As she makes a name for herself in California, Serina Hays says she owes a lot to her time in Sequim.

Hays, a 1997 Sequim High School grad who goes by the stage name Serina Dawn, recently released her first album, “Silver Lining,” a 5-song EP on streaming and download sites and on CD.

Self-described as “neo soul/rock,” Hays and her band including producer/musician Mark Sexton began working on the album last January, she said.

It came together quickly, Serina said, starting with “It won’t be Me,” which helped energize her writing.

“It was my ‘Me Too’ (#MeToo) movement. I never really responded until this song came into being,” she said.

“It’s me looking at my younger self and I’m so glad to be where I am at and realize that won’t be me. There’s a lot of confidence and power in each song because of ‘It won’t be Me.’”

But Serina finds a lot of optimism in her time in Sequim.

She and her family, including her mom Gayleen Hays, a retired Los Angeles Police Department officer, moved here when Serina was 13. They visited often a few years before, Serina said, and once her mom retired, she wanted to move her family.

She was given a dream gig as a junior in the high school operetta starring as Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz.”

“I was born singing ‘Somewhere over the Rainbow,’” Serina said. “It’s every little girl’s dream to sing that song as Dorothy.”

Stepping on the stage though and walking the Yellow Brick Road may have been the first stepping stone to her singing career.

“I feel that was the first time I received real validation as a singer,” Serina said.

The following year, she performed as the Baroness in “The Sound of Music.”

“It was definitely a big jumping off point for me, in regards to singing on stage, and gaining confidence and realizing it was something I wanted to do,” she said.

In the last 10 years, Hays has become a dedicated musician performing with her band around Lake Tahoe adding some original songs and covers of various artists such as Joss Stone, Amy Winehouse, Grace Potter and many more.

‘Silver Lining’

Serina’s first album partly came to be at fans’ prompting.

“People have always asked me, if I had an album they could buy but it didn’t really happen until the right players came into place,” Hays said.

“Each of these guys are fantastic musicians on their own and some of them are touring now. We did a ton over the summer and we hope to do a Northwest mini-tour at some point.”

Serina performed once at Harbinger Winery in Port Angeles and would love to bring the band for a similar experience.

She met bandmate Sexton more than a year ago doing an emergency gig together and they felt a creative connection and began writing music together.

They intended to do more than five songs for her album but Sexton’s band The Sextones is doing a European tour so time constraints limited them to the EP.

“When he comes back, we plan to do more,” Serina said.

California

Prior to Sequim, Serina was born and lived in Southern California before completing middle and high school in Washington. She later moved to the Tahoe area.

“I found my way here and never left, she said. “There’s a great music scene, I get my outdoors fix and I get to play music.”

She and her band perform at restaurants, concert venues, music events and more.

“Here there is a lot of outdoor summer music series going on,” she said. “It’s a pretty good opportunity for musicians.”

Looking ahead, Serina plans to keep singing and promoting the album.

“We hope to write some more, add a couple more singles and take that new setlist and expand our live shows and go to Oregon and Washington and go a little farther with our reach,” she said.

While music remains important, Serina said being a wife and mom to her husband Joe and 7-year-old son Caden remains her focus most of the time.

She also instructs The Bar Method workout and acts as a lifestyle model for various things, such as cameras, banks and more.

Serina visits Sequim often too, she said, to see her parents Mark and Gayleen who own a home here.

For more information on Serina Hays and her band Serina Dawn, visit www.serinadawn.com or look for her on social media sites under Serina Dawn such as www.facebook.com/serinadawnmusic.

“Silver Lining” became available Aug. 12 worldwide on iTunes, Amazon and other streaming sites. CDs and downloads are available at www.cdbaby.com.

Reach Matthew Nash at mnash@sequimgazette.com.

Serina Dawn album cover portrait shot by Ramsey Etchsion in Truckee, Calif.

Serina Hays of the band Serina Dawn said she owes a lot of her stage confidence to starring as Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz” and as the Baroness in “The Sound of Music” as a junior and senior at Sequim High School. “I feel that was the first time I received real validation as a singer,” she said. Photo courtesy of Serina Hays