| Background: | person |
| Kyshona Armstrong | |
| Origin: | Irmo, South Carolina, U.S. |
| Years Active: | 2014–present |
| Website: | https://www.kyshona.com/ |
Kyshona Armstrong (known monomymously as Kyshona) is an American singer, songwriter, and musical therapist based in Nashville, Tennessee. Her songs incorporate elements of roots, rock, RnB, and folk and often feature themes of liberation and community. Her discography includes four albums. Her song Listen gained prominence during the 2020 racial justice protests due to its "prescient" lyrics.[1]
Kyshona grew up in Irmo, South Carolina.[2] She attended the University of Georgia, where she studied musical therapy and classical music performance on the oboe.[3]
After college, Kyshona spent 17 years as a music therapist, focusing on veterans, incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people, and the youth.[4]
Kyshona began writing her songs with patients under her care.[5] As a therapist, she met two black men—one a poet, the other studying recreational therapy—who had breakdowns and were in the mental hospital. She recounts learning how to write music through their therapy sessions. In 2014, she moved to Nashville to pursue a career as an independent artist.