About Kids In America
Kids In America is a six-piece 80s cover and tribute band from Charlotte, North Carolina. We started in 2015 and we have not stopped since. That’s the short version. The longer one is more fun.
It Started With a Drummer Who Wanted the Whole Decade
Mike Graci knew it was time to start his own band. After relocating from New York down to the Charlotte market, Mike was spending his time pounding the pavement and hustling for gigs – playing for the NBA’s Charlotte Bobcats Drumline, road tripping for hours with wedding bands, teaching lessons out of a makeshift studio in his garage, and even a stint spent hitting percussion alongside nightclub DJs at the Epicenter in Uptown.
Throughout this time, Mike had a vision of leading the kind of band that would make a meaningful impact on the audience, and the kind of musicianship and execution that would keep folks on their feet.
Why the 80s?
Mike wanted to assemble a group that would embrace the camp and maximalism of his favorite era – the colorful clothes and joyful defiance – while honoring the rudiments, the origins of some of the most important popular music ever made. Mike had spent his whole life as a musician, and three decades playing in bands before he started this one, which is long enough to know exactly what he didn’t want. Not a casual bar act with a few 80s songs in the set. Not a rigid or structured tribute to one artist. He wanted to encapsulate the entire spirit of the decade that meant something to him. All of it, played right. He wanted a room full of people to feel like they’d walked back into it.
The catch is that the 80s ask a lot of a band. The decade that produced “Let’s Go Crazy” also produced “Welcome to the Jungle,” “Burning Down the House”, “Bust A Move”, “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun”, “What About Love”, and “Rebel Yell”.
Achieving that expansive range meant finding the right player for every single role, not just filling the chairs.
Making the Band
Shannon and Mike had a chance meeting at local Charlotte haunt Stooges Pub & Grub, where she happened to be on hiatus from a career in theatre.
Bass player Roey Haviv was a longtime collaborator, playing with Mike in multiple side projects through the years.
GK and Ray were incredibly lucky finds via the matchmaking magic of the internet.
And remember that NBA Bobcats Drumline? That’s where he met keys player Rob Bowser.
One by one Mike pulled them in, and now the chemistry is palpable, resulting in a captivating and contagious stage show full of organic moments of connection, excitement, and pure fun.
What We Actually Do Differently
Most cover bands make the songs their own. We deliberately don’t. Every guitar tone, every synth patch, every vocal line is chased down until it sits where your memory says it should.
Which is why there are no backing tracks. Not a laptop, not a click-and-loop rig, not “mostly live.” Six people, every note, every night.
The rest follows from the same idea. Male and female lead vocals, so the entirety of the 80s catalogue can be explored, and all of your favorite 80s icons are represented. Multiple costume changes per set. Era-specific props. Real audience participation, not a token call-and-response. And six people who visibly enjoy each other on stage, which an audience clocks faster than anything else in the show.
Where It Went
By 2019 the band had outgrown the region and started traveling. Festivals, casinos, corporate events, theaters, concert halls, performing arts centers and private events across the country.
Recent and upcoming dates include the Duke Mansion in Charlotte; Sugar Mountain Resort; Childress Vineyards; the Starbright Theatre in Las Vegas; Federal Hill Commons in Noblesville, IN; Newberry Opera House, and an opening slot for Foreigner at the Hard Rock Cafe in Bristol, VA. We’ve flown to San Antonio to play a wedding and back for a Thursday night in Mint Hill.
22 States and counting.
