Kristen McNamara

She has been homeless, she been on TV, she attracts fairy tale like love stories and she has been heartbroken. Experiencing every high and low makes her the artist she is, Kristen McNamara (KMAC). A northern California native, is a countryfied beach hippie at heart who wears paint like perfume and creates abstract artwork to canvas on stage while performing music. Many have pointed out her free spirit and gypsy ways remind them of singer/songwriter Stevie Nicks. Raised on a small ranch, fishing, hunting and selling chicken eggs on the corner was not enough. At age 9 she started performing and writing, by 15 she was being offered major label record contracts, then moved out at age 16, to pursue her music career. Starting with funerals and small venues such as the Blue Bird Cafe, to a packed 68,000 seat arena with San Francisco 49ers and San Francisco Giants, then ending up as a top 3 finalist on CBS's Star Search in 2003. Kristen then performed 2 shows daily 6 days a week in Branson, MO in 2003 on a Disney Produced show 'Country Tonite'. She has opened for acts such as, Kenny Chesney, Lonestar, Glenn Campbell, Diamond Rio, Wynnona Judd, Chris Young, Travis Tritt, Alan Jackson, Adam Lambert, Collin Ray, Montgomery Gentry, Sara Evans, Big n' Rich, to name a few. Kristen spent several years in Nashville, Tennessee and held underground songwriter music nights with singer/songwriter Nathan Lee in an industrial building on 8th Ave. Kristen continued her music television experiences as being one of the Top 6 finalist on USA's Nashville Star in 2006 and Top 15 on FOX's American Idol Season 8 in 2009. Her range spans 4 octaves, she plays guitar and piano, and her song catalog is in the 1000's in all genres of music. Kristen has spent a majority of her life on stage, in the press or inside a recording studio. She recorded 5 albums and has sold over 10,000 records from the back of her car. She wrote over 200 songs last year, and often composes productions and vocals for artists in Los Angeles, Nashville and New York. Personally requested by Cher, Kristen most recently did guide vocal work for the new motion picture, "Burlesque". Executive Producer, Mikal Blue found Kristen to be a rare talent 4 years ago and has been working with Kristen on writing for her record for the last 15 months. New York production team, Peter Macchia and David Andronico took the last 6 months with Kristen, researching her influences to create her unique "sound". Recently in 2011, they released the official pop version of the Grammy nominated country single "If I Die Young" by The band Perry. Also released was her record "P!RATE", as she recorded and edited all of her own vocals, which can all be found on iTunes. Kristen is collaborating with a unique spread of writers from Pop to Country. Including, Kasia Livingston, writer of Britney Spears "Circus" & "Womanzier" as well as writer/producer Brian Kennedy, of the Underdogs known for Rihanna's "Disturbia" & Chris Brown's "Forever" and many more. Kristen also enjoys writing movie and television scripts as hobbies, filming an occasional pilot and finds video editing remarkably intriguing. KMAC is the girl who will do anything to capture a great song. In 2010, Kristen drove from California to Key West, FL to write "Duval Street" and recently showcased in New York City, NY for major labels at The Rockwood. Her Irish name, McNamara means "Man of the Sea" always connected with the beach since her father put her in a backpack and took her sea fishing at less than a week old. Kristen's record is ocean themed, taking you to a level of sophisticated beat driven music using the metaphorical fantasy of ships, pirates, and water. Born and raised to entertain, there is no stopping her now. As of 2015, Kristen and her teddy bear "Ophelia" live from a suitcase and travel to where inspiration, music and art take them.