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Letter to the editor

5 Questions with Caroline Kudelko

By Times Staff Writer
Published November 18, 2007

Caroline Kudelko, 10, of Bellair performs on Tuesday at Frenchy's Rockaway Grill in Clearwater Beach . She says she has been playing the guitar for the last two years and goes under the stage name "Suite Caroline."
	[Edmund D. Fountain | Times]

ADVERTISEMENT [Edmund D. Fountain | Times] Caroline Kudelko aka "Suite Caroline" makes a face at a fan after performing at Frenchy's.

Belleair

Caroline Kudelko picked up a guitar forthe first time at age 8. "My dad gave it to me," said Caroline, a fifth-grader at St. Paul's School in Clearwater. "He told me I could try it but I didn't have to play if I didn't want to." Now, just two years later, Caroline plays like a seasoned veteran. She's already started writing her own music and has performed at several local venues, from Sarasota to Dunedin. Caroline is the daughter of Paul and Marie Kudelko, and she loves swimming and riding her bike when she's not making music. On Tuesday night, she played a 10-song set of favorites - including Big Girls Don't Cry by Fergie and Our Lips Are Sealed by the Go-Go's - before an appreciative crowd at Frenchy's Rockaway Grill on Clearwater Beach.

1. Was it hard to learn how to play the guitar? It was a little hard at first. But as you keep going andlearn what you're doing, it gets a little easier.

2. Where do you get the inspiration for your music? I hear a lot of songs on the radio that I like. Like the Fergie songBig Girls Don't Cry ... I like the Jonas Brothers and Hannah Montana and Martina McBride.

3. You write your own music, too. Where do you get the ideas? The first song I wrote was I Wonder. I liked a boy in school and I decided to write my feelings about it on a piece of paper.

4. Do you ever get stage fright? No. I love being in front of a crowd. I like playing everywhere. The crowd and the response you get is just great.

5. So, what do you want to be when you grow up? I definitely want to be a musician. A big star. That's why I'm putting so much time into it now. So I can be the best I can be.

If you go

Say you saw her when ...

Caroline's next performance will be 5 to 6 p.m. on Nov. 30, at the Clearwater Beach Hilton, 400 Mandalay Ave. To hear her sing, visit: www.myspace.com/floridassuitecaroline.

[Last modified November 17, 2007, 22:03:03]