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Arts & Entertainment

Music Is Name Of Game For Local Singer-Songwriter

Award-winning artist to perform national anthem at Huntley homecoming game.

Her name is Katelyn May Adzima.

On stage, she’s simply Kati May.

“I just can’t see myself being a performer and they say, ‘Katelyn Adzima is going on stage,’ ” joked Adzima. “I just can’t see the last name happening. So we had to change that. But everybody calls me Kati anyway.”

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The result is somewhat of dual existence for the student who is striving to make a name for herself.

So far she’s off to a good start, most recently singing at The Abbey Pub in Chicago as part of its Chic Singer Night. It was the first Chicago performance for Adzima, 16, who recently moved with her family to Huntley from Wisconsin after her dad gained employment here.

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Of course, after The Abbey, it was back to Huntley, where Kati May gave way to Katelyn May Adzima, a transition with which Adzima is now familiar.

“It’s kind of like two different sides,” she said. “I have one side that’s music, music, music. Kati May, performance name. That’s one person. Then the other person is my school life and hanging out with friends. I pretty much live my teen life every day. I’m not Kati May all the time. It’s only when I perform and I sing.”

There are other differences as well.

“The difference between Kati May and Katelyn Adzima is Katelyn is a lot of more goofy and a lot more laughable,” she said.

Even so, life until now has been fun for both.

Adzima, who began signing when she was 3, has trained at the Viterbo Preparatory School in LaCrosse, Wis., and has participated in numerous shows including Verona Community Theater’s youth production of Fame, where she played the part of Mabel Washington.

That performance earned her a 2009-10 Tommy Award for Best Supporting Performer. Named after Broadway actor and Wisconsin native Tom Wopat, the Tommies recognize excellence in local high school musical theater.

It was during this period that Adzima met singer-songwriter Beth Kille, and the two began collaborating on what became Adzima’s first CD, Behind Blue Eyes.

Released in December 2010, Behind Blue Eyes received positive reviews before culminating with two Madison Area Music Association nominations, or MAMAs, for Best Youth Album of The Year and Best Youth Female Vocalist of The Year.

The MAMAs “are basically like the Grammies in Wisconsin. They’re a pretty big deal.” said Adzima, who attributes her musical talents to her mom, Renee, a singer and guitarist in two bands and who is Kati’s manager.

At the awards presentation in June, Adzima, er May, served as the evening’s opening act before winning both the awards for which she was nominated.

“When (the presenter) said ‘Kati May,’ I was just so happy. I was speechless. I didn’t think it would happen because there was so much talent in my category,” she said.

Then they announced she had won again.

“I was even more shocked because I never thought I would’ve gotten a second award,” she said. “With one award, it’s like ‘Oh my God!’ But with two awards, I was speechless again.”

Behind Blue Eyes and the hit single from it, Walk Away, can be sampled at May’s MySpace page and at ReverbNation.com, among others.

Adzima is working on a new CD, for which she has already has written three songs. She's in the midst of assembling a band. On board thus far is local keyboardist/drummer Brandon Strong.

“I’m so lucky to have him in this because of how much talent he has,” Adzima said. “You can pick the hardest song for him and he will probably know it within four or five tries, all by ear.”

Adzima hopes that having a band in place also will assist her songwriting.

“I’d rather have a band because there are a lot of songs that I want to be able to perform and show people, but I don’t know how to play them myself,” she said. “Plus, with writing songs, I want ideas from other people. I want to know other people’s ideas and other people’s feelings because I’m a very open person to that.”

As for upcoming gigs, Adzima’s age limits the venues available to her, but Huntley residents can see when she performs the national anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner, on Friday, Sept. 30, at Huntley High’s homecoming game.

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