Kelly’s songs sound simple, and they are – until you start to break them down and piece them back together. Straight-forward pop songs are twisted and turned into tight curves of melodic yet syncopated progressions. She borrows from rock, blues, country, and gospel until the lines between the genres are crossed and crossed again. The results of this fusion are songs that pay homage to their musical roots while being firmly planted in the “pop” genre.
Kelly uses her rich voice to evoke love, loss, and renewal. Her background – she was born in Mississippi and has traveled the world – provides her with a deep well from which to draw. Her work conveys a feeling of pragmatic optimism - joy of love and the price paid while reaching for happiness can be heard in songs like, “Your Soul”, “Secret Lovers”, and “It Catches Me Offguard”.
You can taste the influence of the Deep South. There’s a little Stevie Ray Vaughn in, “Everything Here Is Blue” and the foot-tapping, “Baby, That’s Just Too Bad” harkens back to an early Elvis – pre-jumpsuit.
Her skills as a collaborator (with Earl C. Webb) shine on “You Don’t Know How Much I Want To Believe”, a song that succinctly describes the yearning for connection while still tending to the wounds of lost love.
When you step back to view her overall body of work, the layers of rich complexity are revealed – she’s as comfortable with guitar-driven rock as she is with a story-song, or a ballad.
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