What does it mean to be free? Do you have enough money to “live free?” These are some of the questions Kink Ador is searching for in their new album that is set to drop some time late fall. As a pre-release, the “Sunshine” single explodes with endless summer fun and, true to the lyrics, with lead singer Sharon Kiltock the sunshine’s almost never over.
Even as she walked in the door of Ugly Mugs coffeeshop, she was alight with as much glow as any sunshine-farer could be – despite the bleak and rainy weather we had to run through from our cars to get safely inside.
Bringing trumpet, guitar and songwriting talents to the mix, Sharon, along with electric guitarist Nick Hamilton and new drummer Josh Lockridge, they’re spicing up Nashville’s songwriter rounds with some Indiana-bred classic rock’n’roll. After all, Indiana born-and-raised Sharon and Nick know so well the “folk music of their people… rock is all they play on the radio, it’s all we know.”
Sharon grew up playing instruments with her family, but admitted, “I was an awkward kid, and it was always easier  for me to make friends through music rather than having to talk to them to get to know them.”
When college rolled around, Purdue and the life of a poem seemed a viable first choice until looking at future job prospects and the suicide rate for poets… “Maybe this life was for some, but nooooooo! Not for me.”
It was a fairly simple decision from there that Nashville was the place to be for music. “What stood out most about this city is its support for songwriting. And I grew up in the midwest anyways, gotta stick with your people!” She laughed brightly.
Don’t be fooled though. This sweet, bleached blonde songwriter hardly hides the hardcore soul dancing close by. When she moved to Nashville she didn’t waste a moment trying to figure out who she was or where she wanted to be. She knew setting off from home that music was her ultimate expression and enjoyment, so she made a straight dash for Craigslist and stumbled upon her current guitarist and long-term band partner Nick. After seeing him perform only once she knew that no one else could do the job like he would.
“He’s almost spiritual when he plays, he gets lost in it.” Finding a drummer, however, wasn’t such an easy task. “There’s such a need for drummers in Nashville, I feel like, that it’s really hard to keep one for a long period of time.”
What could have been a turn for the worst though, Kink Ador has taken in strides and retained everthing that made them stronger through these struggles while letting the rest fall away.
“We’ve had to filter through several drummers in the past couple of years, but this has forced us to strengthen our vision because we have to translate it through so many people. We’ve kept a consistent sound and vibe through all of these changes. Now our current drummer of two months, Josh, is our ‘dream drummer.'”
The band has tethered themselves tightly to the songwriting process, and this has anchored their lively sound to a happy middle ground – loud without being obnoxious, crazy without total madness, and unquenchable energy known as Kink Ador.
A hopeless logophile, Sharon even crafted the band’s name so that it carries plenty of  their energetic rhythm.
“Kink is like rhythmic and has a hard edge. And Ador is soft to the mouth. We’re a groove based rhythmic band – we’re trying to soulfully capture these two sides of love.
Calling her mom for opinion and feedback on the name idea didn’t go so well, but throwing a respectful yet unaffected laugh my way she added, “ if it offends my mom it’s rock’n’roll.” With this first expectation already set of weird things to come, it seems only natural that Kink Ador follows suit, and while they have set themselves securely in the rock genre, they have love for all different types of music.
“People here can execute their ideas well, so if you don’t like someone you are critizing their idea not their execution.We like stuff that’s weird. Big fans of Prince – he can just get down to it. But his music also hits you on deeper levels. We also tune into some Jeff Buckley and others genre artists who can do that.”
“I take pieces of inspiration from everything in life… it can hit you at any time, so I just always keep my antennas up.”
With birthing pains setting in, they are kicking it into high gear in the studio while looking forward to the big moment where their previous Sunshine single, 3 Sided Single EP, The Shape of Life EP and I Am Animal EP come together to welcome their first full album into the world.
It’s a strange process of simplifying – Being as simple and true as possible. It’s all about the songs that unlock the door to connecting with people; you look at songs like that and they’re so simple. Stay pure.”
While staying pure in their music they’re also  “living lean” in hopes of saving up for optional touring as they make they big release. The east coast will see the most of them, but you never know what could happen for these guys.