Photo by: Deborah Kates
KELLY RICHEY
CARRY THE LIGHT
Guitar virtuoso Kelly Richey has written and co-produced an all-original studio recording, Carry the Light, which will firmly grab the attention of the press and music fans everywhere. Richey’s songwriting and vocals underscore her powerful, take-no-prisoners guitar playing, firmly expressing her genuine talent and versatility.
Carry the Light, released on her own Sweet Lucy Records, reflects every bit of Richey’s stellar guitar tone and style, while propelling her into a new light as a thoughtful and insightful singer/songwriter. The 11 tracks range from personal reflection, contemplation and illumination to questioning the world we live in, all the while capturing the defining sound of The Kelly Richey Band.
“This CD was written with two dear friends: one is my guitar mentor, John Redell, and the other, Steve Carroll, came to me as a guitar student/songwriter,” says Richey. “Each week for four months, John and I got together and hammered out song ideas. Many songs were passed on to Steve to add either a chorus or bridge, or to strengthen the melody line. Steve also sent songs he wrote based on ideas and concepts we discussed and John and I constructed guitar parts to help make the songs come to life on the stage. I was constantly challenged by John to grow as a guitarist, and challenged by Steve to construct songs that stood alone with or without guitar wizardry.
“I recorded each song in demo form in my own studio over the summer,” recalls Kelly. “After the basic framework of each song was constructed, I asked my drummer, Shane Frye, to be there as we began pre-production, and with John playing bass we’d jam to make sure that each song would transfer to the stage and work as a three-piece band.”
Richey thought she would record the CD herself but soon realized she had a much larger project on her hands and began seeking a studio and co-producer. Rick Brantley ended up being the perfect complement. “Rick is a guitarist too and has a guitar player’s dream studio,” says Richey. “I asked Rick to co-produce the project because I knew I had taken the songs as far as I could and needed an outside perspective to ensure that the CD sounded like the best commercial release possible, while maintaining the character that it had when written.
“Rick and I were a great fit. We decided that I needed to move away from such a ‘live’ mentality and into a more studio frame of mind, so we chose to bring in session players who could capture the foundational tracks with perfection and speed; then, we could place the majority of our time in capturing the best guitar and vocal performances that I could produce.”
The result is Carry the Light, a compilation of thought provoking lyrics and powerful sounds that The Kelly Richey Band can make their own and take to the stage.
About Kelly Richey
Kelly Richey has been described as “Stevie Ray Vaughan trapped in a woman’s body with Janis Joplin screaming to get out.” That’s an apt appraisal of the Lexington, Kentucky native who’s been based in Cincinnati for many years. Richey has often been compared to such greats as Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan because of her ability to capture and entertain an audience with ripping guitar leads that both sing and astonish.
As a teenager, Richey practiced guitar 12 hours a day. “I never set it down,” she remembers. “I took it to school, I took it to the kitchen table and if I took a walk it was strapped on.” Now, when she picks up her guitar, anyone within earshot is compelled to listen. A working musician since her teens, she began her professional career as a member of the Arista Records group Stealin’ Horses; in 1990 she formed The Kelly Richey Band, with whom she has become both a national and international touring artist.
One of Kelly’s most cherished moments as a guitarist came in 1988 when she found herself on stage with the legendary Albert King at his sold-out show in Nashville. Invited to join him for one song, King told Richey, “That guitar is like a gun: if you pick it up, you better mean to use it.” And use it she did, playing the remainder of the set with the late blues legend. In 1993 she was playing a benefit in Louisville where another of her idols, Lonnie Mack, saw her perform. Impressed with her strong performance, he invited Richey to join him on stage, and together they brought the house down with their dueling guitar leads.
Since establishing her own label, Sweet Lucy Records, Richey has released 11 albums and a live DVD, as both a solo artist and as The Kelly Richey Band. As an extension of Sweet Lucy Records, she built a studio where she records her own music and works with other artists. In her adopted hometown of Cincinnati, Richey and her band have won multiple local awards, including Best Blues/R&B Band, Best Rock Band, Best Musician and Best Band.
Richey’s involvement with music goes way beyond recording and performing. A longtime private guitar instructor, in 2003 Richey began developing a Guitar Workshop and a Blues History program to take into the schools. In 2004, she became an “Artist on Tour” with the Cincinnati Arts Association, and in 2005, was added to the Kentucky Center’s artist roster. That same year, Richey began delivering an adult education program that included a six-week Guitar Instruction class. The following year, Richey created Music for Change, a 501(c)(3) non-profit committed to music education in today’s public schools; a variety of programs offering live performances, lectures, and interactive participation serve to facilitate learning opportunities for students while keeping the history of American music alive and prospering. Through standards-based instruction and academic enrichment, Music for Change programs support and strengthen existing school curricula. Recognizing that music is a universal language and the gift of music can be used to build learning skills and to strengthen each student’s imagination, Richey’s entire life is dedicated to enhancing the musical experiences of students and audiences alike.
Kelly Richey Talks About Some of the Songs on Carry the Light
“Carry the Light” is what I would call my own defining “guitar song,” with a chorus that leaves you singing—which describes what it is we do as traveling musicians. As the lyrics say, “Somewhere inside, there’s a song to be sung/You gotta let it out, just to help someone/If there’s a wrong, you gotta make it right/Let the music carry the light.” The inspirations for this song were Jimi Hendrix’s “Manic Depression” and Van Halen’s “Ain’t Talkin’ ’Bout Love.”
“What In The World (Were We Thinking)” is a song about the current state of affairs in this country and in our world. I’ve realized how we have taken for granted that things would simply be ok and they absolutely are not. We as a country are at one of the greatest crossroads we have ever faced and we need to realize that things are accomplished not on the left or right, but in the middle. It’s time to wake up, grow up, stand up and move forward with hopefully a new level of thought and approach to our world around us. We need the insight to pull together as the bridge in the song states, “We don’t have to look too far, to see the pain/Step outside your door, it falls round you like rain/We’d have to close our eyes, not to see/People everywhere, still longing to be free/The time has come, for us to see...that the answer lies, it lies with you and me!” I feel that there is great hope today, and without that hope, we have nothing.
“Angela’s Song” is dedicated to a 17-year-old girl who graduated high school early to go into the military because she felt it was her only hope of escaping the life she faced.
“When All Is Said and Done” challenges the listener to think about their life in light of dying and not having any regrets: “When all is said and done, I don’t wanna be the one, who looks back on the things I should have done/To think about my life, and the dreams that could’ve been, if I only knew now, what I knew then.”