Kelly Joe Phelps

Singer-songwriter, contemporary folk, Americana

Kelly Joe Phelps is a singer-songwriter's singer-songwriter and as such could easily be compared to others of that ilk - folks as variant as Greg Brown, Catie Curtis, Mark Erelli, Chris Smither, and Townes Van Zandt, to name a few. His guitar work incorporates both traditional folk stylings and the classic blues form. To that end, he might be of interest to fans of Buddy Miller, Eric Clapton, Bonnie Raitt, and other such artists who seamlessly incorporate the blues into their songwriting style.

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"Pilgrim's Reach" (from Brother Sinner & the Whale)
"When the Roll is Called up Yonder" (from Roll Away the Stone)
"Goodnight Irene" (from Shine Eyed Mister Zen)

Kelly Joe Phelps was born in Sumner, Washington, in October of 1959. He grew up accustomed to the ways of traditional American folk and roots music, playing tunes and learning licks from his father after picking up guitar for the first time when he was 12 years old.

As a young musician, Phelps gravitated particularly to different forms of jazz music, inspired by artists like Ornette Coleman and Miles Davis. His affinity for old timey jazz guitar picking - along with his richly soulful, intrinsically melodic voice - made him a natural at the form, and he developed a specific skill for what's known as free jazz. Though he'd started playing guitar when he was in his earliest teen years, Phelps made his way through the jazz world mostly by playing the bass.

After a decade in that field, he somehow found his way to the blues, discovering contemporary and folk-blues artists like Mississippi Fred McDowell (whose prowess was angled at hill country blues and the old school of folk-blues guitar picking). After falling into the blues style, Phelps returned his focus to guitar and developed a way of playing guitar wherein he laid the guitar on his lap and played slide guitar using a metal slide. He's also developed a remarkably infectious method of flatpicking and fingerpicking and, in 1990, started trying his hand at songwriting.

Nonetheless, it wasn't until five years later that Phelps released his debut album and effectively launched his solo recording career. (He had previously lent his guitar and bass skills to other people's projects.) His early solo recordings included original and traditional songs alike, allowing him to balance the line between old-school and contemporary folk and blues singing, always with one foot firmly planted in the realm of gospel music. Though many of his recordings have featured him solo with only one instrument and his deep-soul vocals, he has brought in a full band from time to time.

Considering his skill on the guitar as a jazz, blues, country, and folk picker, it wasn't until 2009 that he finally released a complete album of instrumental tunes - Western Bell (compare prices). In all, Phelps has released ten studio albums and one live record as of this writing, including one studio record with Corrine West. He's also lent his instrumental skills to the recordings of folks like Rory Block, Tony Furtado, Townes Van Zandt, Jay Farrar, Greg Brown, Bo Ramsey, and a number of other darlings of the contemporary folk and Americana music scenes.

To stay abreast of Kelly Joe Phelps' tour dates (he travels frequently across the US and internationally as well) and other information, you can visit his website at KellyJoePhelps.net.