Bluegrass beginnings: Loving Dolly Parton may have gotten Irene Kelley kicked out of her first rock band (she was fired for bringing a Dolly album to practice), but in the 30 years since, her bluegrass sensibility, songwriting talent, and instrumental know-how have made her an accomplished musician. Moving from Pennsylvania to Nashville at the start of her career, Kelley worked on the famous Music Row and penned songs for Alan Jackson, Ricky Skaggs, Sharon White, Loretta Lynn, and Trisha Yearwood, but her own project, 2016’s These Hills, reflects her early inspirations. “Bluegrass is the last frontier of country music,” says Kelley.
Related stories
The Japanese House
On her sophomore album, In The End It Always Does, The Japanese House, aka Amber Bain, explores themes of love, loss, and identity. With her dreamy vocals and heartfelt lyrics, Bain captures the cyclical nature of relationships in a range of real experience that is unapologetically human. The album, co-produced by George Daniel of The […]
No blank pages
Shannon Spence awoke to her calling as a cartoon artist while pursuing a fine arts degree focused on printmaking at University of Virginia. In her fourth year, she took a course in sequential art–and she saw her future. “I realized what incredible potential comics were as an art form, and it just clicked for me,” […]
Informal arrangements
By Aaron Irons The Arcadian Wild finds uplift and grace amid warm harmonies on Welcome, the Music City string band’s latest effort, which blends elegance and heart-swelling dynamics with endearing revelations. Equal parts meditation and jubilation, Welcome offers connection and understanding in an era when such notions are at a premium. Lincoln Mick formed The […]
