LaLa Sol
Kaila was born of the bayou Barataria, growing up in the town of Jean Lafitte. She now lives by the river in New Orleans, and performs under the moniker of “LaLa” Sol.
Her earliest and most cherished memories involve listening to local public radio stations, such as WWNO and WWOZ, for hours. While the local varieties of classic New Orleans favorites were her foundation, it was the eclectic varieties of Jazz and international music on NPR that opened her window to the world beyond and inspired the “musicienne” she is.
As a gospel piano player, her father took great pride in discovering Kaila’s innate ability to imitate and transpose melodies she’d heard with the family piano, and her mother took great joy in watching her dance and hearing her impersonate the vocal agility of iconic singers.
The only child of an aspiring baptist minister, Kaila was actively involved in the choir from an early age. From the hymnals she began learning to read music, and from the choir rehearsals and weekly worship services she discovered her ear for vocal harmony. However, it wasn’t until childlike curiosity led her to plunder through a storage closet in her home that she discovered the old box guitar that foreshadowed her future as a “guitarista”.
When her family moved to Mississippi, playing guitar became Kaila’s obsession. At 11 years old, she acquired her first electric guitar from a neighborhood pawn shop. She spent several subsequent summers learning about classical guitar at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg. At the age of 13, she competed in her first guitar symposium. The rewarding experience of guest performing at a subsequent undergraduate recital motivated her to continue her classical guitar studies.
Her instrumental experience also began to expand as a brass player in her high school’s marching band. Kaila eagerly began to try her ear at every instrument she could get her hands on from the band hall. She also became a versitile “stringstress” as she independently began to teach herself to play a variety of other stringed instruments. Many years later, this hobby would become a 10 year career of teaching others to play an assortment of instruments including strings, piano, brass, and occasionally woodwinds. Kaila currently works at the leader of the lessons department of Guitar Center New Orleans, in a continued effort to encourage musicianship for players of all levels of instrumental education.
After the birth of her beloved daughter, Kaila learned to entrepreneur her own independent art business as a painter in the French Quarter. Although her appearances in “the square” are rare, she can still sometimes be seen with her original canvas paintings hung from the iconic wrought iron fencing. She maintains her operational business license doing business as Metacoustic Music & Arts.
Living and working in the heart of the city, surrounded by a carnival of creative community, is both an inspiring opportunity and a sacred responsibility. Kaila continues to dedicate herself to maintaining the musical heritage of her home, by teaching the universal language of music, and by paying tribute to all of the unique collaborations of cultures that make “Bulbancha” (New Orleans) one of the most beloved cities in the world. Where music echoes from the riverbanks into the soundtrack of the crescent city, La-La will “be in that number” dancing to the heartbeat of the streets.