Kelly Joe Phelps

Artist's Website

Raised in Washington in a musical family (he took up the piano at age eight, and soon afterwards learned guitar, drums, and bass), Kelly Joe Phelps discovered the music of John Coltrane, Miles Davis and Ornette Coleman in his teenage years, and at a time when most kids his age were rebelling to rock and roll, Phelps was emulating the heady experimentalism and emotional directness of the free jazz masters. Later, as Phelps began to hunger for an even deeper emotional connection in his music, he discovered American Folk and Delta Blues in the records of Robert Pete Williams, Mississippi Fred McDowell and Skip James. He picked up a dreadnaught Gibson steel string and didn’t look back.

Phelps released his critically praised debut album, Lead Me On (Burnside) in 1995, followed by Rykodisc label debut, Roll Away the Stone (1997) – a collection of the singer-songwriter’s originals as well as a handful of classics. He further established himself as perhaps the foremost living practitioner of acoustic slide guitar with his next Ryko recording, Shine Eyed Mister Zen, released in 1999. Throughout the years, Phelps also collaborated with Greg Brown, Tony Furtado and Townes Van Zandt on respective projects. In 2001, Phelps released Sky Like A Broken Clock (Rykodisc), his first album to feature a full band (string bass and drums, with occasional organ and harmonica). He continues as bandleader with a compelling new collection of songs on his latest and fourth full-length Rykodisc release, Slingshot Professionals (2003). Guest musicians include celebrated guitarist Bill Frisell, bassist Keith Lowe, slide guitarist Steve Dawson, Jesse Zubot on fiddle and mandolin, and drummer Scott Amendola, among others.

Come experience the music of etown veteran Kelly Joe Phelps, “…(his) songs and his playing coalesce in his music, which combines the sophistication of jazz with the unadorned realism of the blues and the stark honesty of folk music.” – Tampa Tribune