But this provincial upbringing yielded important exposure to American classic roots music. Morris's parents were integral in this musical education, Dad loving Tower of Power and WAR while Mom represented the R&B love. Enlisted by a high school guidance counselor, Kendra joined a Gospel Tour signing hymns and old standards to nursing homes, police functions, and high schools.

"We once played an  mental hospital. They gathered all the patients into a football field and we performed for them. It was nuts, watching them all dance and respond to it, crazy, and kinda awesome," Morris details.

Music was everywhere for Morris growing up, her parents had formed a band together and played around town. Kendra Morris's musical path was assured from a young age. 

"My mother and I on the way home from school would harmonize with each other in the car, waiting to pick up my brother." 

Morris created a three piece all girl rock and roll group in 2001 and started playing gigs around Florida. But halfway through their first tour the girls felt the pull of a greater force.

"We knew we had to move to New York City."

At 22, Kendra Morris and her group shacked up in a one bedroom apartment in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The girls got some shows, but tensions grew.

"New York is tough when you first get here. Finding work, the stress of living together, it took a toll."

Her band broke up. But Kendra took this as a welcomed lesson. 

"This gave me chance to really live in this town," she said, "see what was going on out there. I took a 4 month hiatus from music and explored." 

That's when she bought a Tascam 8 Track Digital recorder and started laying down tracks in her closet. This was 2004. Now she prides herself on a song book of over 50 songs. 

"Some will never see the light of day, other have been pieced together and made into new songs. Some made it to the albums."

Kendra Morris has released two EP's, This Will Only Hurt A Bit, in 2007, and Milk and Cookies Never Lie, in 2008 (both available on iTunes). Her full length album is due out in June. 

There are many sides to her music. There's the soulful, down-right gospel power of Kendra back by the full band,  produced by hip-hop engineer Jeremy Paige, exemplified on tracks like "Don't Cry", "Teenage Love Affair", and "Seaside". Then there's the moody, gritty, and haunting tracks of "Telephones" and "Been Drugged" recoded in the darkness of that small closet. Either incarnation leaves the listener in the throes of her emotive power.

In a land where everyone is in a band and trying to make it, Kendra keeps it simple.

"At the end of the day, it all comes down to the strength of the song."

But it's hard out there for an unsigned artist in NYC.

"I was told from the beginning: build you team," Morris said. "A label is a bank that hires your team. Of course it's a headache to have to book all of your own shows, handle PR, you wear a lot of hats. It is exciting, the freedom to do what you want and how you want it. But it's a lot of work."

Listen to more tracks by Kendra here.