Based in the Piedmont of North Carolina, Kai Lance is a guitarist, composer, and educator with a deep love for American roots music, the jazz tradition, and blues. Growing up in rural Orange County, Kai was the beneficiary of an extremely rich and diverse music community, regularly getting to hear local master musicians perform, and later on performing at local venues including Bond Brothers Eastside, The Sharp 9 Gallery, and Shakori Hills. 

Most recently Kai spent four years in Boston  at the New England Conservatory of Music, studying with Jason Moran, Jerry Bergonzi, Frank Carlberg, Ran Blake, Cecil McBee, among many others. During his time in Boston, Kai also performed around the northeast (Brooklyn, Portsmouth, Portland, Providence, Boston, etc) with his own band, The Mark Tipton Quartet, Aviana Gedler, Bruno Bruni, and others, as well as teaching guitar lessons in the suburbs of Boston.

Kai now resides in Chapel Hill, performing, and teaching music.

Photos by Koki Renwick