FORT SILL, Okla. (April 24, 2014) -- A military child will perform the national anthem to open the Western Heritage Days concert April 25 at Polo Field here.
Outgoing, freckle-faced Ciera MacKenzie, 12, daughter of 1st Lt. Tonya and Daniel Crain Jr. of Cache, said she loves to perform and is looking forward to singing.
"I'm excited and just a tad bit nervous," said Ciera, a sixth-grader at Cache School. "Every time I go into the car I have to practice singing the song."
In addition to "The Star-Spangled Banner," Ciera will perform her song "Volunteer Soldier" -- a tribute to the troops. The next day at Western Heritage Days she will perform several original songs at 4 p.m. at Rucker Park. Her selections will include country and western, pop, rock and blue grass tunes.
Brenda Spencer-Ragland, Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation director, invited Ciera to perform after hearing her CD, said Tonya Crain, who is the Field Artillery School Commandant's Office executive officer. It is particularly appropriate since April is month of the military child.
"I'm ecstatic and pretty excited for her," said Crain, who used to play saxophone in the Maine Army National Guard Band. "I'm definitely proud of her.
Crain said she believes music is a good outlet, and a way for her children to learn.
"I think it's good for discipline to do something that's a little bit tough and has challenges," Crain said. "It's a very classical way for them to develop their brain."
Ciera has been singing in public since she was 4, and picked up the guitar in 2011. She plays electric and acoustic guitars. Her sisters Elizabeth, 12, and Fatu, 8, play the guitar; and her brother, Connor, 9, plays the drums.
Ciera said she wants her music to reflect what she has been through and the thought process of a sixth-grader. Her song "Little Baby" tells about one tough weekend that included Ciera losing a cheerleading shoe, and getting drenched in cake frosting by her friends as part of a prank. She also wants her compositions to help civilians understand what it's like to be in the military.
Whether performing on stage, at recitals and other events, Ciera said she always has the same belief: "Everyone came here to see me, and everybody is going to go home with a smile on their face."
For more information about Ciera and her music, readers can search Facebook, YouTube and CD Baby.
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