Nakia Reynoso, DeKalb native and "Voice" contestant performing with the Barton Hills Choir (Photo by Jennifer Nichols)
By Tyler Pruett, Managing Editor
AUSTIN, TX. — Contestant from “The Voice,” and DeKalb County native Nakia Reynoso is slated to perform at the popular Austin City Limits music festival which will be held in Austin, Texas.
Reynoso will be performing with the Barton Hills Choir. The choir is made up of students from Barton Hills elementary school, and is famous for it’s renditions of famous rock songs.
The act is a part Austin Kiddie Limits, which will be a family friendly portion of the festival. “Kiddie Limits,” will be part of both weekends of the festival.
“I’m very excited about playing with the Barton Hills Choir there this year. It’s going to be really awesome,” Reynoso said.
“Hopefully, next year we can bring my blues band to the festival and perform as well,” Reynoso added.
This will be the second time Reynoso has performed at one of Austin’s best festivals. He first performed at the festival in 2008 with his band, “Nakia and his Southern Cousins.”
Reynoso is back with his original group, “Nakia and the Blues Grifters.” Reynoso’s band is releasing an album in 2017, and starting a tour that same year. They aren’t releasing the standard way; they are releasing each track individually over the course of several months and then combining the releases for one vinyl album.
Reynoso is no stranger to large events and big venues. He’s played at Planet Hollywood with Cee Lo Green and the Muppets, the Sin City Blues Festival in Las Vegas and many other regional music festivals. Not to mention, being a contestant on NBC’s “The Voice,” coached by Cee Lo.
Reynoso made it as a top 8 finalist on the first season of the show, and was able to tour the country with the other contestants. He got his start right here in DeKalb, and while other locals were on the show, Reynoso was the only one to make it to the top 8.
Reynoso’s musical roots start right here in DeKalb. When asked if anything in DeKalb County helped inspire his musical talent, he said, “The thing that really inspired me the most was my best friend, Stuart Douglas.”
“I knew Stuart when I worked at a record store in Fort Payne that doesn’t exist anymore. Stuart was the first person I knew with their own recording studio,” Reynoso said. “He taught me how to multi-track and record my own music.”
When asked if he had plans to play here in DeKalb, he responded, “I’ve been contacted a few times about performing in Fort Payne, in every instance, they want me to come, but they don’t want to pay me to come there.”
“Unfortunately, to perform in DeKalb County, my whole band would have to travel to Alabama,” said Reynoso.
“I would love to play sometime in DeKalb, but it would have to be the right situation,” he added.
For more information on Nakia Reynoso, check out his website at: http://nakia.net/.
Also, find him on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/nakia and Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/nakia.
