Album Notes

The best country songs look life's hardest truths right in the eye. Fact is that's what feels so good listening to them.

On her debut solo album "The Salt of Your Skin", Kelly Kessler sidesteps the hard-sell, the bravado, and the treadworn optimism so common in pop-leaning country. She goes for what’s real, singing of “a love so dead we’ve got nothing left to kill” [Landfill] and warning the cheating knucklehead she’s bailing on: “This Is Gonna Hurt You More Than It Hurts Me”.

This album deftly draws on influences across the decades – mountain ballads, honkytonk, bluegrass, even the spare lines of Monk and Miles – snowballing every close-to-the-bone source into a current take on what counts in country.

Guests artists include Robbie Fulks, Jane Baxter Miller, and Lonesome Bob. “The Salt of Your Skin” won Top 5 Debut Album and Top 5 Female Singer berths on the 2002 FAR Americana chart.

"Kessler's new originals get to the heart of country's mission: to wring plaintive emotions out of everyday situations and make them breathe with dignity." -Marc Guarino,
Chicago Daily Herald

"Kessler traffics in an almost-forgotten brand of country music that isn't afraid to show its scars, stitches and other abnormalities." -Bobby Reed, Chicago Sun Times

"I'd say Ms. Kessler's new disc [Salt of Your Skin] represents the future of alt country, but that would be a lie. The skill necessary to synthesize the diverse strands of country on this record, not to mention the ability to blend the range of talents from Robbie Fulks to Kent Kessler, just aren't present in enough artists to constitute a movement. Instead, I'll call this a welcome release from a unique talent." -DJ Carl Zimring, "Fear & Whiskey" WRCT, Pittsburgh, PA

"The bearer of that unique, touching voice and old-timey meets avant-garde sensibility many have been waiting to hear from again since her Texas Rubies days finally gets off the pot.” -Barry Mazor, Miles Of Music Magazine