In the video for "Being Me," the first single from The Strange Familiar's new album, Chasing Shadows, lead singer and pianist Kira Leyden does a strip tease...of a sort. She appears on screen in an outfit that shows off several decades' worth of rock 'n' roll excess, including neon wigs, fake nails and tattoos. Peeling off the layers of jackets, dresses, ties and make-up, she reveals the low-key, small town girl she is, while singing, "Don't have a single tattoo; Always got straight A's in school; And yeah, I sing in the choir; Never made a good liar..." The song is a declaration of independence, more confident than self-effacing, with a smoky acoustic groove leading up to a jubilant chorus that shows off her soulful upper register. It demonstrates their affinity for penning poptastic tunes, but also has a more serious message about being true to oneself. "Being Me" was written to lyrically interpret the idea of peeling away the layers of who you are not. "The clothes I wear! in the video are all costumes I've actually worn on stage," Leyden explains. "After years of trying to get a reaction out of an audience with outrageous clothes I finally realized I'm much more interesting just being myself." Leyden and guitarist Jeff Andrea, the husband and wife songwriting team behind Strange Familiar, make the kind of timeless music that long careers are built on. They have been writing and performing together since they met in grammar school in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. "I was in
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