Kaylah first began writing and performing as a child with her Guatemalan-born father, jazz saxophonist Philip Marin, who instilled in her a love of music and dance rich within her Central American (Garifuna) roots. He would take Kaylah to hear the many local jazz bands that dotted San Francisco’s streets, and she first performed with him by joining whatever house band he was jamming with at the time. Her chosen instrument was the guitar, which her mother, an educator and lover of the arts, had given her when she was four. As a teenager, she performed professionally with techno band The Riots at clubs like the Digital Be In in San Francisco. “One,” a song the group recorded with European group Tribeca, won the Future Music Magazine Demo of the Month; the track “XOn the Beach,” by Sir Vere, also featuring Kaylah’s passionate vocals, played all over the clubs of Ibiza and was a huge hit at the Manumission. Taking a temporary break from the electronic world, the singer founded with Jalila Bell a non-profit dance, music and theater company, The Butterfly Project, which was dedicated to promoting positive images of women in the arts. Later, she joined another band, the hybrid hip-hop/jazz/classical outfit Soulography. Kaylah was still scattering her energies a few years back when her mom was stricken with cancer (Which she beat). At that point Kaylah began making the kinds of life altering decisions that this kind of challenge always sparks. She was still working a day job in the tech world when Laurie Andrewsen, a friend of Kaylah’s best friend’s mom as far back as Kaylah’s high school days, decided to invest in the singer’s career. Andrewsen had first heard her sing at a retreat up in the Russian River area years before and had always encouraged Kaylah’s musical aspirations. Now she was actually funding her first project. Andrewsen, along with company Epiphany Productions, is credited as Executive Producer of Loving Life. “Laurie always believed in me and loved my music,” says Kaylah, “but I was never able to turn my dream a reality until she raised money to make my first recording project possible. Right now, I am enjoying all the possibilities that are coming my way and am grateful there are so many people who want to hear what I’m doing and who want to give my songs a home. I could seriously write poetry and write and record music all day, and have worked hard to overcome my shyness onstage. Performing is religion to me in the sense that I have to get out of myself to do it, get out of my head, let go and just trust and open up to the audience. I look forward to more opportunities to do just that. I am truly Loving Life.
















