Her heart racing and beads of sweat rolling down her face, she stood on stage in awe at the sight and sound of her fans singing back to her the lyrics of her song, \u201cShadows.\u201d It was the final night of the battle of the bands, and it was this night that solidified Gloria Lepko\u2019s dream to write music people could relate to, feel, and sing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now a soul pop singer-songwriter in Syracuse, New York, Lepko has reignited the flame of creating music only six years after her Guatemalan alternative rock band, 2 Miles From Shore, broke up when the lead guitarist quit and publicly announced the band was no more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lepko\u2019s earliest memories of music are of her mother \u2014 a music major and her biggest supporter, singing and playing classical music throughout her childhood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy heart and my soul for music came from my mom, but as a teenager, I got into the church worship band.\u201d She said. \u201cThey believed in me and pushed me to sing and perform.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Throughout her adolescence, Lepko attended the nondenominational Christian church Cathedral of His Glory in Greensboro, North Carolina, which had built a church in Antigua, Guatemala during its mission to build churches throughout Central America. It was during a youth trip to help build that church that Gloria, at 17 years old, met the 2 Miles From Shore drummer, and after two years convinced her to join the band as the lead singer and pianist in 2012. Together the band toured Guatemala for two years, but despite its success, the band broke up when the lead guitarist unexpectedly quit, leaving the remaining band members with no choice, but to pick up the pieces and move on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt was the dream that I could almost taste and it was just ripped away in an instant. I wasn’t ready for it to be over and he gave me no choice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With the band gone, Lepko had no way of making money and decided to sell her piano and return home to the United States, bringing along the former band\u2019s drummer, Adrian, whom she\u2019d married once in the U.S. However, seeking the adventure and adrenaline they felt while performing, they both enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps. For the first time, Lepko put her musical aspirations on hold to focus on her military career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the hiatus wouldn\u2019t last long.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI don’t think there was a moment where I decided now is the time for people to hear me, but it wasn’t until just this year that I realized, you know, now is as good a time as ever. Why wait any longer when now I have the skills and the tools that I need?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite her inability to book live performances due to the COVID-19 pandemic state restrictions in New York, where Lepko attends the Military Visual Journalism Program at Syracuse University, she continues to pursue her dream of sharing music with others by writing and composing music as Bonnie Kay; a stage name dedicated to her late grandmother, Grandma Kay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cShe was not a singer at all but she was known for singing at the top of her lungs a song called \u2018My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cShe is my Bonnie, my Bonnie Kay,\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During her time away from schoolwork, Lepko has recorded two original singles with Syracuse University Records, a student-run label.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lepko\u2019s soul-pop songs expresses the feelings she says are difficult to draw out: fear, doubt, loneliness, and feeling stuck, which are reflected in the lyrics of songs like, \u201cHold On\u201d and \u201cGhost.\u201d Though her lyrics describe intimate feelings, the rhythmic riffs uplift.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lepko now believes her dream isn\u2019t so far from reach, which has driven her to push herself further and believe in herself knowing she\u2019s held success in the palm of her hands before. Regardless of whether she makes it big or not, Lepko defines success by the quality of work she shares with the world. \u201cI can’t really do without my music. So, it’s not about the satisfaction; it’s just about being heard, and I\u2019m never letting anything get in the way.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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