Kym D - whose real name is Kimberley D. Witkowski - will debut the new ballad "Singing My Song" on Saturday.
After making a splash in the dance music world, Bordentown resident Kym D. plans to take her career to another level.
The "Notice Me" singer is set to perform a brand new song when she opens for Stevie B. at Hamilton's Cedar Gardens Saturday night. She says it's a departure from what people are expecting.
Kym D - whose real name is Kimberley D. Witkowski - will debut the ballad "Singing My Song."
"This is the first time I am singing it," the Ewing native said.
Although she has performed with other freestyle artists, including TKA, Robin S., and Noel, she is opening for Stevie B - who hit No. 1 on the Billboard charts in 1990 with the smash, "Because I Love You" - and considers the opening gig a great opportunity for the local artist.
"This will be a big show for me," she said.
So why take a risk and try something new?
"I wanted something I could perform vocally," she said. "Dance music is fantastic, and it gets people moving, but I wanted something to show off my voice and tell my story."
The core message of the song - a collaboration with Ace Enders and Hamilton resident Staci Barbati - is reflected in the lyrics as she sings "I'm proud of all my flaws/I'm proud of where I'm from/ I don't hate all my haters/ they're still there in their same places/They're singing my song."
"I'm proud of where I'm from," she said. "But I don't forget my past. There comes a point where you box it away somewhere and you move forward. I was afraid what people would say when they hear it, because it's so personal to me, but that's what music is."
Witkowski has more music on the way, she said. The entertainer recently returned from a trip to Tampa where she began production on another song, "Fate," which she hopes to release in June.
"Fate," she said, is collaboration with Joey Cozzo, who had wanted to work with her before, but the timing wasn't right. He composed the music to the track, and she wrote the lyrics in "thirty minutes."
"It was meant to be," she said.
The plan, she said, is to release both songs independently. Although she released "Notice Me" and a follow-up, "Turn Back" through the Philadelphia label, 418 Music-- distributed by Universal Music's Ingrooves - she is now a free agent looking into other opportunities.
In the meantime, she will put out "Singing My Song" in March, and has plans to film a video in the Trenton area late April.
"I want to use the Trenton Makes Bridge in the background and show how proud I am to be from here," she said.
Also appearing on the bill Saturday are DJs Augie V and Moe Green. DJ John Rossi will host. Cedar Gardens Banquet Hall is located at 661 Route 33 in Hamilton. Tickets for the show are $35 in advance; $40 at the door and can be purchased in advance at eventbrite.com, or by calling 609-847-2016.
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