INside Story: Indiana’s music scene, Part 3: the feeling

That Hoosier sound. No matter what form it takes, it has become a staple in the world of music.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

(WISH) — When it comes to music, sometimes it’s not just about the beat but also what you say in a song that can make a real impact and, with the help of their sultry sounds, these artists take their hearts and pour them out on the stage.

For Anneliese and Ali Klausing, they never thought the feeling of their words could take them so far. They’re start in music came in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic on a Quarantine Karaoke Facebook page. “I never would’ve thought in a million years ‘Oh, I’m going to get paid to play our songs our music,’” Ali said. “Songs that matter to us.”

Not too long after Anneliese convinced Ali to pick up a guitar for the first time, the duo figured out they had something special.

Now they’re booked and busy and in demand, sometimes four times a week throughout Indiana and elsewhere. “It’s almost surreal; like, how is this happening to us?” Ali said.

However, when they gave it a little thought, they realized it may be just the right timing that fans want to hear what they have to say. “We have a lot of songs that have a lot of meaning behind mental health awareness, and I feel like now is the time to let those songs be heard,” Ali said. “We’re just regular people following a dream and Indiana’s kind of making it happen.”

Meanwhile, another duo also aims to impact audiences with their vulnerable style: Keller & Cole.

“If you come see us play live, you’re going to feel it,” Landon Keller said. “We both get choked up singing our songs on stage sometimes.”

“It’s coming from the gut,” Kara Cole said. “It’s not for show.”

The pair connected when Cole’s youth program for at-risk youths was celebrating its one-year anniversary with a music festival. She asked her future music partner to headline the show and that led to conversations that led to a meeting at Landon’s house.

“She met my family. That went well, and then we went upstairs and we wrote a song in 15 minutes,” he said.

The duo’s chemistry and harmony made a big enough impression over the last few years to get the call to play at The Palladium at the Center for Performing Arts in Carmel.

When News 8 asked where they hope to go from here, Keller responded: “As far as it’ll take us.”

It’s a similar hope for music artist Brett Wiscons. He’s not new to the Indiana music scene but he remembers falling in love with music like it was yesterday. “I think it just goes back to being a kid in my room with the door shut listening to music and having posters on the wall of all my favorite bands.”

Since then he’s developed his own seasoned sound, and his writing usually taps into his own life. Most recently, he came up with the lyrics to one of his songs after being quarantined with his daughter during the COVID-19 pandemic. “We’re stuck in the house and she wanted to open up her own little nail salon in the house and daddy was her first client,” he said.

It’s the reason he performs barefoot with fingernails and toenails painted by his little girl. No matter what hobby they picked up during their time together, he says, she typically had the same response.

“‘Daddy, let’s do it again, let’s do it again,’” he laughed while mimicking her.

That little phrase and the fond memories that came with it became the chorus to his latest song.

Like Brett’s inspiration, Anneliese & Ali along with Keller & Cole believe something special has sparked in Indiana’s music scene.

“I don’t feel like Indy’s music scene is touchable,” Cole said. “We have such great local musicians.”

“Everyone’s kind of getting a shot to be heard,” Ali said.