As an aspiring musician growing up in Pottstown, Kendal Conrad didn't have much of an audience. Instead, she used to haul her boombox out to her family's barn and perform for the animals. “My music, it's a way for me to express stories and emotions and my feelings and tell people about myself,” Conrad says. “It's really helped me survive.”
Since then, Conrad's music has helped her do far more than survive. Now, as an up-and-coming singer-songwriter, she performs for packed stadiums and massive crowds in the Lehigh Valley and beyond. She has opened for several national acts, including Kane Brown and Blake Shelton. And at 22, she performed a duet with Keith Urban at Musikfest, an experience she calls one of the best nights in her entire life.
Conrad also performs in more intimate venues—restaurants, wineries and private parties, to name a few. “I usually will play anywhere where there is a crowd. If there's people there enjoying it, I'll play anywhere,” she says.
Despite her self-described introverted personality, Conrad says she gravitates towards songs that are “in your face” and “unapologetic,” themes that resonate in her favorite original song, “Leader of the Pack.” Her songs, she says, aren't about who she is, but rather who she would like to be.
Most of Conrad's live performances in the past few months have been put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, she's turned to Facebook Live to stream her music. She's also spent more time in the recording studio, releasing her newest single, “Bodyguard,” in May. Conrad's career has taken her far beyond those early performances in her family's barn, but she still credits the Lehigh Valley with fostering her creativity and jumpstarting her career. “The Lehigh Valley gave me my first shot,” she says.
