in Canada annually each summer from 1995 until 2019. It was the largest traveling music festival in the United States and the longest-running touring ...

. The episode focused mainly on Sierra, covering her experiences as a young and new female lead in a male dominated genre.

Neaux

In 2016, Kay and Nick Fit of Trash Talk started the band Neaux (pronounced "nOH"). Described as an Indie/post-punk band, they released their debut album "Fell Off The Deep End" in 2016. In August 2017, they announced the release of their second album, ''Chain Up The Sun'', released on The Native Sounds.

Bad Daughter

On September 16, 2019, Kay released her debut single "Im too much", as Bad Daughter on bandcamp. On February 13, 2020, Kay released the single "Disappear", as Bad Daughter on bandcamp. On May 10, 2020, Kay released the single "Fucking Depressed", as Bad Daughter on bandcamp.

Other work

Kay is featured on fellow Floridian band

A Day to Remember A Day to Remember (often abbreviated ADTR, and previously known as End of an Era) is an American rock band from Ocala, Florida, founded in 2003 by guitarist Tom Denney and drummer Bobby Scruggs. They are known for their amalgamation of meta ...

's song, "If It Means a Lot to You," from their third album titled '' Homesick''. Kay has been shown in live videos singing the song with the band. Kay featured on English rapper

Professor Green Stephen Paul Manderson (born 27 November 1983), better known by his stage name Professor Green or simply Pro Green, is an English rapper, singer, songwriter, actor, television personality and mental health activist from London. Growing up on ...

's album ''

At Your Inconvenience ''At Your Inconvenience'' is the second studio album by British rapper Professor Green, released on 28 October 2011. " At Your Inconvenience" was released as a promotional single on 26 July. The first official single " Read All About It" was rel ...

'', on the track "

Avalon Avalon (; la, Insula Avallonis; cy, Ynys Afallon, Ynys Afallach; kw, Enys Avalow; literally meaning "the isle of fruit r appletrees"; also written ''Avallon'' or ''Avilion'' among various other spellings) is a mythical island featured in the ...

". The track was later used as part of an advertising campaign for the energy drink

Relentless Relentless may refer to: Film * ''Relentless'' (1948 film), an American film directed by George Sherman * ''Relentless'', a 1977 American television film starring Will Sampson * ''Relentless'' (1989 film), an American crime film starring Jud ...

. 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.

Personal life

She currently lives in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York.

Discography

As featured artist

Guest appearances

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kay, Sierra 1990 births Living people Versa (band) members Pop punk singers American women rock singers American women pop singers American pop rock singers American punk rock singers American rock songwriters Singer-songwriters from Florida American women singer-songwriters 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American singers Women punk rock singers