Songwriter Kyshona Armstrong spent a little over an hour sharing some of her life experiences through her music with students Jan. 24 in the Student Center food court.
Armstrong has visited over 75 schools in the past 18 months.
Student Activities Board Music Chair, Chadd Pues said he decided to invite Armstrong to perform at UCA because of her performance at a conference he and some other SAB members attended over fall break last semester.
“We got to hear a bunch of artists perform,” he said. “She was one of them. We previewed her and liked her a lot.”
He said he thinks Armstrong’s music is great and that she is a lot of fun and outgoing.
Armstrong performed songs from two of her albums, such as “All My Life,” “Time,” “Change Gonna Come” and “Marry Me” from her “Home Again” album and “Voices,” “Confined,” “Grandpa’s Song” and “Deep” from her album simply titled, “Music.”
Some of the more popular cover songs she performed were “Sea Lion,” “Waterfalls,” “Walking In The Sun,” “No One” and “Toxic.”
Pues said he thought many of her songs were inspirational.
Sophomore Patrick Moore said he felt Armstrong was really into her music, and that she is an excellent singer.
After the performance, Armstrong said she had enjoyed her time at UCA.
“I was in Little Rock last spring at the University of Arkansas and was kind of happy about coming back [to Arkansas],” she said. “Everyone was very nice and welcoming. It was a blast spending a couple of hours on the campus.”
Armstrong said she is from Athens, Ga. and that there aren’t many black women there that play the guitar.
“It’s always nice to know that people recognize me because I am a black female playing the guitar,” she said. “However, at the same time, there are not that many black women that play the guitar in history, so they can only compare me to [a few]. I get compared to Tracy Chapman, Joan Armatrading or even Odetta. I respect all of them, but my music is not like their [music]. I find that I get put in a category that I really don’t belong in, all the time. Especially back in Athens; I only get called to do R&B shows.”
In addition to playing the guitar, Armstrong majored in the oboe in college. She said she grew up playing the piano and she was on the drum line at the University of Georgia.
Armstrong said she has been writing music for about nine years.
Working with little children, she got started writing. She said she needed an outlet to relieve stress from dealing with sick babies.
She said many of her songs come from people she met, situations she was in and stories she has been told.
“I definitely started off as using it for an outlet for myself,” she said. “Then I started using it for a storytelling tool.”
Armstrong said she really likes Anais Mitchell for her poetic lyrics and enchanting voice.
“She writes very colorfully, like I can see everything that she is writing,” Armstrong said. “One day I want to write like that.”