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.
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