THIRD COAST MUSIC'S FREEFORM AMERICAN ROOTS CHART (REAL MUSIC PLAYED FOR REAL PEOPLE BY REAL DJs) Far And Away: Best of 2002
Best Debut Albums - #3 The Salt Of Your Skin
Best Female Vocalist - #5 Kelly Kessler (tied with Tift Merritt)
Best Albums - #18 The Salt Of Your Skin |
Marc Guarino,
Chicago Daily Herald:
Ever since since Kelly Kessler set down in Chicago, she's made it her mission to plumb her Appalachian musical roots. As one-half of the Texas Rubies and now leading the Wichita Shut-Ins, Kessler has been one of the city's most impassioned figures in breaking down country music's barriers as well as campaigning for its age-old nobility.
Her solo debut is proof the music can be dusted off to still resonate with modern ears. Kessler's new originals get to the heart of country's mission: to wring plaintive emotions out of everyday situations and make them breathe with dignity.
Backed by many Chicago country notables -Robbie Fulks, Jane Baxter Miller, Gerald Dowd, Lawrence Peters, John Rice and others- the 10 songs have the feel of a living room after dinner singalong, something the seven voices on the chilling gospel hymn "Back He Flew Away," defines.
Without going retro, layering on urban irony or cupping the music with a purist's hands, Kessler instead manages to connect with the warm, simple feel of the acoustic music's past. There is some roadhouse rowdiness on this album, but the songs that refuse to be ignored are the slower heartbreak ballads. "Meet Me Tonight At The Landfill" ( a duet with Peters) freeze-frames a conversation between a couple grappling with a "love so dead, there's nothing left to kill." And the title song conjures up nighttime mystery with lush, gypsy flair.
Small moments strike big here and the immediacy can be deadly. In a bluegrass duet with Fulks in league with the Stanley Brothers ("One True Way"), the two harmonize about wishing for "heavenly peace" and you swear they hit transcendence. |
Joe Sixpack at slipcue.com weighs in on "The Salt Of Your Skin":
Kelly Kessler "The Salt Of Your Skin" (Melungeon, 2002)(recommended buy) Weirder and more complicated than their earlier EP, this is an eclectic, untraditional, and ultimately challenging update of old-fashioned hick music, much in the style of Jim & Jennie or Freakwater. The ballads are more tuneful than the upbeat numbers, but it all points to an interesting future for this band. Worth checking out!
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Cheryl Cline of www.steamiron.com gives the nod:
Kelly Kessler was a member of the Texas Rubies, an early all-girl (remember those?) alternative country band. Kessler is joined by Robbie Fulks, Lonesome Bob, Andon Davis, and Jane Baxter Miller. The CD opens with a heartbreaking version of "You Are My Sunshine," (why do people persist in thinking this is a happy-happy little tune?) and followed by a slew of originals.
On her website, Kessler writes, "I subscribe to the "Radio In The Sky" theory: there's a big radio in the sky and it pumps out great country songs...So on certain days I'll slow down enough to hear these songs, or I'll suddenly remember: "Oh yeah, there's a big radio in the sky! Wonder what's playing on it right now? and I'll try to tune it in and cut out the background noise so I can hear the signal loud enough to pull a song in." The woman's got one hell of a receiver!
My personal faves are the title track, "You are My Sunshine," and "Your Darling Ain't Done Shit Today," to which Lonesome Bob contributes "sympathetic yelling." Also on Melungeon: Kelly Kessler and The Wichita Shut-Ins featuring Lawrence Peters, Life Of Regret (EP). But wait! There's more! Both of these records are also available on friggin vinyl.
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Stanislav Zabic of The Little Lighthouse writes:
Lately I heard a great deal of new female coutry-folk singers that really made an impression on me. Kelly Kessler is one of them, together with Patty Griffin, Pieta Brown, Rosie Thomas and Monica Queen. However, Kelly Kessler is probably least known of all of them.
I was lucky enough to get her records from her company Melungeon Records. Music is for listening, not reading, but I find Kelly's attempt to describe each song on her debut album The Salt Of Your Skin very congenial. Her music is that old traditional country performed in a toned down, almost blue fashion. She uses this very much traditional to actually express her urban impressions in a strong authorative signature which sets the important difference between her and Laura Cantrell for example, but puts her right there with Monica Queen.
Songs contain mostly accoustic instruments, upright bass among them. Right in the middle of traditional low-key songs there's a powerful favorite, Your Darling Ain't Done Shit Today which totally rocks. If album was made more to my taste, there will be more songs done this way, but the whole thing stays on a high level anyway. Other thing worth mentioning is that the band on the album sounds like it is playing right out there in your room due to a very nice live production. |
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| "I'd say Ms. Kessler's new disc [Salt of Your Skin] represents the future of alt.country, but that would be a lie. The skill necessary to synthesize the diverse strands of country on this record, not to mention the ability to blend the range of talents from Robbie Fulks to Kent Kessler, just aren't present in enough artists to constitute a movement. Instead, I'll call this a welcome release from a unique talent."
DJ Carl Zimring,
"Fear & Whiskey"
WRCT, Pittsburgh, PA
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"The bearer of that unique, touching voice and old-timey meets avant-garde sensibility many have been waiting to hear from again since her Texas Rubies days finally gets off the pot. "
Barry Mazor
Miles Of Music Magazine |
Kelly has enjoyed playing the Ernest Tubb Midnight Jamboree, SXSW, the Bluebird, Cafe Nuyoriqueno, PS 122, City Stages, Chicago Country Music Fest and many clubs throughout the country keeping the real pleasure of live music alive. |
UR Chicago, in their December 2003 issue, ranks us #2 in their "Top 20 Bands To Watch":
"When you learn that this band's self-started label, Melungeon, is named for an unidentified race of mountain people found in the Appalachians in the 1600s, you'll begin to get a clear picture of their music. Led by melancholy crooner Kessler (former vocalist for the Texas Rubies), the Shut-Ins hold together a dissonant, eerie sound with an "O Brother Where Art Thou" vibe. Thumping bass lumbers along with harmonica wails, staccato acoustic guitar picks and vocal harmonies that will transport you to the mountainside." |
Joe Sixpack at slipcue.com likes us:
Kelly Kessler & The Wichita Shut-Ins "Life Of Regret (EP)" (Melungeon, 2002) Recommended buy. Another nice infusion of thoughtful, thought-provoking alt.country from Chicago... Kessler used to be in a band called the Texas Rubies; here she is the brains behind a more restrained, soulful set of tunes, sometimes sung by co-vocalist Lawrence Peters, who has a rich, smooth delivery, soulful and entirely free of urban-hick affectations. This 4-song EP is pretty darn good -- each song is solid and well-written, and catchy, in a subtle kinda way. Keep an eye on these folks! |
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"Ce premier CD comporte 4 titres seulement mais donne une bonne idee des orientations du groupe: country bop avec de bonnes influences rockabilly (Life Of Regret) ballades medium un peu pop (Damn You) folk/bluegrass) (Well Of Tears) mountain music/old time (Point Of No Return - une valse sur laquele le vocal de Kelly flotte parfois.)"
Selection Disqu'Airs - Le Cri du Coyote |
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