Article and Photos by Content Director Cameron Castaldi
After living in New York City for the last seven years, R&B artist, songwriter, and actress Hailes is back home in Kansas City. I had the chance to photograph her homecoming show at The Blue Room on August 5th, where she performed her original music in the city for the first time. “I was feeling really emotional, which has never happened to me before a show,” she said during our conversation days later. “Since it was going to be so many people I knew, from so many different points of my life, I just wanted it to go well.”
The crowd’s love and anticipation filled the room before she had even entered the stage. “Actually being on stage, I felt so good and instantly comfortable. It truly was just the energy of the room, it felt very open and accepting.” Backed by a band made up of Kansas City locals, her show was a beautiful reintroduction to her musical talents.
Before releasing her own music, Hailes was already well-accomplished in musical theatre. After graduating from Blue Valley West High School and briefly attending college, Hailes spent two years in the U.S. tour of The Wizard of Oz before moving to New York in 2017 to continue her acting career. However, her path shifted once COVID-19 brought live theatre to a standstill.
“The pandemic happened, everything shut down, and that’s when I really started focusing on my music because there was no more theatre. I was surrounded by some incredible musicians and we were just writing music every day, so that’s where the actual songwriting and music making began for me.”
Following lockdown, she returned to theatre and joined the Hadestown Broadway Tour for three years, but never stopped writing music of her own. “On the road, I always had my recording equipment, so in every hotel that we got to, I would set up my little studio and write sporadically throughout the week.”
After Hadestown, Hailes attended a writing camp in Austin, Texas, where her upcoming EP FIVE came to be. “It’s kind of my musical reintroduction to myself and proof that I still had the juices in me… I’m leaning into a newer sound and introducing myself in a new way.” Releasing in September, the EP will contain five songs that she wrote throughout this camp, including her latest single released earlier this month, “Angels”.
She and her team, made up of her childhood friend turned manager Victoria, and brother and videographer Evan, will remain in Kansas City for the time being, exploring new musical opportunities in the city where it all began. “I bought a one-way ticket back, so I’m on my nomad s*** now,” she laughed.
A huge thank you to Hailes and her team for reaching out! Kansas City is lucky to have such an amazing artist in their midst once more. To check out her music and social media, visit https://hailes.komi.io/.
