Kelly Joe Phelps

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Kelly Joe Phelps (born 5 October 1959, Sumner, Washington) is an American musician and songwriter. His music has been characterized as a mixture of delta blues and jazz.

Kelly Joe Phelps grew up in Sumner, Washington, a blue-collar and farming town. He learned country and folk songs, as well as drums and piano, from his father. He began playing guitar at 12.

Phelps concentrated on free jazz and took his cues from musicians like Ornette Coleman, Miles Davis, and John Coltrane. He spent 10 years playing jazz, mostly as a bass player. He refers to his “conversion” to a blues musician when he began listening to acoustic blues masters like Fred McDowell and Robert Pete Williams.

Initally gaining notice for his solo lapstyle slide guitar playing, which he played by laying the instrument flat and fretting it with a heavy steel bar, he has incorporated more ensemble work in his later albums. Inspired by the birth of his daughter Rachel in 1990, Phelps began writing songs. He began singing and released his critically praised debut, Lead Me On, in 1995. This album showcased Phelps’ craft, and as well as his own songs, he tackled traditional numbers such as “Motherless Children” and “Fare Thee Well.”

He released his second album, Roll Away the Stone (1997) and followed it up with 1999’s, Shine Eyed Mister Zen.

Tagged as:

blues, singer-songwriter, folk, acoustic, americana
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Tunesmith Retrofit
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Sky Like a Broken Clock
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Shine Eyed Mister Zen
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Slingshot Professionals
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HowardPlace wrote:
last month

must check out more of this guy's stuff. i'm listening to "tommy" it is heartbreakingly beautiful

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EvaIsWoah wrote:
June 2009

he sounded really nice live.

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FilmoreHolmes wrote:
May 2009

Western Bell is pretty good.

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jazzerbobby wrote:
October 2008

Don Diego, that's right, songs with names in their titles, that's because most of Kelly Joe's songs are a story about something, the characters involved often taking an important role. His lyrics are a little hard to understand at first, but take an evening to sit down, listen to an album with the CD sleeve, read the words, listen & let your mind wander into the situations he paints...

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mart-the-mod wrote:
October 2008

Taylor john is lush, simply lush

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Gradouble wrote:
September 2008

very nice guitarist.

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theo2009 wrote:
September 2008

U can hear this amazing artist onlne at: kser.org :O) TED

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basketbob wrote:
August 2008

This guy is Blues at it's best. Understated, but extremely competent guitar style, and an excellent voice to match. I can't think how I've missed him up to now.

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wCao wrote:
January 2008

he's...amazing

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the_white_hat wrote:
September 2007

There is not a single musician who has more greatly affected my own music.

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johnnypharaoh wrote:
August 2007

saw him a few times, hes so changed every time

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alecruben wrote:
December 2006

Where's his latest album: Tunesmith Retrofit? I like the style of that record, the combination between banjo and quiet acoustic guitar riffs.

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Don_Diego wrote:
May 2006

He's made so many songs with names in their titles. James, Marty, Tommy, Clementine, Sally, John, Katy, Irene, Jimmy, Jesus... It's a pretty good crowd!

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qaeries3 wrote:
May 2006

I'm the #1 fan, who the hell are these foolz?

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