"CBS Mornings" Mixtape Music Competition winner is Kyndle Wylde. The singer-songwriter grew up singing in her family's worship band at church and moved to Nashville to pursue her dreams of a career in music. Air Date: Sep 3, 2024 CBS MORNINGS
See her CBS Interview here.
https://www.cbs.com/shows/video/cR_ht260Rzz06Av7d27AwQ2lS_0gqhVC/
On a bright sunshiny day in August Kyndle Wylde’s phone rang. CBS Morning News
was requesting a zoom call with her and the producers asked her to stand by. As the
screen came up from black, she saw TV host Gayle King on the other end saying the
words, “you are the winner!”
Kyndle sat down and put her hands over her face. She thought “Oh my God!”
Now Kyndle had a huge secret to keep. Especially from her grandmother, who she knew
would have to tell everyone in all of Bolivar, Kyndle’s hometown.
She had to sneak up to New York City for filming, without anyone noticing.
A few weeks later, on September 3, 2024, the show officially announced that the CBS
Mornings Mixtape Music Competition winner was West Tennessee native Kyndle Wylde.
Hundreds of talented people from all over the country competed, sending in their covers
of Johnny Nash’s song, I Can See Clearly Now.
“We were all blown away by her submission video,” said CBS Mornings host Nate Burleson during an interview. She showcased her skills to the world live in a studio in New York City and is now featured in their national promotional campaign.
“That was a win, not just for me, but also for Bolivar and for Memphis, where I cut my teeth and grew so much as a person and performer,” Kyndle, 31, said. Kyndle performed and recorded with the Memphis Ukulele Band while in Memphis. “When I did win, it was a big celebration for everybody. It was just a great day to rejoice with everybody.”
“We wanted to knock it out of the park,” she said of herself and her band. CBS was happy with how everything turned out and said this was a win for them, too. Before her performance, Kyndle said Gayle King came to the makeup room and was nice. She took time to meet her and thank her.
Kyndle, a petite soul singer with a powerful rich voice and incredible range, has always
wanted to be a performer and touts that she was singing from her crib as a baby. This was
the biggest national opportunity she has had in her career, she said.
When she performed the song, she belted out a soulful take on the tune that would
make any Memphian proud. Now, CBS plays it every morning.
“Everything that we are and grew up listening to, we just put it in that” she said in her
CBS interview.
It is not every day your dreams are realized, and the universe conspires in your favor.
Gospel-raised Kyndle Wylde believes she is doing exactly what God has called her to
do. She grew up singing in church with her grandfather, a preacher. “The first ten years
of my life, we were in church.”
She and her husband Adam Gowdy, also from Bolivar, are inspired by many of the R& B
greats. Kyndle does not like to get all the credit, she emphasizes. That is not just her. She
says “Adam has proven time and time again how much he loves me and loves what we
do and how much he supports this. He believes in it. Creatively we have melded
together, we have a vision and a purpose that we are aligned with. We are kind of like
Johnny and June or Ike and Tina Turner.”
“When you align with all that, that’s when doors open for you” says Kyndle.
She is humble and filled with gratitude this Thanksgiving.
Kyndle studied music at the University of Memphis. After living in Memphis for six years,
she and husband Adam, who is also her bandmate, moved to Nashville to pursue their
dreams. Adam has believed in her since they were teens, and for that long he has
been wanting the world to see the beautiful superstar that he sees in her.
In October she found herself on stage at The Grand Ole Opry singing a song with
Country artist Drake White. She was hired for background vocals on one of his songs
and he said, “I’ve just got to have you at the Opry with me.”
Once again feeling deep gratitude, she got emotional as she thought about the history
of that stage and what it means to perform there. The song they were singing was about
about faith, the gospel undertones. “It is really a powerful stage to perform on” she
said. “I’ll never forget it.”
She recently came home to Bolivar to perform for her hometown friends and family and
to thank them for all of their support. She wants to come back to Memphis to perform for
her Memphis fans too, and she wants it to be something special.
Kyndle has regular gigs in Nashville and Austin, Texas. “I do what I love and people can
see that. My job is to conjure the spirit in people and communicate truth. I do feel like
the universe is conspiring in my favor in a way, because I have aligned myself with what
I feel like what God has called me to do.”
She’s experienced a lot of growth this year. “There is a lot of synergy around who I am
working with now, all from West Tennessee, you can feel alignment, you have this gut
feeling, “I’m on the right path.”
For all of that she is very thankful.
UPCOMING PERFORMANCE:
December 1 st , Nashville, Analog at Hutton Hotel
The Twelve Thirty Club on Fridays when she is in Nashville
Story by Karen Pulfer Focht ©
