Kendra Morris – Banshee

9th June 2025 · 2010s, 2012, 2020s, Music

You’d be forgiven for thinking this might be a deep cut from the back catalogue of Amy Winehouse. But it’s not the Queen of Camden – Kendra Morris comes from 4,000 miles away.

Born a couple of years before Amy in St Petersburg, Florida, she grew up steeped in vintage soul and funk from her parents’ record collection.

Morris started out playing guitar in Tampa band called Pinktricity and first flirted with fame when she appeared on an American reality TV show in 2008 but walked away from it.

One of 11 women competing for the prize of a record deal, Morris eliminated herself in the fourth week, claiming the judges hated her image.

She had a second bite at the cherry when she was signed to a record deal a couple of years later, releasing her first single Concrete Waves in 2011.

It was followed a year later by her debut album: this is the title track, which was featured in the first series of one of my favourite TV series, Ray Donovan.

Since then Morris has had a varied career, recording an eclectic collection of tripped-out covers, ranging from Soundgarden (Black Hole Sun) and Radiohead (Karma Police) to Pink Floyd (Shine On You Crazy Diamond), Metallica (Ride The Lightning) and David Bowie (Space Oddity), and collaborating with rappers Czarface and MF Doom, and Ghostface Killah.

She also recorded a charity cover of New Order’s Bizarre Love Triangle with her friend Scarlett Johansson, produced by David Sitek of TV On The Radio, under the band name Sugar For Sugar.