Weekender Spotlight: Kim Buehler

6/5/2013

Year started playing/singing: My first professional gig was in 1983. I moved from Fenton, Mich., to Toledo in 1986 and have been singing in and around Toledo ever since.

Musical education or background: I received my master's degree in Classical and Jazz Vocal Performance from the University of Toledo in 2002. I come from a family of jazz musicians. I have performed everything from country to classical but my heart belongs to jazz. I sing with the vocal jazz ensemble 6th Edition and teach at the University of Toledo and Toledo School for the Arts. I've done local commercials for the Toledo Zoo, Magic Wok, Diggit.tv, Carpets by Otto and others.

Influences: My heart soars when I hear artists like Lambert, Hendricks and Ross, Al Jarreau, Diane Reeves, Take 6, Ella Fitzgerald, Carmen McRae, Chaka Khan and Earth Wind and Fire.

Sounds a little bit like: I've never been told I sound like any one person, but I guess if we made a stew out of all my influences my sound would be in there somewhere!

Upcoming gigs: 6th Edition summer gigs: July 18, 7:00pm, Commodore Bldg. in downtown Perrysburg; July 24 7 p.m., Findlay Music in the Park series at Riverside Park; Aug. 18 7:30pm headliners at the Grand Rapids Sunset Jazz and Arts Festival, Grand Rapids.

CDs: 6th Edition -- "It's About Time," available at cdbaby.com. I'm currently working on a solo project at Stone Soup Recording Studios to be released in early 2014.