She attended Holderness School and Skidmore College,[1] where she studied English literature, and spent the weekends as a waitress at Caffè Lena – receiving the prestigious President's Award upon her graduation.

[4] Kyle began her professional career in music when she traveled to Dingle, Ireland, in 2011 and recorded her debut album Monongah, a mix of Celtic, Appalachian folk, and literary elements that would become the trademark of her unique 'Gaelic Americana' style.

In 2013 Kyle released an EP of traditional May carols called One Morning in May, a collaborative project with English BBC Folk Award-winning duo Josienne Clarke and Ben Walker.

Artists who contributed to the album include Dirk Powell, Natalie Haas, Pauline Scanlon, Chris Stout and Scottish percussionist James MacKintosh of Capercaillie.

Literary influences in Carey's original songs include the poetry of Louise McNeill, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Elizabeth Bishop, Robert Frost and W. B. Yeats, as well as the prose of Charles Dickens.

Guest artists on the album included Rhiannon Giddens, John McCusker, Mike McGoldrick, Sam Broussard, Kai Welch and James MacKintosh.