KAINA / Kara Jackson

KAINA is a first-generation Latina, born and raised in Chicago. Since the release of her debut EP, sweet asl, in 2016, she has created generational music that surpasses borders, a unified expression of her native Chicago coupled with her Venezuelan and Guatemalan heritage. From collaborating with peers like Saba, the O’My’s, and Sen Morimoto, and through multidisciplinary work around the city with various organizations, she has found a sound for herself that is gentle, yet full of intent. A listener can feel the intimacy resonating in her lyrics as she pens odes about love, legacy, and ancestry, and how those concepts become more complex as one grows older. Her 2019 album, Next to the Sun (Sooper Records), was featured in Pitchfork, Fader, Teen Vogue, and NPR and resulted in her touring as support with Cuco, Sleater-Kinney, and Durand Jones and the Indications. Her forthcoming album, It Was a Home (City Slang Records), was released March 4, followed by both North America and European headline tours.

Kara Jackson is a singer-songwriter, musician, and writer from Oak Park, Illinois. Jackson served as the third National Youth Poet Laureate from 2019-2020. She is the author of BLOODSTONE COWBOY (Haymarket Books, 2019). Her EP, A Song for Every Chamber of the Heart, is out now on all streaming platforms.