Getting back into the game of life is one of the most difficult things anyone can do. Andie Kay Joyner, local country artist, was thrown the biggest curveball of a lifetime when she was diagnosed with a rare blood disease that required life-saving surgery. But now she is back to creating music to share with all of us!
Andie Kay was born in Edgewood, Texas. Her childhood was any musician’s dream. “My stepdad was a musician. My mom was a piano player and singer. My dad exposed me to 70’s country at a very young age. The first song that I remember ever hearing was Lyin’ Eyes by the Eagles and Looking for Love in All The Wrong Places by Johnny Lee. My stepdad and my mom would always take me to all kinds of different events that had live music. I would watch them play music at these music festivals. So I knew at a very young age that was what I wanted to do. That’s what I enjoyed. My first band was my mom, my stepdad, and I as the singer.”
Andie Kay literally grew up on the stage. She primarily enjoyed country music not only because of the household she grew up in but also because of the lyrics within the songs. She was especially influenced by artists such as Patsy Cline, Bonnie Raitt, and Merle Haggard. She remembers the exact first song she performed at just ten years old! “It was Emmy-lou Harris, Dolly Parton, and Linda Ronstadt trio was the first song that I had ever sung on stage. The hit single was called “Those memories.”
Her deep love of music may have begun for her in infancy, but she always knew there was a deep capacity to the art form. She says, “Music is my passion because of all things, it’s powerful, it’s healing, it can take you back to a memory. It’s the beautiful melodies, the stories. Everything about music.”
By the time she was sixteen, she encountered her lifelong best friend Heather Stalling. She and Heather had created a five-piece band called, “Blacktop Gypsy”. This team worked normal jobs by day and recorded in the studio at night. They created an entire album before they began touring. Their dedication to their music was unbelievable. She says, “Heather and I took care of everything from booking to administrative, to merchandise, and our touring schedule. We were the revenue managers.” Things were going so well for the duo Andie Kay decided to make music her full-time career in 2007. “I had a really good job for New York Life Insurance with all the bells and whistles of a corporate job. I felt like that was the time that I needed to choose. I didn’t have time for both so I chose music.”
All seemed to be going well for the band until the summer of 2016. It was at this time that Andie Kay’s whole world came crashing down on her. At the young age of twenty-seven, she was diagnosed with a rare blood disease called, Hemochromatosis, which had the potential to take her life. Shortly after being diagnosed, she had to undergo an emergent heart and liver transplant at UT Southwestern in Dallas. The recovery was difficult for Andie Kay. Because her recovery was so important she had to leave the music world behind while she overcame this disease. She tells us it took her a long time to get her voice back, but now that she has her voice again she intends to use it. “Organ donation is why I’m here and I am so thankful. With this second chance at life. I wanna make some noise to bring awareness that helps others.”
The future for Andie Kay is bright. This year is her five-year anniversary since the transplant and she has a lot of things planned. She wants to reinstate her Organ Donation Benefit hopefully within the next year. She intends to have another hit single by the end of the year and confidently another album in the near future. Most importantly she wants to live every moment to the fullest. “Going forward, I want to continue touring. I was given a second chance at life, and I intend to fill it up as much as I can with music.”
As to why she loves being here with us in Mineral Wells. She says “I followed a boy here, Rich Kidwell. He brought me around all his friends here, and I love them. I love the community. The people are amazing. There’s always something to do. People are just wanting to socialize, get out, or meet up. There are good things here. If you’re bored here and in this town, you’re really not looking.”
For more information on Andie Kay Joyner, you can find her Facebook Link: https://www.facebook.com/AndieKayJoynerMusic/
Writer | I graduated from Weatherford College with an Associates in Art, focusing on history, creative writings, sociology, and humanities. Experience in child development, client care, and runs local Spoken Word Poetry group for young teens.
