Cari Q



Cari Q (real name Cari Quoyeser, born November 10, 1990) is an indie rock singer, songwriter, and performer from Houston, Texas now based in Austin, Texas. Cari has made her career as a guitarist and vocalist touring locally and internationally with her band, but beyond her love for the stage, she considers herself a lyricist above all else. Her sound is bluesy and soulful with a distinctive rock edge, while her lyrics are cutting and poetic.

Career
Cari began her music career in her hometown of Houston as lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for Suburban Warfare in early 2009. Around that time she also started a solo project with Dan Workman (producer/sound engineer/president) at SugarHill Recording Studios. Her first show with the Cari Quoyeser Band (Rebecca Laird on lead guitar, Alex Erhardt on drums, Owen Schwartzbard on keyboard, and Julia Alsarraf on bass and back-up vocals) was at Fitzgerald's in Houston on June 25, 2010. After Julia and Owen left for college in August, Anthony Russell and Jonathan Lee Chan joined to play bass and violin, respectively.

Both with a band and as a solo artist Cari has performed in numerous venues around central and southeast Texas. She was on NPR's Soundcheck with Ben Folds, was a singer with the Houston Texans cheerleaders, and sang at the 2011 NFL draft party. She has played at the SXSW Music festival.

Cari competed on American Idol (season 11) in an episode which aired in January 2012. Once back in Texas Cari transferred to the University of Texas and graduated in December 2013. In May 2014 she left for a six-month trip to explore Europe and Israel. While there she busked and played concerts in the Netherlands as well as the Fete de la Musique in southern France.

Since returning home Cari has been writing and preparing to record her next album, Backpackers. Cari currently lives in Austin and plays around the area regularly, either solo or with Rebecca Laird or other local musicians. She played several times during the 2015 Heart of Texas Rockfest - a showcase for unsigned local artists during SXSW. Immediately after SXSW 2015 Cari headed back into the studio to record Backpackers. Many of the songs were inspired by her recent travels.

Cari recently toured Belfast, Northern Ireland and is currently based in Edinburgh, Scotland (summer 2017) where she is playing at a number of locations around the centre of Edinburgh with her fellow musician Rebecca Laird.

Discography

 * Blueprints to Infinity (2012)
 * Cari Quoyeser (2014) [three song radio promo]
 * Backpackers (TBA)