Background
Kusterbeck was born and raised in Saint St. Petersburg, Florida.
musician singer singer-songwriter
Kusterbeck was born and raised in Saint St. Petersburg, Florida.
She attended the arts-centric PCCA Gibbs High School in Saint St. Petersburg for three years as a Musical Theatre major, but dropped out of high school to pursue music as a career.
She is best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band VersaEmerge, which she joined in 2007. She began taking vocal lessons in the third grade. VersaEmerge VersaEmerge released their first European Parliament, Cities Built on Sand, in 2005, featuring former members Spencer Pearson on lead vocals, Anthony James on vocals, programming and keys, Josh Center on rhythm guitar, Nick Osborne on bass, and Anthony Martone on drums, as well as current guitarist Blake Harnage.
With the departure of Pearson, James, Center, and Osborne, Harnage and Martone recruited former bassist Devin Ingelido from Bury the Ashes.
Kusterbeck auditioned to be VersaEmerge"s lead vocalist in 2006, by sending a tape of herself singing one of VersaEmerge"s songs, "The Blank Static Screen". In 2007, at the age of 16, Kusterbeck claimed that she was 18 in order to get an audition.
She later cleared up this misunderstanding and explained that it was more of a mix-up. She was turning 17 a week from the audition, and she told Harnage on the phone that "I"m 17, my birthday is in a week".
This was misconstrued to mean that she was already 17 and was turning 18, but she actually meant that she would be 17 in a week.
VersaEmerge released their first European Parliament with Kusterbeck on vocals, Perceptions, in May 2008. They were signed to Fueled by Ramen in 2008, and they released their self-titled European Parliament on February 3, 2009. Other work Kusterbeck has a tattoo of an adhesive bandage on her left kneecap, as well as a tattoo of the word "TOUR" on her right foot.
While the other members of the band weren"t too sure about her, Harnage convinced them that she was right for the job. In 2007, Kusterbeck became an official member of VersaEmerge.