Kylie Jo’s family is from Parshall originally but they have since moved to Crosby. When Kylie Jo was about 5 years old, her mother, Kristen Ator, began to notice Kylie Jo’s singing ability.

“Kylie started singing in the car all the time when she was little and I was like, ‘Am I just that parent that thinks she’s really, really good ’cause it’s my kid? Or is she really, really good?'” Ator said.

“I was very little the first time I sang. I’ve always had a passion for singing. Every time I would watch a Disney movie or something I would sing along to the words, especially when I would watch the movie ‘Aladdin.’ I would sing ‘A Whole New World’ all the time,” Kylie Jo said.

Former speech therapist at Divide County High School, Jen Maximo, began giving voice lessons to Kylie Jo and others, hosting several concerts a year for her vocal students to perform at.

Kylie Jo Ator sings the national anthem at the North Dakota State Parade this past July.

“We’d always have different themes,” Kylie Jo said. “Ms. Maximo would pick a theme and we would pick a song for the theme. We would sing at the Divide County Fair and we would sing all the time.

“She’s been very helpful in my life and very helpful with my singing. I could not be a good singer without her,” Kylie Jo said about her former teacher. Maximo has since moved away, but Kylie Jo is excited to work with her new vocal coach and teacher at Divide County High School, Kayla Pulvermacher.

Kylie Jo’s lessons with Maximo were a springboard for her singing opportunities. In addition to singing in Maximo’s concerts, Kylie Jo also began singing “The Star-Spangled Banner” at various local events.

Anthem expert

Kylie Jo was in the first grade when she first sang the national anthem for a small group. Her breakthrough was when she solo-performed the anthem at a local basketball game when she was 10 years old. Afterward, people who had heard her sing at the game began to reach out to ask her to sing at other events.

Kylie Jo Ator sings her solo at International Music Camp at the Peace Garden during the camp’s finale concert program.

“She got asked to sing at her first MMA (mixed martial arts) fight. She’s sung at two of those,” Ator said.

“I think I could sing the anthem in my sleep. I’ve sung it so many times,” said Kylie Jo.

“She sings at a lot of sporting events,” Ator said. “She sang at the girls basketball state tournament two years ago.” Kylie Jo also sang at the semi-finals game for the boys basketball tournament during the 2023-2024 school year.

Word of Kylie Jo’s singing spread, and a recommendation by a state parade board member was submitted on Kylie Jo’s behalf.

“We were able to get some tapes and stuff together to kind of show them and then they also heard her themselves so they were pretty excited to have her,” Ator said.

Kylie Jo sang the anthem three separate times during the N.D. State Parade so different areas of parade goers could hear her. The first stage was in a parking garage by St. Joseph’s Hospital. The second stage was by the Roosevelt Park Zoo, and the last stage was at a booth with speakers and news announcers on the state fairgrounds. A golf cart transported Kylie Jo from stage to stage, with roughly only 2-5 minutes in between each performance.

Kylie Jo was initially under the impression she would only sing the anthem a single time for the parade but was told about a week before her performance she would need to sing it three times that morning.

“I didn’t realize how big that parade was and how long the route was,” Ator said. “Also, how many people were at it. It was packed!” Kylie Jo added.

To prepare for singing at events, Kylie Jo drinks room temperature water and avoids dairy due to the sticky coating milk and dairy products leave on the vocal cords. Ator also keeps humidifiers in the home during winter to prevent the air from becoming too dry, which can adversely affect vocal cords.

“Every time I sing I get nervous,” Kylie Jo said. “It just comes with singing and like any performance, I would say. You always have a little bit of nerves. If you don’t have nerves, I like to say that means you don’t care or don’t care how well you’re going to do.”

Before each performance, Kylie Jo tries to slow her heart rate and take deep breaths. “As soon as I get my microphone and I start singing I’m like, ‘oh, I’m fine,'” she said.

Ator thinks her daughter is more nervous when singing in front of local friends and family than she is in front of strangers. Kylie Jo agreed with her mother, saying she’s always worried she’ll mess up in front of classmates.

Kylie Jo sings the national anthem all the way through at least once for practice before she performs it. Depending on how her voice feels on a given day, she’ll sustain certain notes for longer or shorter periods of time while singing the anthem.

“Your voice is not always the same,” Kylie Jo said. If she is having a “bad voice day” she will take steps to turn it into a “good voice day” by drinking lots of water and by resting her vocal cords.

“You need to make sure you manage your voice,” she said.

Budding professional

“The first time I went to International Music Camp I was a soprano, and this year I was an alto and baritone and I struggled with it because I wasn’t used to it,” Kylie Jo said.

Kylie Jo was told during her private lessons at International Music Camp that her instructors had placed her as an alto and baritone to help her expand her range. Her instructors had worked with Kylie Jo the year before and wanted to challenge and develop her vocal range and ability.

“They knew how high she could get so they really wanted her to work on seeing how low she could get as well,” Ator said.

Kylie Jo also had a solo performance at the International Music Camp during the camp finale concert program. Her solo started the program and her voice was the first voice the audience heard.

In addition to the state parade, state sporting events and music camp, Kylie Jo already has sung at two weddings, a funeral, and on several occasions for Crosby’s assisted living community.

“I just sing a few songs there and I bring my tambourine and I play along with all of the songs,” Kylie Jo said about her performances for the assisted living residents.

“The people really like it. They’re always asking when she’s coming back,” Ator said.

Kylie Jo is a member of the Crosby American Legion Auxiliary chapter and she sings for the local Veterans Day and Memorial Day programs. In return for this service, the American Legion pays for Kylie Jo’s tuition to International Music Camp.

The American Legion Auxiliary presented Kylie Jo with its “Good Deed Award” in May in recognition of Kylie Jo’s service to the assisted living community and Crosby community as a whole.

Kylie Jo isn’t sure if she’d like to make singing a full-time career when she’s older as she is interested in wildlife ecology and marine biology as potential future career fields due to her love for animals.

“But deep down I want to sing too,” she said.

Kylie Jo also wants to learn how to play guitar and piano to accompany her singing and to broaden her musical expression.