OUR TEAM
KELLEY MCRAE, Founder & Executive Director
Over the past two decades, Kelley McRae has dedicated her life to the craft of songwriting. As a professional musician, she has toured the US and Europe, released five albums and been featured on NPR, Billboard, and Paste Magazine. As a teacher, she has taught hundreds of students from all over the world and developed a serious songwriting curriculum. Kelley is the Music Program Director for the School of Creative and Performing Arts in NYC, where her songwriting curriculum was approved for college credit in 2017.
ALEXANDER ZAPATA, Peer Support Specialist & Teaching Assistant
Alex is 27 years old and is originally from San Antonio, TX. Years ago, after experiencing an intensely deep immersion into a system that did not reflect his values and beliefs, Alex decided to leave his home and move to Austin. He is an authentic and powerful speaker and often incorporates his gifts as a musician to communicate with audiences. His work has bolstered local community efforts and has contributed to the national dialogue around youth homelessness. Alex has been an active member of the Austin Youth Collective, Austin Homeless Advisory Council, E.C.O.H membership council and has designed and engaged in policy work, program design, and advocacy on behalf of the movement to make youth homelessness brief and nonrecurring.
PROFESSIONAL MUSIC MENTORS
ERIN IVEY
In 2020, Texas Music Magazine named Erin's album Broken Gold one of the 20 albums that defined Texas music over the past 20 years. Her albums have garnered numerous Top 10 and Album of the Year recognitions, along with the Discoveries Songwriting Contest Grand Prize and placements on movie soundtracks and TV shows, such as Suits and The Client List. Erin has performed hundreds of shows around the world in backyards, concert halls, boardrooms, and ships at sea, in a diverse arrangement of solo and band scenarios. She has been a regular Critics' Pick at SXSW and she’s on the Board of Governors for the Recording Academy (GRAMMYs) Texas Chapter.
JAI MALANO
Hailing from the ’Live Music Capital of The World’, with roots to both Florida and Louisiana, the sound of Jai Malano is raw and authentic. Since debuting in July 2010, her strong vocals and showmanship have landed her the cover of UK Rock ‘N’ Roll Magazine, recognition in the Vintage Rock Magazine and Austin Music Journal, as well as honorable mention in The Dallas Observer as one of the Top 15 Bands/Artists to watch for in 2014. Other artists on that list included Doyle Bramhall II, Gary Clark Jr., the North Mississippi Allstars, and the Tedeschi Trucks Band.
SEELA
Born to exhausted Indian immigrants on a mild, summer eve, Seela had an average childhood battling the forces of evil with her superhuman strength. As a young, wandering adult, Seela met her lifelong “people” in Austin’s close-knit music community. Since then she has sung back-up, collaborated with and cracked wise among musical heavyweights from Austin and beyond, sharing the stage with those such as Freedy Johnston, Sean Hayes, Anthony da Costa, Shinyribs, and Matt the Electrician. Her decades of shows in the Live Music Capitol serve as master classes on performing, orchestrating, and bandleading.
REBECCA JORDAN SMITH
Rebecca Jordan Smith grew up in a tough love part of Cleveland, Ohio, schooled on her father's vinyl collection, absorbing what she now knows was an eccentric, but essential mix of Aretha Franklin, Joao Gilberto, The Cure, and Tom Petty. She studied classical piano as a kid and taught herself to play guitar. She was signed as a recording artist to Elektra Records and Clive Davis’ J Records and toured with Lilith Fair, Matchbox 20 and Third Eye Blind. Rebecca's songs have been recorded by Prince, John Legend, Kelly Clarkson, Adrian Younge, Alice Smith, and Isabela Moner, among others. Her reputation and experience have led to engagements as a producer in commercial music, a creative manager in music publishing, and as faculty for music programs at NYU and Lewis & Clark College, where she designed an entrepreneurial music industry course.
BROOKE ASHLEY EDEN
Brooke Ashley Eden was born and raised in Kentucky where she picked up a love for sad songs and storytelling. She moved to Central Texas in 2018 with an undergraduate degree in musical theatre and no clue what she was gonna do with her life, but sure of one thing: she needed to make music. Brooke graces a variety of stages around Central Texas, where she’s gained a loyal following with her deeply personal originals, unique takes on covers and seriously funny banter. Having been compared to the likes of Brandi Carlile, Elle King, and boygenius, she’s sure to get ya feelin’ yer feelins’. In between music and acting gigs, Brooke picked up a Masters in Interdisciplinary Arts with a Performance Creation Concentration from Goddard College.