A steel, slide, and sing thing

12 MP3 Songs
FOLK: Folk Blues, BLUES: Acoustic Blues

Details:
An outstanding songwriter, guitarist, vocalist, and performer, KC Kelly has numerous albums and performances to his credit. After many years playing mostly electric guitar in various musical styles, in the mid 1990s Kelly began playing acoustic guitar again, in open E tuning with brass bottleneck slide. What started out as âtherapyâ evolved into the music he plays today in concert. Back to Robert Johnson style Delta blues, he was mostly influenced by those around him (Ken Hamm, Gerry Barnum, Bill Johnson) and began writing his own blues songs. After releasing album five, âWhite and Black and Blueâ, he redeveloped his fingerpicking style and built up an instrumental repertoire as well. Moving back to the Salt Spring/Victoria area in â98, with his new steel guitar the sound really started to take shape with the release of album six, âWhat to doâ.
Beginning to travel again, Kelly spent a winter in Santa Barbara, California, (Cold Spring Tavern, Palace Grill, KTYD) and made the first of many appearances at Seattle Northwest Folklife Festival. Performing on Victoriaâs inner harbour was his summer vocation for many years, selling cds to visitors from around the world. He also began doing feature concerts at folk clubs on Vancouver Island.
Moving to Salt Spring Island in 2001, Kelly recorded his seventh album, âKC Kellyâ. After a trip to Thailand for a gig at a five star resort, and a brief return to Japan, he returned to Canada. Releasing his first cd on April 1, 2003, he has now independently sold some 1,000 copies round the world.
May 1, 2004 marked the release of Kellyâs eighth album and second cd, âInstrumentally Soundâ. A collection of original instrumentals played solo on the steel guitar, it has proven to be as popular as the first cd.
After a summer in Victoria, Kelly went first to Toronto, then South Carolina, then went to live in New Orleans. Playing regularly on Royal street and the banks of the Mississippi, he also did a radio show for WWOZ, and gigs at Neutral Ground, Turtle Bay, and his own show at Tricou House on Bourbon street (starting at 2 am on Friday and Saturday!) Many of the songs on his next cd were written then.
Back in Canada summer â05, Kelly spent the next two years between Victoria for the summer and Santa Barbara for the winter. On Salt Spring in early 2007 he demoed his ninth album, âKingdom Comeâ, and is presently working on releasing it as his third cd.


âhis voice and guitar are a pair of instruments that ring and slide together...a fine performer...a great slide guitaristâ

âhis guitar playing is prominent and worth a listenâ

âKelly is a talented songwriter and also knows how to interpret a good melody and spin it out his own wayâ

âa fabulous blues musician...a highlight and definitely a crowd favoriteâ

âbluesman with a delta feel...a consummate songwriter as well as instrumentalist.â

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