Kira Andrea: Hitting the Highest Notes

How amazing is God that He bestows upon each of us a unique talent to be used in serving others and bringing Him Glory. Some may search for this talent their entire lives to never find it. Others randomly stumble upon it. And then there are those who have it and know it from the jump…this is Kira Andrea; Catholic, Mother, Wife, Musician. We are blessed to bring forward Kira’s story, which is one of using her amazing musical talents to hit the highest notes of inspiring others and giving glory to God through musical prayer. Off we go…

CB: Kira, thank you so much for spending some time with us and sharing your Catholic faith. We are very blessed to have this opportunity.

KA: Thank you! I love following your page and seeing all that you are doing to spread the Catholic faith in your ministry!

CB: Saint Augustine said, “To sing is to pray twice.” Your talents of songwriting and singing is absolutely amazing and inspirational. Have you always shared your talent and love for music?

KA: Thank you! I love Saint Augustine, by the way! Augustine is my son’s middle name.

My husband and I have been writing and performing music together since we were in grade school. He started a band in the sixth grade, and I joined as the lead singer in the eighth grade. We even played at our school dance! Over the years, we released several albums in the secular world in a couple different bands, first as Jaded Era and then as The Strange Familiar. As a teen and into my early twenties, I sang in the choir at my home parish and we also sang and played with a contemporary choir at a parish in Los Angeles when we lived there for five years. We moved out to LA to pursue our dreams of making it big in the music industry. We never imagined actually leading music for the Mass or writing music specifically to glorify God.

CB: Your career journey is certainly impressive. As you mentioned, you and your husband Jeff have achieved notable success; breaking the Top 10 on iTunes, the Billboard Top 40 and top contestants on America’s Got Talent. And, you are a Catholic revert. Tell us about your career journey and your story of coming back to the Catholic Church. Is there a connection between your career success and reversion?

KA: We grew up as cradle Catholics and received our sacraments at the same parish where we attended school from kindergarten through 8th grade. We had 12 years of Catholic education, but kept our faith on the periphery. Our parents made us go to Mass every Sunday, and that stuck with us, but it was always more about checking a box. We were essentially living a double life. Playing rock clubs on Friday or Saturday nights, picking and choosing which teachings of our faith we would accept and which ones we’d reject, and singing in the choir on Sunday mornings.

Early in our marriage we began to feel the consequences of living this double life. We wanted to delay having children because we thought having a family would mean the end of our career. I started taking the birth control pill and ultimately it was a health scare (horrible migraines with stroke like symptoms and extreme anxiety- side effects of the pill) that woke us up to the truth.

Once we started digging deeper, we finally discovered the beauty of fully living our faith – especially within our marriage. Our Lady of Fatima and praying the rosary daily, led us to embrace God’s plan for marriage and for our life. When we experienced this reversion, we started to see how much our faith had made its way into our music. Allowing God into every aspect of our lives only brought us more peace and joy. We had enough success to live solely off of our music for several years, but not so much that we would get too caught up in the crazy whirlwind of Hollywood.

Having our songs in popular TV shows was amazing because it allowed our faith inspired messages to reach a broader audience. For example, our song “Redemption” (which is about the prodigal son) was featured in an episode of The Vampire Diaries. After making it into the top 48 on America’s Got Talent, and subsequently getting cut, we realized we were ready for a change. We moved home to Ohio, continued writing and recording music, and were soon blessed with our first child. The greatest gifts of our lives are our three children. It’s crazy how we were afraid having kids would be the end of our dreams. In reality, our dreams have only grown and multiplied, becoming parents!

“Allowing God into every aspect of our lives only brought us more peacy and joy.”

CB: You and Jeff have written over 150 Psalms and Hymns, this is amazing! How has your faith and family impacted your songwriting?

KA: Shortly after moving home, we were approached by the new pastoral associate at our parish. She was starting a youth group and wanted us to play for the new youth Mass and help get things off the ground. We never expected to go down that path, but we quickly realized God was calling us in a different direction. We started writing Psalms because we couldn’t find anything that fit with our sound and approach, and it just felt natural to write our own. After over nine years of playing for the Mass, we realized that beauty and reverence is what really matters. We are trying to incorporate more traditional music, including hymns in Latin as well. Our group has had many different members over the years, but our friend, Joel Garvin, has become an integral part of Mercy Divine, harmonizing on vocals and playing violin. Our 11 year old daughter, Rayne, also sings with us every Sunday! Our goal is for our music to be boldly and unapologetically Catholic.

CB: Sadly, in today’s society, the traditional family is under siege and faces many headwinds on a daily basis. Being a Catholic, wife and mother, what have you found to be most challenging part in raising future saints?

KA: I find it challenging, especially the older they get, to shield my children from the influences of the world. Our children go to the same Catholic school we attended growing up. I find that taking every possible opportunity to teach them the truths of our faith is very important. Also, prayer! Praying daily for our children is crucial. We bless them with holy water each morning and night before bed. We try to pray the rosary as a family daily, and of course we strive to instill the need to receive the Sacraments – especially going to Confession at least once a month and receiving the Eucharist as often as possible. I can’t shield my children from everything, but I can give them a context to look at the world through a Catholic lens. My husband and I try to lead by example, and we ask Our Lady to place them beneath her mantle!

CB: Your debut EP, “The Queen Stands” was released in 2023, which you consecrated to Our Lady (and is awesome!). Tell us about the making of this album and what is next on the horizon for Mercy Divine Music?

KA: Mary has been so loving in leading us back to our faith, and we wanted to honor her. One day a thought popped into my mind – that I needed to write music for ‘The Memorare’ and the ‘Hail Holy Queen’, so I sat down and wrote both very quickly. We had already written Psalm 45, ‘The Queen Stands’. So, we just edited it by adding a bridge and tag at the end to make it more of a song.

We figured there are plenty of Christian artists out there who sound great, write uplifting, catchy music, who are successfully climbing the charts. But, we wanted to be intentionally Catholic. I immediately thought about the pillars of our faith. In a vision of Saint John Bosco, he describes a battle at sea, and a ship helmed by the Pope seeking safety between two columns. One column had the Eucharist at the top and the other had the Immaculate Virgin Mary, Help of Christians. We started with Mary, and we plan to record a collection of Eucharistic songs next.

“It’s crazy how we were afraid having kids would be the end of our dreams. In reality, our dreams have only grown and multiplied, becoming parents!”

CB: In closing, what is the biggest hope that you have for your music?

KA: We hope to do God’s will. We hope to draw souls to Christ with our music, leading them to the truth, which is Jesus. We hope to honor Our Blessed Mother and beg for her intercession. And we hope to bring beauty and reverence to the music we play at Mass, helping others to meditate on Christ’s passion, death, and resurrection – blending the timelessness of tradition with something new.

Kira & Jeff Andrea have had many musical successes in the main stream with various bands and projects. Their faith has always influenced their writing along the way, even when they weren’t aware of it. These uplifting themes were present in their hits like “Invisible, “Courage Is”, “Redemption” and “I Just Want to Love You”.

MERCY DIVINE is the result of letting go and letting God. After a reversion back to their Catholic faith and many years spent pouring their hearts into their music, Kira & Jeff Andrea – joined by good friend, (singer and multi-instrumentalist) Joel Garvin, are experiencing great joy and peace creating powerful original Catholic/Christian music that meshes both the traditional and modern.

Their debut, EP, “The Queen Stands”, was released on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. The Blessed Virgin Mary is at the heart of Mercy Divine’s music ministry and their first official release is consecrated to Our Lady.

Mercy Divine’s music is available to stream on Spotify and all digital outlets.

Website:

https://www.mercydivinemusic.com

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/mercydivinemusic

YouTube: https://youtube.com/@mercydivinemusic

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/mercydivinemusic?mibextid=LQQJ4d

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