Southern Sirens is a female duo based out of Louisville, KY, and Southern Indiana. The duo performs a plethora of genres with their twist on covers, also writing their originals, giving each song and individual, distinctive sound with a unique instrumentation blend of drums, percussion, guitar, and vocals.
Emmy and Kelsey met at the end of 2013 at a random "girls pizza jam night." The ladies hit it off immediately, quickly naming themselves the Southern Sirens. The group consists of Emmy Bodner (lead vocals/guitar) and Kelsey Lee (drums/percussion/vocals). For special occasion shows, they'll invite some phenomenal special guests along! Special guests include Anna Blanton, Dennis Ledford, and a few more!
After the infamous pizza night, the journey quickly took off...
In May 2014, the Sirens were flown to L.A. after being selected out of thousands as a Top 70 Act for ABC's Rising Star on Season 1. After competing in L.A., they came back to Louisville, hitting the ground running. In September 2014, Southern Sirens were the opening performance with Michael Fitzpatrick (world-renowned cellist: Dali Lama and Hollywood Bowl), CJ Vanston (multi Grammy-nominated producer, film composer, session keyboard player, and songwriter), and the West Louisville Boys and Girls Choir at the Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Awards. After the Humanitarian Awards, the ladies jumped into being an opening act for The Temptations Review, with headliner Bruno Mars for the Congo 14 Festival. After opening for Bruno Mars, the Sirens jumped at the opportunity to open for Carlene Carter, June Carter Cash's daughter at the Mercury Ballroom in Louisville, Kentucky.
Southern Sirens were also the featured entertainers for the official VIP Party Reception for the 'Louder Than Life' Festival held at the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville, KY. The ladies have had a successful cross country tour out West, performing at places including the Woodsongs Coffeehouse Sessions in Ogden, UT, the Cowboy Saloon in Laramie, WY, Little Bear Saloon in Evergreen, CO, and the Ozark Arts and Craft Festival in Fayetteville, AR. After the tour out west, the Sirens made their Canada debut playing the Urban Gala for the Windsor White Eagles Soccer League.
The group has won 6th place in the 2015 Pepsi's Southern Original Competition at the Gulf Coast Jam Festival out of over 6,000 entries! On top of jumping into fun competitions in different cities, these hard-working women went on a California tour, including an appearance at The International Pop Overthrow Festival in Los Angeles and played BIGFOOT Music & Outdoors CMA week Showcase in Nashville, TN. Other notable recent festivals and special event appearances include Abbey Road on the River, Mercury Ballroom: MERCURY RISING Local Music Series, Owensboro Live @ 5, Newport on the Levee, Churchill Downs' Autumn N'Spires Festival, New Albany's Indiefest, Lower Town Art & Music Festival, Gonzofest, Cool Water Festival, and OZARKS Arts Festival in Arkansas....and many more!
Emmy
Emmy Bodner currently lives in Georgetown, IN. Emmy started singing in church at age 4 and has never stopped. At age 10 she performed the National Anthem at Freedom Hall in Louisville for the Louisville Fire indoor football team. In 1997, at the age of 14, her original song "Can I Be Your Everything" was shown nationally on the CBS Morning Show. Emmy performed regularly around the Louisville area with her former band, Exit 119, at venues such as Fourth Street Live, Hard Rock Cafe, KY State Fair, and the KY Derby Fest A Ville. She has participated in and won numerous talent and singing competitions including the Pekin 4th of July Idol, Riverstage Idol, Harvest Homecoming Idol, Harrison Co 4-H Karaoke Contest, Floyd Co 4-H Fair Talent Show, and the Mike Linnig's Music Festival.
In February 2010, she won the Louisville WDRB FOX in the Morning Idol contest and a new Smart Car from Swope Auto Group. In 2012, Emmy qualified at the Chicago tryouts for American Idol and made the trip to Hollywood to sing for Randy Jackson, Nicky Minaj, Keith Urban and Mariah Carey. Currently Emmy is the lead vocalist and guitar player for the band Southerns Sirens. They are an all girl duo made up of Emmy and Kelsey Lee. Since forming the band in 2013, Southern Sirens have opened for Carlene Carter, Bruno Mars, performed for the Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Awards and played concerts in 13 states as well as Canada. They were also finalists in the Pepsi Southern Original’s band contest at the Gulf Coast Jam in Panama City Beach Florida.
Kelsey
Louisville, Kentucky, produces more than great bourbon and great sports - it also generates great musicians, like the versatile percussionist, Kelsey Lee. Born and raised in Louisville, Kelsey picked up her first pair of sticks and mallets at the age of five and has yet to put them down. Kelsey was a member of the Fabulous Leopard Percussionists (now the Louisville Leopard Percussionists), from kindergarten to 6th grade.
After graduating in 2012 from Indiana University with a degree in Elementary Education, Kelsey went back to her roots serving as the Assistant Director for the Louisville Leopards, co-leading the beginner, advanced, lite, steel, and middle school group, for an incredible 12 years.
Kelsey leads a very active free-lance schedule, performing with world-renowned musicians like CJ Vanston, Michael Fitzpatrick, Victor Mendoza, Dani Markham, Hannah Ford Welton, Louie Bellson, Hanson, and Ndugu Chancler. In addition to teaching clinics and private percussion lessons to non-profit organizations, corporations, schools, and individuals, Kelsey performs and travels with a few different bands opening for many musicians, including Bruno Mars, Carlene Carter, and Gaelic Storm.
Kelsey is an endorsed Toca Percussion and ATempo Company artist, utilizing the vast array of instruments in her performances around the world.