Kacee Clanton

Kacee Clanton, born Kellie Kristine Clanton, is an American singer, songwriter, recording artist, stage actress, producer, and vocal and performance coach based in Nashville, Tennessee. She grew up in a musical household with strong involvement in her church's music program, began studying classical voice at fifteen, and later pursued formal training at the University of the Pacific's Conservatory of Music. In the late 1980s she relocated to the Los Angeles area, where she built a career spanning commercial vocal work, modeling, and performance over the course of three decades before moving to Nashville in 2021.

Clanton released her debut independent solo album, Seeing Red, in 1996, a record blending traditional blues, modern rock, jazz, and gospel that featured Los Angeles-based session musicians including Danny Jacob, T Lavitz, Ray Brinker, Tom Lilly, Chris Smith of Jefferson Starship, Robbie Wyckoff, Tommy Alvarado, and blues vocalist and guitarist Coco Montoya. Her second album, Mama Came to Sing, followed in 2005, incorporating rock, folk, blues, and pop, with contributions from Tom Lilly, Jon Nichols, Ray Brinker, Jon Greathouse, Maureen Baker, David Crozier, Robbie Wyckoff, Janelle Sadler, and Ryan Drummond. In 2013 she released the EP Short on Time and Money, co-written and co-produced with Andre Berry, blending funk, rock, and melodic pop.

Her stage career has centered significantly on the life and music of Janis Joplin. In 2001 Clanton joined the Off-Broadway production Love, Janis in the lead role, performing the show at San Diego Repertory Theatre in both 2001 and 2002 and returning to the production at Kansas City Repertory Theatre in 2007 and at The Downstairs Cabaret Theatre in Rochester, New York, in 2009. In 2013 she took on the lead role of Janis Joplin in the regional production One Night With Janis Joplin at Zach Theatre and San Jose Repertory Theatre before joining the Broadway cast of the renamed production, A Night With Janis Joplin, at the Lyceum Theatre as the alternate lead alongside Tony-nominated Mary Bridget Davies. That production closed in February 2014. Following its Broadway run, Clanton continued performing the show at regional venues including Pasadena Playhouse, 5th Avenue Theatre, Alley Theatre, and American Conservatory Theater, where she participated in a citywide celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of Woodstock. Her final performance of the show took place at McCarter Theatre in 2017.

Beyond the Joplin productions, Clanton appeared in Repartee '07: A Theatrical Review at Kansas City Repertory Theatre in 2007, Bandage: the Rock Opera at the House of Blues in West Hollywood in 2008, and Your Town Follies, a Cirque Comique, at El Portal Theatre in North Hollywood in 2010. In 2015 she was part of the premiere cast of the new pop musical Breaking Through at the Pasadena Playhouse, playing a character named Karina.

Clanton's touring work has included serving as a background vocalist for Joe Cocker during his Heart and Soul world tour from 2005 to 2006 and his Hymn for My Soul world tour from 2007 to 2008, and for Latin recording artist Luis Miguel on his Cómplices world tour from 2008 to 2009 and his Luis Miguel world tour from 2010 to 2012. In 2002 she began touring as lead vocalist with Big Brother and the Holding Company, Janis Joplin's original San Francisco-based band, performing with the group at festivals and venues across the United States, Canada, and Europe over multiple years. In 2003 she worked as a background singer for Beth Hart during concerts supporting Hart's album Leave the Light On.

Clanton joined the teaching staff of the Los Angeles College of Music in 2008 as a vocal and performance instructor and was involved in designing both the performance and rock programs at the institution. Her music and vocals have appeared in films including Tooth Fairy and Kinsey, and in television programs including Brothers and Sisters, The Guiding Light, Star Search, Thirtysomething, Cribs, and 18 to Life. She has contributed soundtrack and voiceover work to video games including The Saboteur, Heavy Gear, and Teen Digital. Her television performance appearances include The Tonight Show on NBC, Live! with Regis and Kelly on ABC, and Parkinson on BBC and ITV.