Kierscey Regozo

Kierscey Regozo is the Toronto-based left-handed acoustic guitar player, vocalist, and only non-black member of the backup band for Somalian-born Canadian hip-hop artist and Juno-award winner, K'Naan.

Kierscey's professional music career began as producer/composer/artist for "Simplisik", a private record-label that he established with friend and partner, Derek Wiggins. Besides guitar, he proficiently plays piano, keyboards, drums, and bass guitar and a little bit of trumpet, bass saxophone, even the harmonica and recorder. He can read notes but plays mostly by ear. Since he can produce, sing, and play several instruments, he is able to record music all by himself, playing one track at a time at his makeshift basement studio in Scarborough. He promotes his works through an inner circle of artists, including K'Naan. Simplisik was nominated Producer of the Year for the 2005 Urban Music Awards for "Things Are Looking Up", Kierscey's only production contribution in the debut album of Toronto rap artist "Rochester".

Kierscey performed for two years as the keyboard playing member of "Down With Webster", the hip-hop band from the Toronto Beaches area, promoted and managed by Canadian Idol judge, Zack Werner. (Kierscey sports the 'number 5' shirt in the cover photo of the group in Now Magazine's July 2003 issue but his name was missed out in the actual article. [ [http://www.nowtoronto.com/issues/2003-07-24/cover_story.php Now Toronto] ]

Kierscey's music training came along two streams. He played trumpet and then performed vocals in the high school music programme at Cardinal Carter Academy for the Arts. He performed vocals and produced music recordings with his three sisters, Raegen, Rachenne, and Raisa. They call themselves "nextofkin", a group the siblings assembled to release a recording to raise funds for St. Aidan Parish Church, where they have been singing since little kids.

Notes

External links

* [http://www.thedustyfoot.com More of Kierscey's stints with K'Naan]
* [http://www.umac.ca More of Simplisik's Urban Music Awards nomination]
* [http://www.stratisolv.com/regozo/performances.htm More about the Regozo siblings]