Sound of Strength: Keyton Romero Pushes Forward as a Performer

Local country singer-songwriter Keyton Romero has a powerful voice and the ability to play a rousing fiddle. Fans delight in catching her performances around Kokomo in venues such as the Alehouse and the Country Palace, but also at places like the Haynes Apperson Festival and various county fairgrounds. Her love of music inspires her to keep perfecting her craft. However, her career accomplishments are also driven by a dream that was once her mother’s.

Pursuing that path is something Romero feels she was meant to do. No stranger to being on stage, her singing debut was as an angel in a Christmas play at age 5. Romero knew then that she wanted to be a performer, but after her mother, Aimee Romero, tragically died in March 2021, she felt she didn’t have a choice.

“Before I was born, my mom lived in Nashville and was an emerging country artist when she met my dad,” she says. “She had settled there after leaving her teaching job in Kokomo when she divorced her first husband. Her career was progressing; she recorded with Reba McIntire and Martina McBride, and was well on her way when she had me. Family was everything to her, and she decided to give up her singing career and move back to Kokomo to be close to family.”

“My mom always made us feel protected and told us my dad would never hurt us,” Romero adds. “They were in the process of getting a divorce and he had recently learned that the only contact he could have with me and my siblings were 10-minute phone calls. My mom’s life was taken by my father and then he chose to take his own life. Every day is a different challenge, but I feel it is my duty to finish what she started.”

Although her home base is Kokomo, once a month Romero travels to Nashville and meets with her team, comprised of songwriters and a producer. During her time there she stays with her godparents, Robin and Jimmy Disney. For the past four years she has attended the County Music Association Awards (CMAs) and has a role in prepping the performers backstage. Romero shares that the songwriting sessions are a routine she doesn’t want to break.

“I love writing solo, but I enjoy the collaboration of co-writing more,” she says. “I get to hear all the ideas in the room, but I also can read the vibe in the room when I present something. I was driving down to Nashville when I got a thought; when parents pass away, you don’t hear your middle name anymore. When I was in trouble, my mom would say, ‘Keyton Grace!’ I took the idea to the session, and we wrote the heck out of it! It’s called ‘Middle Name’ and it’s a kicker.”

Romero is a graduate of Eastern High School, and she grew up doing beauty pageants. She followed in her mother’s footsteps by being crowned Miss Howard County 2021, an honor held by her mother in 1994. From middle school to her junior year, she participated in show choir and musicals, and is grateful for the guidance of Choir Director Karol Evenson. She also appreciates the knowledge she gained from her orchestra teacher, Christian Starnes, who happens to be the bass player in her current band.

As a junior and senior at Eastern, Romero was the first-chair concert master for the violin section. She again held this position as a freshman and sophomore at Anderson University, until she transferred to Indiana University Kokomo. While she was at Anderson she had voice lessons. She also made the jump from playing classical violin to country fiddle.

“Mom made me take violin lessons when I was 8,” she says. “At the time I hated every ounce of it. Now it’s my escape. In the school orchestra we typically played a lot of Beethoven, Mozart, and some contemporary pop music by composers like John Williams. I taught myself to play country fiddle by watching YouTube videos. Once you have classical training, it’s easy to dance around an instrument.”

Romero and her aunt, Abbee Summers, initiated Aimee’s Hope, a foundation that aids individuals involved in domestic violence situations. Each year the organization sponsors the Aimee Romero Memorial Cupcake 5K Run. Funds raised benefit the Aimee’s Hope Foundation Scholarship, and enable much-needed items to be gifted to agencies such as the Howard County domestic violence shelter.

“I use my music as a platform for raising awareness of domestic violence,” Romero says. “I have been a speaker at Arise Mental Health Ministry Conference. People come up to me and talk because they know my story. COVID was a time when people were locked in situations. Now individuals need to know there is help available to get out of an abusive situation.”

In the future, Romero hopes that her work in Nashville will attract attention of a major record label. In the meantime, she is a co-writer on songs performed by rising stars such as Megan Barker. Romeo’s recorded performances and upcoming schedule can be found on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.

Sharing that there is “No joy like singing gospel,” Romero volunteers her time by helping to lead worship at her church. She credits her strong faith and belief in Jesus as the source of her strength in her journey. Her other sources of support stem from her husband and sound man, Dylan Clark, and the presence she feels from her mother when she is writing songs.

“Dylan and I got married March 1, 2024,” she says. “He is my rock, my biggest supporter, my best friend and the love of my life. My mom was the best mom in the whole world. I feel it’s my job to finish her legacy, but it’s not a job; it’s my love. My faith in Jesus pushes me every day. I know with Jesus everything will be alright and everything is possible. Every trip to Nashville is an aha moment. I learn something new and meet the most fabulous people. When I watch people perform at the CMAs, I feel it. I know this is going to be me.”