Sierra Kusterbeck Biography

Sierra Kay Kusterbeck (born December 18, 1990) is an American singer-songwriter who has served as lead vocalist of the band VersaEmerge since 2007.

Early life

Sierra Kusterbeck was born December 18, 1990 in St. Petersburg, Florida. She began taking vocal lessons in the third grade. Sierra attended the arts-centric PCCA Gibbs High School in St. Petersburg for three years as a Musical Theatre major.

Career

Kusterbeck auditioned to be VersaEmerge's lead vocalist in 2006, by sending a tape of herself singing one of VersaEmerge's songs, "The Blank Static Screen". While the other members of the band weren't too sure about Kusterbeck, guitarist Blake Harnage convinced them that she was right for the job. In 2007 Kusterbeck played words, claiming she was 18 in order to get an audition, however she was 16. Kusterbeck later cleared this misunderstanding and explained that it was more of a mix up; she was turning 17 a week from the audition, and she said to Harnage on the phone, "I'm 17, my birthday is in a week". This was misconstrued to mean she was already 17, and was turning 18, however she actually meant she would be 17 in a week. Kusterbeck dropped out of high school to pursue music as a career. VersaEmerge released their first EP with Kusterbeck on vocals in May 2008, called "Perceptions". They were signed to Fueled by Ramen in 2008, and they released their self-titled EP on February 3, 2009. Kusterbeck featured on the second album, At Your Inconvenience, of British rapper Professor Green, on the track Avalon. The track was later used as part of an advertising campaign for the energy drink Relentless.

VersaEmerge

VersaEmerge released their first EP, "Cities Built on Sand", in 2005, featuring former members Spencer Pearson on lead vocals, Anthony James on vocals, programming and keys, Josh Center on rhythm guitar, Nick Osborne on bass, and Anthony Martone on drums, as well as current guitarist Blake Harnage. With the departure of Pearson, James, Center, and Osborne, Harnage and Martone recruited former bassist Devin Ingelido from Bury the Ashes. The following year, Sierra auditioned for the vocal position by sending a tape online. In 2007 Sierra became an official member of VersaEmerge.

Payless Contract

In mid to late 2011, Kusterbeck revealed that she was called to be the face of a line of shoes for Payless, a shoe company, called Brash. The line was released in early August. It is described as "edgy" and "affordable".

Discography

As featured artist

Year	Title	Peak chart positions		Album
		UK	IRE
2012	"Avalon" (Professor Green featuring Sierra Kusterbeck)	29	95	At Your Inconvenience

Guest appearances

Year	Single	Album
2009	"If It Means a Lot to You" (A Day to Remember featuring Sierra Kusterbeck)	Homesick
2011	"Contagious" (Anarbor featuring Sierra Kusterbeck)	The Mixtape
2011	"Avalon" (Professor Green featuring Sierra Kusterbeck)	At Your Inconvenience