Making her mark

For Kaitlin Corbett Jones, the stage has never been something to fear. 

At 11 years old, she walked onto the 50-yard line before a Minnesota Vikings game, preparing to sing the national anthem in front of nearly 70,000 people. Moments before the performance, she quietly turned to her mother with one last idea. 

“I think I’m going to go up another octave on the ‘land of the free,’” Jones recalled. 

Her mother looked back at her. 

“‘Oh, dear Lord, Caitlin.’” 

Jones smiled, stepped onto the field, and trusted her instincts. That confidence has followed her ever since. 

Today, Jones is introducing her debut six-song EP, “Make the World Stand Still,” through Las Cruces-based ScoJo Music. While the project marks a new chapter in her career, it also represents years of preparation, from childhood performances and classical training to finding a creative partnership with producers Scott Zambardi and Joel Parker, who believe independent music from Southern New Mexico can compete on a much larger stage. 

Long before recording the EP, Jones was a young girl in Brookfield, Wisconsin, climbing onto the family coffee table and pretending it was a stage. 

Music surrounded her growing up. She was drawn to the soaring vocals of Whitney Houston, the emotion of Celine Dion, and the storytelling she found in Disney films. Without realizing it, those artists were shaping the kind of music she would one day make herself. 

“I kind of gravitate to those beautiful ballads,” Jones said. “I just always have.” 

No one in her immediate family pursued music professionally, but Jones never remembers questioning whether singing belonged in her life. 

“It didn’t feel like work for me,” she said. “It was something that I absolutely enjoyed.” 

By 8 years old, she was already singing the national anthem at public events. At the same time, she immersed herself in musical theater, appearing in the productions of “Annie,” “The Sound of Music,” “The Wizard of Oz,” and “Charlotte’s Web.” Every performance reinforced the same feeling. 

“When I’m on stage, it’s like I’m a whole different person,” she said. “I was always comfortable in front of an audience.” 

That comfort eventually carried her to one of the defining moments of her childhood. 

At 10 years old, Jones was selected as one of 10 children to perform with Celine Dion during the singer’s world tour. Standing beside one of her biggest musical influences was unforgettable, but it was a quiet moment away from the microphone that stayed with her. 

“There is a photo where I’m sitting right next to her, and she’s scratching my back,” Jones said. “I was like, ‘Can we just freeze this moment right now?’” 

Years later, Jones still points to Dion not only as one of her greatest inspirations, but as an example of the kindness she hopes to carry throughout her own career.  As her voice matured, so did her training. 

Jones studied classical and Italian opera, refining the breath control, diction and discipline that continue to shape her sound today. Rather than choosing between classical music and contemporary pop, she blended both, creating a style rooted in powerful ballads while remaining open to different genres. 

“I don’t want to pigeonhole myself,” she said. “I think it’s really important that I mix the two because we really don’t hear that right now.” 

Jones’ versatility immediately caught the attention of Zambardi and Parker, who founded ScoJo Music after years of working together in the recording industry, sharing a vision of developing independent artists while proving nationally competitive music could come from Las Cruces. When Jones entered the picture, they believed they had found the right artist to help bring that vision to life. Parker remembers being struck by the energy and range in her voice almost immediately. 

“When I first heard her voice, just her energy—she has a good range,” he said. “When it gets closer to the final product, that’s when I can tell for sure, ‘Well, this has potential, and she’s got something special here.” 

Zambardi also saw Jones’ versatility as one of her greatest strengths, believing her ability to move comfortably across different styles made her a natural fit for the project. For Parker, the project also represents something bigger than one artist or one release. Growing up locally, Parker believes Southern New Mexico has long produced talented musicians who rarely receive the recognition they deserve. 

“I’ve always wanted to put Las Cruces on the map,” Parker said. “There’s a lot of talent here in Las Cruces that just goes unnoticed.” 

Helping introduce Jones to a broader audience, he said, is another step toward changing that. For Jones, finding the right collaborators proved just as important as finding the right songs. 

She said Zambardi and Parker created an atmosphere where creativity came naturally, allowing her to lean into the influences that had shaped her since childhood instead of trying to fit into someone else’s mold. 

“I am so blessed with the team that we have,” Jones said. “It was so nice and it was just so comfortable and organic. I could wake up and just go record with Joel and Scott, and we were all on the same page with my music.” 

That trust became the foundation of Make the World Stand Still. When Jones first heard the title track, she immediately connected with its message. Like many of the songs she grew up loving, it tells a story—one she found herself living in real time. 

“It’s something that I was personally going through,” she said. “You just want to make the world stand still because you don’t want time to pass.” 

Whether listeners are celebrating life’s happiest moments or navigating life’s most difficult ones, Jones hopes they find pieces of themselves throughout the EP. One song, however, gradually became more personal than she ever expected. 

Jones said, “Everybody’s Somebody’s Angel,” took on a deeper meaning during the production of its music video. 

Years earlier, one of her Yorkshire terriers, Lexi, appeared alongside her in the video for “Roses and Rain.” Before filming began on “Everybody’s Somebody’s Angel,” Lexi passed away. Jones asked if her other Yorkie, Louie, could make a brief appearance instead. 

“I felt like he’s my angel and I’m his,” she said. 

Director Eric Johnson built that quiet moment into the video’s closing scene, giving Jones one final memory with Louie on camera. Not long after filming wrapped, Louie passed away as well. 

“So now he’s my little angel,” Jones said. 

The song suddenly carried a different weight. Listeners who had experienced the loss of a pet began reaching out to share their own stories, telling Jones they connected with the video’s message in ways she never anticipated. For her, those conversations became a reminder that music often means the most when people see pieces of their own lives reflected in it. 

“I really want my voice to connect and touch my audience,” she said. “Just having the right message and raw emotion.” 

That desire to connect is also why Jones still prefers performing live over recording. The studio allows her to focus on every detail, but the stage gives those songs a life of their own. 

“When you’re on stage, that is when you just feel alive,” she said. “That’s when you connect with the audience. I think the dream would be that you’re singing and they’re singing along with you,” she said. 

For Parker, helping independent artists reach that point remains the biggest challenge. While streaming services have made releasing music easier than ever, he said building an audience requires far more than simply putting songs online. 

“The hard part is getting people to know who you are and where to find you,” Parker said. “The promotion side of it and the marketing side of the business is where it’s kind of hard nowadays.” 

Even so, he believes Jones is capable of reaching well beyond regional audiences. 

“This release is hopefully going to take her to the next level,” Parker said. “Hopefully, people throughout the United States will know who she is.” 

Jones is already looking ahead. She hopes to continue recording, perform for larger audiences, collaborate with other artists, and eventually hear her music featured in film and television. 

But when asked what she hopes people remember after hearing her songs for the first time, her answer wasn’t about recognition or career milestones. Instead, it came back to the same feeling that first drew her onto a coffee table in her Wisconsin home, pretending it was a stage. 

She wants listeners to feel something genuine. Somewhere between a coffee table in Wisconsin, a stadium filled with nearly 70,000 fans and a recording studio in Las Cruces, the dream Jones imagined as a little girl became something real. 

Now, she’s ready to find out where the music takes her next.