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Kareya is a young and soulful vocalist from San Diego, CA on a mission to bring a feel-good vibe and message of hope to the masses with her debut album, Phantom Stars. Although her lyrics can take you from the highest highs to the darkest depths of human emotion (often in the same song) Kareya’s inspiration comes from the purest of places - her heart. Throughout the 60 minutes of original music, she delivers amazingly rich and detailed vocals saturated with experiences of love and loss that are sure to touch the soft spot in every music fan. But make no mistake, Kareya’s music is not “sappy” by any means - it exudes a strong and confident femininity not often associated with today’s youth culture.

Kareya began generating interest in the band by handing out free CDs at small coffee shop gigs,and as a result the band was able to secure shows at some well-known San Diego venues such as Blind Melon's in Pacific Beach and Winston's in OB. As a result,she and her band were offered a spot in the coveted Cream of the Crop competition sponsored by SanDiegoMusicScene.org winning out over 100 bands to make it to the finals in April 2006. Although they did not ultimately win the competition, Kareya had solidified her place in the San Diego music scene and created a public interest in the new album.

Since that time, the band finished writing and recording their entirely self-produced full-length album and began playing larger venues around Southern California. Recently Kareya wrapped up a month long weekly gig at the HEAT Supper Club in Downtown San Diego, opened the show for the leaders of the So-Cal independent hip-hop movement Ankore, and played their first gig out of SD at CSU Fullerton.

Stylistically, Kareya departs from modern R&B/hip-hop sterotypes to find herself somewhere between Incubus and Alicia Keys (both of which the band has covered in their live shows). Although this description may make the band seem unaccessible or off-the-wall, Kareya's syrupy bass-lines, grooving drum beats, and spacey guitars will appeal to any open-minded music fan. To have gone this long without describing the amazing vocal performances on the album seems almost blasphemous. Kareya is guaranteed to capture the heart of anyone within earshot, using her contemplative and emotional voice.

As a five-piece group, Kareya's sound effortlessly blends genres in a fluid way that never seems forced or contrived - attributes sure to help this band learn and grow in the coming years.