Keya Trammell has been singing for so long, it’s hard for her to talk about the beginning without sounding like she was always headed here.
In between studio sessions, Trammell recently took a few minutes to talk about the path that led her here.
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“I was like 6 years old, honestly, when I felt like I could sing,” she said.
Not long after that, she and her cousins formed a girl group called Two of a Part and started performing “Emotions” by Destiny’s Child around Chicago, moving through talent shows and local events before most kids that age even know what they’re good at.
By 10, she was singing at funerals.
“I remember getting paid really, really young to sing at funerals,” she said.
That kind of beginning says something. Not just that Trammell could sing, but that people recognized early what her voice could do: carry feeling.
Now she’s bringing that voice to Freedom Hall on Saturday, March 28, returning to a part of the South Suburbs that still feels deeply personal.
Trammell attended Homewood-Flossmoor High School, where she sang in choir, and she lit up when recently talking about coming back to perform the national anthem.
“It was really cool this past homecoming,” she said. “I got to sing the ‘Star-Spangled Banner’ for their homecoming football game.”
So yes, the show is a performance. But it’s also a homecoming of sorts.
“A lot of people go to the city for live entertainment,” she said. “However, with the South Suburbs being my home space, it’s also a reminder of, hey, we have such great talent here.”
That sense of place matters to her. So does the sound she’s spent years shaping.
Trammell describes her music as a blend of neo-soul, jazz, gospel and R&B. “And a little bit of hip hop,” she said.
It’s a sound that formed slowly through the artists she grew up studying and listening to.
In high school, her father introduced her to singer Nancy Wilson. Around the same time, she found herself drawn to Chrisette Michele, whose music carried what Trammell described as a jazzy, storytelling swing.
From there came deeper influences. Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan. Alongside, contemporary artists like Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys and Beyoncé.
“I think the more I listened to my favorite singers, it culminated in this sound,” she said.
But genre only tells part of the story. For Trammell, it always comes back to storytelling.
“My biggest thing is to tell a story,” she said. “How can I tell a story, get people involved? We might cry together, we’re gonna laugh together, we’ll sing together, we’ll dance together.”
That approach shows up in the way she performs.
“I like to get the audience involved,” she said. “Don’t be surprised if I leave the stage and come into the audience.”
One of the most surreal moments of her career happened far from home.
Trammell had traveled alone to St. Louis to attend a Mary J. Blige concert after noticing videos online showing the singer occasionally handing her microphone to audience members. Curious and hopeful, Trammell bought a seat near the edge of the stage.
Then, during the performance of “I’m Going Down,” something unexpected happened.
A security guard looked at her and asked if she was ready. Moments later, Blige came down the steps and handed her the microphone.
“It was surreal,” Trammell said. “I grew up listening to Mary J. Blige.”
Experiences like that shaped the way she thinks about performing as both a fan and a student of the craft.
One of the artists she continues to study closely is Beyoncé.
“There’s not a show of hers I’m going to miss,” she said. “I go as a consumer, and I also go as a student.”
With March marking Women’s History Month, Trammell said honoring the legacy of Black women in music is something she carries into every performance.
“Even if I’m not singing these specific artists’ songs, their influence is definitely channeled through my performance,” she said.
That influence will be present at Freedom Hall, where Trammell will perform shortly after the release of her debut album, Violet.
The album’s title comes from a personal moment several years ago when someone gave her a violet plant. At first, she cared for it carefully. Over time, she neglected it, then tried to compensate by overwatering it until the plant eventually died.
Still, she never threw it away.
Months later, a new flower appeared.
“A whole new flower had arrived without me touching it,” she said.
The experience became a metaphor for her own journey as a performer.
“There have been times where I’m so excited about my gift and I want to sing and create and write,” she said. “But then I’ve also been in spaces where I didn’t want to sing anymore. I didn’t want to perform anymore.”
Letting that part of herself rest eventually brought her back to the music.
“When I let it rest,” she said, “it gave me the opportunity to put out this album.”
Violet will feature eight tracks and nearly 20 collaborators, including musicians, vocal producers and orchestral arrangements. Many of those collaborators are friends and artists she has worked with for years within Chicago’s performance community.
For Trammell, releasing the music carries both excitement and vulnerability.
“I’m really excited about that,” she said. “Because it’s no longer mine to keep. I’ve been working on this for some time, so the music won’t be mine anymore. It’ll be the world’s.”
At Freedom Hall, audiences will hear some of those songs live for the first time.
But for Trammell, the goal of a performance has always gone beyond the stage.
“When people experience me, I want them to experience themselves,” she said.
She points to one of her songs, “Next to Blow,” which she wrote for what she calls dreamers, doers and doubters.
“We all have dreams,” she said. “Sometimes we go after them and sometimes we pause. But when you see me, when you experience me, you want to leave a show getting ready to be the best that you can be within your world, within your life, within your relationships, within your career.”
“Hopefully,” she added, “I’m just a reflection of the things that you desire in the world.”
Keya Trammell will perform at Freedom Hall in Park Forest on Saturday, March 28, as part of a concert celebrating the legacy of Black women in American music.
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