精东影业

There鈥檚 a viral video on Instagram of a woman set up on the sidewalk dropping beats outside Progressive Field in Downtown Cleveland.

She鈥檚 behind a full drum kit, playing along with music blasting from a speaker.

Passersby stop to watch, dance and pull out their phones to snap photos and videos.

Lacretia 鈥淭T鈥� Bolden quickly gained attention with her street performances, which are a creative outlet from her main job as a touring and church musician.

鈥淚 took my speaker Downtown, I took my drums Downtown, because I had it all in my car. And I just set up on the street,鈥� she said. 鈥淢y mom met me down there and stood around and danced around the drums the whole day.鈥�

For Bolden, those performances have become a calling card.

She鈥檚 built a social media following of more than 150,000 as Tha Cover Girl, where she posts videos performing full band covers entirely on her own.

Drums, bass, keyboard and vocals are layered into one seamless arrangement.

Raised in rhythm

Long before the viral videos, Bolden鈥檚 musical foundation was built in church.

At Anathoth Missionary Baptist Church on Cleveland鈥檚 Southeast Side where her uncle was pastor, she first found her way to the drums as a toddler.

鈥淥ne Sunday I got up and just started playing. I couldn't sit on the seat. I had to stand up,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut I played, my mother played the organ. I played the drums standing up.鈥�

She never took formal lessons. Instead, she learned by watching, listening and playing.

By high school, that meant spending nearly every day at her grandfather鈥檚 church, Glorious Church of God in Christ on the city鈥檚 East Side.

鈥淚 found somebody's keys to the church 鈥� I didn't say anything about it. I just held onto the keys,鈥� she said. 鈥淓very day after school, we ride the bus down to my granddad's church, and I will be there until my parents came to get me.鈥�

Eventually, her family found out, but they let her keep practicing.

鈥淭hey let me keep the keys. The rest is history,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 literally would spend every single solitary day at my grandad's church playing drums.鈥�

That time became the foundation not just for her drumming, but for everything that followed.

Encouraged by her mother, Cleveland gospel singer Lucretia Bolden, she picked up other instruments like organ, bass and keys.

鈥淓ven before, when I only could play the drums, if I walked in the store and I wanted a guitar or I wanted the keyboard, my mother never said to me, 鈥榊ou don't play that,鈥欌�� she said. 鈥淢y mother would buy it.鈥�

From covers to career

Her path eventually led beyond Cleveland and gospel.

At Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio, where she studied vocal performance, Bolden was introduced to classical music.

This expanded her musical vocabulary in ways she hadn鈥檛 expected.

鈥淚 come from a world of gospel music. I mean, really deep, traditional gospel music, that's what I was raised under,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd it's funny because as a teenager, I would not sing. But I had to sing to get out of college.鈥�

Bolden said she didn鈥檛 like to sing, but the classical music program pushed her to learn new ways of using her voice, and she graduated with a bachelor鈥檚 degree in vocal performance.

After college, a push from a friend changed everything.

He encouraged her to post a video that showed the full range of her abilities, featuring every instrument she could play.

That video helped launch her online presence, and it led to a major opportunity.

鈥淎 lady named Bernadette Cooper saw me online, and she wrote me for a while and said, 鈥楬ey, I am in this band called Klymaxx,鈥欌�� she said.

Known for their hit 鈥�,鈥� the Platinum-selling, all-female R&B-funk band needed a drummer for their forthcoming tour.

While the band hails from Los Angeles, the video for their smash single was directed by Northeast Ohio legend Gerald Casale of Devo.

Today Bolden serves as both the drummer and music director for Klymaxx.

She鈥檚 toured internationally, performing everywhere from Cancun to Italy, sometimes on drums, sometimes on bass or keys.

Bolden has also earned industry recognition, including an endorsement deal with Ludwig Drums.

鈥淚'm really blown away when I go somewhere and people actually know who I am,鈥� she said.

Still playing every Sunday

After years of performing for others, Bolden is now stepping into something new.

She鈥檚 currently working on her first album and plans to play many of the instruments herself as she defines her own sound.

鈥淚 have so much still left to do,鈥� she said. 鈥淎ctually doing stuff on my own is something that I'm kind of gearing toward.鈥�

Despite the growing online audience and international touring schedule, her weekly routine hasn鈥檛 changed much.

She still plays at three different churches every Sunday, including her family鈥檚 church, where she first learned.

鈥淚 play the organ at a church called New Fellowship Baptist Church, and I play organ and sing there. And then I go to a church called Antioch Baptist Church, and I'll play the drums there.鈥�

She said those spaces remain central to who she is as a musician.

鈥淭hey sat and listened to me play when I couldn't play,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o now that I can play, I will not push them to the side just because I can.鈥�

For Bolden, Cleveland is more than just a hometown, it鈥檚 a deep-rooted part of her sound.

鈥淭here is no other sound like a Cleveland sound,鈥� she said. 鈥淭o be brought up and raised around this music mecca, this melting pot of talent, just to be a part of this and learning and gleaning here 鈥� Cleveland gets us ready for the world.鈥�