Speaker 1: 0:46

This evening I am joined by an amazing Texas singer-songwriter that hails from Waco, texas, and she caught my attention playing on Instagram about six months ago. Hey everyone, it's Randy Holsey with Backstage Pass Radio and I hope you guys are doing well this evening. My guest is an award-winning songwriter, a charting artist on the Billboard charts and a veteran of the grand old Opry stage. You guys are in for a treat, so sit tight and we'll chat with the one and only Kristen Kelly when we return.

Speaker 2: 1:16

This is Backstage Pass Radio. Backstage Pass Radio A podcast by an artist for the artist. Each week, we take you behind the scenes of some of your favorite musicians and the music they created From chart-topping hits to underground gems. We explore the sounds that move us and the people who make it all happen. Remember to please subscribe, rate and leave reviews on your favorite podcast platform. So, whether you're a casual listener or a die-hard music fan, tune in and discover the magic behind the melodies. Here is your host of Backstage Pass Radio, Randy Hulsey.

Speaker 1: 1:56

I am joined by Kristen Kelly. Kristen, hello, it's good to see you.

Speaker 3: 2:01

Hi, randy, it's good to be seen. And it's great to see you, isn't it?

Speaker 1: 2:04

great to be seen. I love that saying. I just need everybody to see me. Right, that would be everything. Well, I'm glad you're here. You know we had a few hiccups with the old email thing earlier today, but I guess we've triumphed and prevailed and here we are. Yes, sir.

Speaker 3: 2:23

Technology as well.

Speaker 1: 2:26

I know it's a necessary evil. I guess these days, if you don't have it, you can't. I don't know, we can't function. I remember a day where we were not stuck in cell phones, but it's weird when you think about it. Our whole world is in the cell phones Our banking information, our contact, like everything, our calendar. It's how we live these days. It's just, it's nuts.

Speaker 3: 2:49

I know it is.

Speaker 1: 2:52

Well, first of all, did I catch you on the road, or are you at home right now?

Speaker 3: 2:58

I am currently in Texas, okay, and I will be hitting the road in a couple of weeks. I'll be in Indiana on May 30th and Fort Jennings, ohio, on May 31st, and then from there I will head to the Wild Women's Rendezvous and that's going to be in Idaho and it's a week-long retreat for women and there's all kinds of workshops where you can learn for women and there's all kinds of workshops where you can learn um. You can do a archery workshop or a hunting and trapping workshop or um it's. It has to do with the outdoors and but there's also um workshops that are related to self-defense and mental health Very cool. And I'm going to be doing a creative workshop and, yeah, it's so much fun.

Speaker 3: 4:00

I got to go last year for the first time and I sang and shared my story, my truth, with everybody, and then I attended some of the workshops. And then this year I'm going to attend the workshops. I will sing and there's a couple of my artist friends that are going to be joining us and then also I'll be hosting a creative workshop.

Speaker 1: 4:24

That's super awesome. At first I thought this was like a whole music retreat, which is not uncommon for musicians, right. But this is like totally off the grid, right from a music perspective. Anyway, it's not geared around music, in other words.

Speaker 3: 4:40

No, it's not geared around music. It's geared about setting women up for the survival skills and the knowledge that is necessary. Um, if you spend time in the outdoors, and especially if you are like myself and you want to be able to provide for your family, and that includes going out and hunting and harvesting um, you know everything that we consume.

Speaker 1: 5:12

Yeah, that's very interesting and I swear to God I'm not going to put you in a box right now. But let me just tell you this it's interesting that you say that because I watched a video of yours and this was really before I knew anything about you, and you were doing an unboxing of, I think, some CDs that had come in and you had a knife and you cut the box open and then you just put the knife back in your pocket. I said this is a country girl, she carries her own knife. So I said, right there, okay, she's from somewhere. That's like off the grids, right? Because most, most girls, you know, don't walk around with a pocket knife, right? A pocket knife yeah.

Speaker 1: 5:51

Yeah. So I'm like okay, I don't want to like label, but I'm going to have to do a little homework here.

Speaker 3: 5:56

That's okay. A pocket knife with a pair of gloves, you know.

Speaker 1: 6:02

And the interesting thing, kristen, is I've had a few awesome female artists on my show that were just country girls and they were. They're so awesome and it's interesting to talk to people that you know it's a little different way of life, right. Like I'm born and raised in the city and I do, I've always done city things, so that whole mindset around just slowing down and and doing country kind of things, it's just, it's foreign to me. I think it's really cool and my wife and I talk all the time like where, where are we going to move when we get older? Do you want to go? You want to get like 10 acres somewhere. She's like really there's not a Kroger around or there's not a, there's not a Walmart around, like we're so used to the amenities by being city people, right.

Speaker 3: 6:45

So there's nothing wrong with that, you know there's. There's room for everybody, absolutely. And I, I have spent my time living in a city and I will tell you, I prefer the country, I prefer the outdoors. My husband and I are actually in the process of of minimalizing things and, um, we have our, our restaurant here, that, uh, in Mart, texas, um, and my husband does all the cooking. If it was, if, if y'all were relying on me to do the cooking, then you probably should go somewhere else we should come not hungry right.

Speaker 3: 7:35

Yeah, exactly, I have a few go-tos that I can cook, but I just I didn't.

Speaker 3: 7:47

I've never been a really big handy person in the kitchen, and so, anyways, yeah, my husband and I we opened this restaurant called Storyville, texas, and it's in Mart and currently you can get orders to go by ordering online or ordering in person at the window, and we do have a covered patio that has three picnic tables and we have some outdoor space that we have plans to renovate and we want to bring in live music and have benefit events related to our mission to help end the violence of child sexual abuse. Because I am a survivor and I'm sure we'll talk about all of these things, but I, yeah, we, we just opened in December and we're in the process of making some of those changes and, yeah, so I'm in Texas and we've opened this restaurant, but the focus is to minimalize and live life on the road for my music and then be here for our events and the things that we, you know, want to do. Um, but yeah, there's room for everybody. I've lived in a city, but I prefer the country and, honestly, prefer on the road.

Speaker 1: 9:04

Yeah Well, you know I envy that. I envy the fact that you can just minimalize. And I know I'm not a spring chicken and I'm not planning on retiring anytime soon. But as we get to the later ages in life, we have to start thinking of things a little bit differently. And I just went out a month ago and bought a new Corvette. Right, that's not minimalizing, right?

Speaker 1: 9:32

So I've got my priorities a little jacked up right now, but maybe I can learn from you a little bit. And look, the word on the street is it takes you an hour to cook minute rice. Is that a true story?

Speaker 3: 9:47

I don't know, that's funny. I really don't know, I don't think.

Speaker 1: 9:50

Is that real? Did you? I don't know? That's funny. I really don't know. I was picking on your cook and you said you were not a good cook, so I figured it took you an hour to make minute rice.

Speaker 3: 9:59

It might not be an hour for minute rice. That's funny. Yeah, you definitely. I have, like I said, a few go-tos, Like there's a salsa verde chicken pasta that I love and yeah.

Speaker 1: 10:15

Well, tell me where you said Mart Spell, that Is it, m-a-r-t.

Speaker 3: 10:19

Yes, sir, yeah.

Speaker 1: 10:20

Where is that?

Speaker 3: 10:20

It's not very far, so about 20 minutes east of Waco, kind of maybe like southeast a little bit. Okay, yeah, maybe Because I'm from Lorena, which is 10 minutes south of Waco and it's definitely east. Yeah, it's definitely southeast.

Speaker 1: 10:47

So it's not too far from Waco then, right.

Speaker 3: 10:49

Yes, sir, it's like 20 minutes outside of Waco and whenever I was in school at Lorena we played Mart some I think I can't remember what A we were and they were, but it's just one of those great small town. You know Texas small towns and they're big on football and it's really humbling and we're really grateful for the opportunity to serve, you know, because I mean as believers in the man upstairs you know that's, that's what you're supposed to do.

Speaker 3: 11:30

Huge thing, yeah, and so I've took some time off the road over the winter, um, cause I knew that we were going to be opening and I love the road, I love being on the road and I love getting to meet new people. But I've also really enjoyed the time to slow down and focus on this little project, because there's more to come out of it, but also it's been. I'm really grateful and I'm really humbled for the opportunity to serve and all of the beautiful people that you know that come to Storyville, texas, and those that haven't made it yet. I just, I just am grateful and humbled.

Speaker 1: 12:13

Well, thanks for plugging that. You know, like I'm a native Texan, you know, and there's so many towns and cities that I have no idea. Like you think, living here for 50 plus years, you would know every town, or at least heard of every town and city in Texas. And you, you just told, well, I just learned of two that I haven't ever heard of before this interview, right, so you know it's.

Speaker 1: 12:39

It's a learning experience here on Backstage Pass Radio, even for me every day, and that's what I love about the show is, you know, it was kicked off back in 2021, just coming out of COVID and being a local artist here myself, it was really about exposing people. You know my peers here in the greater Houston area. How do I talk these guys up and give them a platform? And I'm a music junkie and I love all the stories behind the songs and I said what, what a great thing to have a podcast where not only you're, you're, you're sowing the seed right, uh, by, by giving your, your peers, that platform to talk about the things they love and the things they do. Well, but it's an educational thing as well. And then, and that's what I love about it, and you've, I've already been educated and we're not even what minutes into this.

Speaker 1: 13:30

So thank you for that yeah well, you grew up, thank you you grew up in Lorena right and tell me a little bit about this town. I it's my understanding this is a very small town, probably sub 2,000 people. What was life like for you growing up there as a kid?

Speaker 3: 13:50

uh, yes, I. I am from Lorena, texas, which is 10 minutes south of Waco, and I grew up out kind of well. It's in the country, in the Levi Cottonwood area, and I grew up on 10 acres and grew up going to church at Cottonwood Baptist Church, singing in church, sang at church camp, was in choir in school and when I wasn't playing sports or cheering at a football game or a basketball game or whatever else, I was running around outside Like I love to mow. I grew up helping mow, you know, and that's something that I still love to do. It's so therapeutic. You just mow that shit down and it's immediate progress.

Speaker 1: 14:48

You put the headphones on and go right. I mean, it's what you do.

Speaker 3: 14:51

I do, I do yes, yeah, well, it's a good time to clear your mind.

Speaker 1: 14:56

You don't have to think about anything but what's on your mind, because it's pretty much a no-brainer to mow right. It's just back and forth, back and forth a whole bunch of times right, yeah. So you know, like you were a sports kid, like I learned a little bit about, like you being a volleyball player growing up, so you were a sports kid growing up. When did the music bug hit you as you were coming up? When did you get the music bug?

Speaker 3: 15:25

So really cool fact is that my grandfather, sterling Kelly he was a country singer and songwriter and he was a BMI writer and I have 45s of him and his band, sterling Kelly and the Hearts, and my dad played bass. I have twin uncles. One of them played guitar, one of them played guitar, one of them played drums, and I was surrounded by music growing up. My dad was a mechanic and I would spend a lot of time in the shop following him around and he always had classic rock or some country music playing in the background and he had a really cool stereo cabinet and I would just sit in front of the stereo cabinet and look at all these vinyl records and the album covers. Whenever I was with my mom and my sister riding in the car, we would be singing, you know, patti Loveless or Reba or the Judds. My sister and I we would carry so real quickly.

Speaker 3: 16:42

My parents got married and they lived in a motor home, a mobile home on the Brazos River, and then, before I started kindergarten, my parents bought the 10 acres that I grew up on and we lived in a mobile home and my dad moved a house from a neighboring town and remodeled it and we lived in that Well, the family that lived in the mobile home at the end of our property, the woman that lived there, sharon, she was our bus driver, and so every morning she would get up and she would go a little ways down the road to pick up the kids that live past us that were on the route, and then she'd come back and at this point my sister and I had walked what felt like a mile long driveway it really wasn't that long, um and we had our little radio that we would carry on the bus with us every day and we would leave it underneath the seat that we sat in and we would crank up George Strait and Clint Black and all kinds of you know, great 90s, 80s and 90s country music. And I sang in church, I sang in church camp, I was in choir in school, I was in band for a little while, but I never thought that music was going to be such a huge part of my life. I, honestly, I played. I was a cheerleader and I played volleyball and I played junior Olympic volleyball and I actually had a college volleyball scholarship, um, and I thought that I was going to be a hold two weeks before I was supposed to move off to college, and we can talk about that here in a minute.

Speaker 3: 18:42

But I didn't go to Temple College immediately because I was dealing with some personal stuff. To Temple College immediately because I was dealing with some personal stuff. And after that personal stuff was dealt with, I did end up going to Temple College to play volleyball and I was bartending my way through college and we had a slow night at the bar and we had karaoke and I got up and I sang and this gentleman was in the house and he pulled me aside and he said sing something, acapella. And this isn't. I was bartending at a bar in Lorena that's not even there anymore. So we're in small town, texas. And, um, when this dude asked me to sing acapella, I was like, okay, this isn't odd, but I sang complicated, by Carolyn Don Johnson and he stops me, you know, so far through. And he's like do you want to be in a band? And I looked at him and I thought, um, I think I want to say yes, but I think I'm supposed to say no.

Speaker 3: 19:50

You know the dudes in my brain were like this is a stranger. You should probably look into this more.

Speaker 3: 19:59

But I was like, sure, why not? So he's like, all right, great, be here Friday night at 8. And that started my three-year stint in a classic rock cover band and we were called Big Dave and the Freaks and the gentleman who asked me to be in the band was Big Dave and at this point my sister had graduated high school and she was in the commercial. She was like one semester into the commercial music program at McLennan Community College in Waco, texas, and so I'd been in this band for a little while and I ended up changing majors, from a business major and I ended up changing schools. I went from playing volleyball at Temple College to a commercial music major at McLennan community college in Waco, texas, and, um, from there I had like halfway through the program I thought how many artists go to school for music? If I'm going to go, I'll go for the business side of things. And then I ended up switching majors and I got a commercial music management degree.

Speaker 3: 21:09

And while I was in school there was a guy who asked me to sing harmony on his project and I did, and then throughout that process he was like, well, do you write anything?

Speaker 3: 21:21

And I was like, yeah, I've got you know this stuff that I've written, and so he sang harmony on my stuff and we became a duo. And then, next thing you know, we're playing all over Texas and from there we were gaining recognition and winning some awards and he had a family member get sick and he had to move back to South Texas. And then I continued as Kristen Kelly and the Modern Day Drifters Texas. And then I continued as Kristen Kelly and the modern day drifters and then, uh, that I was playing the Texas scene 150, 180 dates a year or more and I was playing Dierks Bentley's Miles and Music at Billy Bob's in Fort Worth. Uh, in the spring of 2010, and I met Paul Overstreet, who was on the road with Roger Crager at the time, and Paul Overstreet invited me to Tennessee to write with him and it was through Paul that my Nashville career came to be. And then he and Tony Brown co-produced my project and it's just been a crazy whirlwind because, I legit thought I was gonna be a volleyball coach that's

Speaker 1: 22:38

fine for the cheerleaders well, there's been a lot going on for sure. Well, it sounds like you know, you. You didn't have a choice, there were no options. You were going to be some kind of musicians, with all of the musicians in the family, right, like it's funny, because I talk to artists about that, and some of the biggest names that I've had on my show, who, some of them, are Hall of Fame artists. Right, they don't even come from a musical family and you would think just the opposite. Oh well, they had to have a mom and dad or somebody driving them because they were in the industry.

Speaker 1: 23:12

But it a lot of times that's not even true. And then the people you expect to have no musical people in the family, those are the ones that have a lot of musical people in the. So you never know what you're going to get, like it's kind of like that whole box of chocolates thing. You never know what you're going to pull, uh, from day to day. But was your sister? I think you said you had one sibling. Right, it was a sister, right?

Speaker 3: 23:35

yes, sir. Yeah, her name is kimberly kelly and she sings and writes songs too okay, so she's there.

Speaker 1: 23:40

I was going to ask you is, is she into the music thing? And it sounds like she is. So there you go you.

Speaker 3: 23:44

You had no choice, right, you had no choice uh, she moved to like I got offered my record deal with sony um in december of 2010 and then I actually signed april 22nd 2011 and, uh, I'll I'll never forget being able to. When it came time to put together a band to go on the road, I had band auditions because I was trying to get all of my band members from Texas to go with me, but some of them couldn't for different reasons Family jobs, different things but I really had hoped that they were able to. And then, when they weren't, and we moved forward with the auditions in Nashville. I'll never forget being able to send my sister a message and it was this paper plate and it was like a stage plot and it had everybody in their places and their names of the people that we had ended up hiring. And I had the spot and I was like you want to go on the road with me, and so my sister had to go on the road with me and sing harmony and it was really fun.

Speaker 3: 25:01

And then she ended up moving to Tennessee and she had her own record deal and she's not with that label anymore, but she's in the process of working on her sophomore album. I mean, she had albums in Texas, but sophomore album in Tennessee, tennessee, sure, yes, sir, yeah. And so it's just crazy. And again, music was never forced upon me. Again, music was never forced upon me. And I like Papaw, the one who was the country singer he was killed in a car accident in the 90s and my dad, I don't think, had picked up the bass guitar since and so it was around us, but it was not something that was forced upon us or that it was like okay, you're set up to have this career in music.

Speaker 1: 25:58

Sure, well, it's always better if it's not a forced thing anyway. It just comes kind of more organically. But you had mentioned you dropped the name a minute ago Paul Overstreet, and you dropped the name a minute ago Paul Overstreet. And if we go from your kind of growing up and being around the family music and whatnot, and we fast forward to current times, you released an LP, I think it was last year, called Warrior. Tell the listeners a little bit about the record and where you recorded Warrior.

Speaker 3: 26:27

Okay, so my Warrior album is the entire body of work that I recorded whenever I was signed with Sony, and how it came to be is I signed my record deal in April of 2011, and we went in and we cut half the album that year, actually August 1st um, I'm kind of like nerdy about dates and stuff, but um, we cut half the album and, uh, then we ended up cutting the other half of the album the following spring and they the label only ended up releasing a four-song EP, which was the Kristen Kelly EP, which has Drink Myself Out of Love With you. X Old man he Loves to Make Me Cry and Miss Me. And we released X Old man as a debut single and it was my first Billboard Top 30 single, which is crazy. It's literally four chords in the truth about the fact that I have an ex-husband and an ex-best friend. And then the follow-up to that was he Loves to Make Me Cry, which I co-wrote with Paul Overstreet and Even Stevens, who I met, even Stevens, through Paul Overstreet, and it's a big bluesy battle of love song and it made it up the charts to somewhere in the 50s. I can't recall exactly what number it made it to. I'm not looking at it right now, but when that song kind of died off in the 50s because people wanted to hear songs about trucks and back roads, and I was like, don't you know what happens in the trucks on back roads? Big, bleezy, ballad love songs get made. But hey, right, anyway. So they decided, the label decided we're not going to release anything else off this EP and we're not going to release anything off of the rest of the album that hasn't been released. We're going to move to option number two or album number two.

Speaker 3: 28:32

And so that's when I got sent into the studio with Dave Cobb and we recorded two songs and we turned them into the label and they were like well, these are great, but they're not singles. And so my manager was a little frustrated because he was like y'all didn't tell us to cut singles. Y'all said go, cut two sides and see how we work together. And they were like well, these are great, and you can make the next album with him. And then it came down to contractual stuff. Part of my contract is I get an artist advance per option or per album and that advance has to last the life of the album. Well, if you record within a year, and then you get one or two singles you know that's possibly three years already and so the artist advance that they didn't want to pay, and I didn't want to be contractually on the hook for money that I don't see. This is where my commercial music management degree kicked in, and so, long story short, we had a few meetings and amicably agreed to part ways, but that body of work has been sitting on the shelf for 12 years now, I guess. And so the Warrior album came to be.

Speaker 3: 29:58

When, in 23, my husband Bradley I played the album for him and he was like what are you doing with this? Why are you not doing anything with this? And I said, well, sony owns the Masters, I can't do anything with it right now. And he's like well, let's see about doing something about it. And I was out of the physical EP, the Kristen Kelly EP, which had the four songs on it, and I reached out to the label and I said, hey, look, I need more CDs, and is there any chance that I could do something with the rest of the masters that have just been sitting there? And so I was put in contact with Tim Smith, who had been with Legacy Recordings for 20-something years at this time and he and I were put in contact in December, I believe, of 23. And he was able to pull the body of work out of the archive and I worked with him on getting everything mastered Um and so that is the warrior album is my entire Sony Nashville body of work.

Speaker 3: 31:27

Wow, that that was recorded in Tennessee.

Speaker 1: 31:28

Um, some of it was recorded at Starstruck, some of it was recorded at Sound Emporium, but it's produced by it's co-produced by Paul Overstreet, tony Brown, and then there's the Dave Cobb produced songs as well, and, yeah, so Well it's awesome that you've worked with Paul Overstreet, because you know, I've been listening to Paul Overstreet for a thousand years now, like he's one of the greatest songwriters you know out there, him, and, and you know, uh, don Schlitz wrote a ton of hit songs in the day for Randy Travis and gosh I mean, the list goes on and on and on.

Speaker 1: 32:09

He, his name, is almost like Dean Dillon when you talk about Nashville songwriters, right, dean Dillon. George Strait said years ago, if there was no Dean Dillon there would have been no George Strait, because Dean Dillon wrote just about every hit song for George Strait. Marina Del Rey, the chair, all those were Dean Dillon songs, right, and it's crazy because a lot of people think, oh, that's a George Strait song, but they don't see the songwriters behind the scenes. But Paul Overstreet, that's a top-shelf dude right there in my book.

Speaker 3: 32:42

Yes, yes, sir, yeah, and it's crazy Kudos to you for getting to work with him yeah.

Speaker 3: 32:48

The first song that we wrote together together. Whenever I walked into that office, I I knew I was like I'm about to write with Paul Overstreet and I was like I have got to bring something good to the table. And I had this idea about running into my ex-husband. We're both from the same small town and you know, naturally when you're from a small town you're going to run into each other and when you get divorced or break up or whatever, and a little part of me would fall apart all over again. And then, finally, I got to a point where I ran into him and I felt nothing and I was like where is this feeling been? Why couldn't you have shown up a few years back? You know, um, but I had the idea.

Speaker 3: 33:41

There stands a man I used to love his hands, my skin they used to touch and, um, just the imagery of it was dancing around a sawdust floor, all the things I was telling him. You know about this scenario. And he picked the guitar up and chimed right in and it was the first song that we wrote. And then, when it came time to record for the album, it was the first song that we actually recorded. For then, when it came time to record for the album. It was the first song that we actually recorded for the album and the song is called Feeling Nothing and Tony Brown, a couple of years ago, pitched it to Reba. I mean, the song still lives on and it's on my Warrior album.

Speaker 3: 34:26

That's awesome and it's been a fan favorite over the years even though it hadn't been released. That's awesome be invited to Nashville to write with somebody that, like you mentioned, was on the radio and wrote several songs that I grew up listening to and it's also really intimidating.

Speaker 1: 34:58

Well, who hasn't sang? You know, tonight I'm sitting alone digging up bones. Who hasn't sung that song? Right, you know that's Dean Dillon, right, so it's it's I'm sorry, that's Paul Overstreet.

Speaker 1: 35:13

It's amazing that the storyboard of our life has been written by. I wouldn't call these guys unknowns because they're far from unknowns. But when you talk about the songwriters they're kind of in the background, right, and it's always the Randy Travis or the George Strait that make the songs famous. But it's the art of the songwriter behind the scenes. That is the brain behind the songs. And it's so awesome to sit in a writer's round, like at the Bluebird and hear people like yourself that write songs, right, and they chart and they become the storyboard of our life. It's like, wait a minute, kristen wrote that song and I'm going to get to something that you wrote earlier and point out, so don't steal my thunder on this, but talk real quick about the band. Is there a current band for you or do you do the hard gun things to fill in? Talk to me about the band situation for Kristen Kelly.

Speaker 3: 36:14

Well, for as long as I can remember, I was in a band or had a band traveling with me, and since COVID I've done a lot of solo acoustic stuff. I have done some band stuff and I try to use the folks who have played with me as often as I can, and when I can't, those folks always recommend, you know, solid players to cover. But a lot of what I'm doing for the beginning of this summer run because I'll go from Idaho to Montana and then back to Idaho and then in latter part of July I'll be back in Texas. I'll be full band um July 25th in Arlington and July 26th at Elk Hall, uh, here in the central Texas area and um, then from there.

Speaker 3: 37:15

There's a lot more solo acoustic stuff, but, um, I will have, uh, there's a lot more solo acoustic stuff, but, um, I will have, uh for sure, my lead, the guy who's been playing lead guitar with me on and off for the past 10 years, timothy, um, tim, he goes by Tim Um, but Tim Bumgarner. He'll be with me and then I don't know how many of the other regulars are going to be available just yet, but yeah, I try to get the people that have been with me whenever I can, and there's a lot of great talented people out there too, so I don't stress too much when some of the regulars are not available and I get to share the stage with some folks I hadn't.

Speaker 1: 38:04

Yeah, there you go. Do you ever make it down to the Houston area at all?

Speaker 3: 38:10

Yes, sir, I do. It's been a while, but I would love to get back down there.

Speaker 1: 38:18

We'll talk offline. I can get you hooked into some of the places that I play and maybe, if you're ever down here, we can have a song swap too. That would be really cool and earn some extra money while you're on the road, but also set you up with some of the shows of your own right.

Speaker 2: 38:37

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 38:37

Yeah, so it's my understanding too, and you can correct me where I'm wrong on any of this, but it's my understanding that you have a new podcast that just got off the ground. Am I on point or am I off base?

Speaker 3: 38:53

Yes, sir.

Speaker 1: 38:56

Talk to the listeners about your podcast. Let's plug that real quick.

Speaker 3: 39:00

Thank you. So my podcast is called Something we're Saying and it's on all of the socials swspodcast, I believe and if you go to iTunes or Apple Podcasts or Amazon or Spotify or YouTube or whatever, and if you Google something we're saying podcast by Kristen Kelly, it should come up. And the very first episode is called Grateful Warrior, because that's what I am I am a grateful warrior, and I share my truth, what I am I am a grateful warrior and, um, I share my truth. Uh, the podcast is it's a heartfelt podcast and the goal is to discover, to uplift those beautiful stories and hopefully create a sense of community and a sense of connection and a sense of folks knowing that they are not alone, because life is messy but it's so beautiful. And, yeah, the first episode, I share my truth.

Speaker 3: 40:27

I am a child sexual abuse survivor. The man who used to be my stepfather is in prison for the rest of his life because of the horrible things that he did to me, and I talk about that. I talk about the staggering statistics, uh, that are completely unacceptable in my humble opinion. Um, you know, you have one in five girls, uh, and one in 20 boys who, at some point in their life, will experience child sexual abuse. Boys who, at some point in their life, will experience child sexual abuse, and I am one of those.

Speaker 3: 41:07

Um, it started when I was 11 and the physical started whenever I was 12 and I was, uh, yeah, it's a. It's a dive into everything that goes on behind the surface level of it. Um, you know, it's not just the physical abuse, there is a mental aspect of it. And, yeah, I launched my podcast and I launched it and I share my truth and I hope to continue being a vessel for other folks. And it's not just a sexual abuse podcast, it's a podcast about all kinds of things. The gift of music has given me the opportunity to meet a lot of beautiful people with a lot of beautiful stories, and you discover the inspiration, you discover the humor, you discover the humanity behind all of the voices that often go unheard, you know, and so, yes, thank you you know, um, and so, yes, thank you.

Speaker 1: 42:46

You know what. I commend you though because, um, a lot of people just kind of sweep that type of story under the rug and just bury it and try to forget about it, and it's, it's, it's hard to sweep under the rug. I I've never experienced that, kristen, I can't say that I've ever walked in your shoes, but what I have done on my podcast and it's, it's kind of cool, because sometimes you know we're talking about music, but it morphs into just real life shit, right, let's just be honest. And, uh, there's been a lot of conversations with artists that just it, just it.

Speaker 1: 43:26

They, they take a left turn and, um, for for the for, the better, and we talk about anxiety, we talk about depression, we talk about suicide, you know, and it's like, while we try not to like go down the whole rabbit hole, it's, it's a great psa for people that are out there struggling that you're not alone. There are other people that have been through the things that you've been through. You have to pick up the phone and and talk to somebody. There's, there's healing and talk therapy, I believe, and I think that what you're doing is amazing. I don't know the whole gist of your show, but I believe that just talking about things that most people don't want to talk about is an awesome thing, so kudos to you for that.

Speaker 3: 44:12

Thank you. The whole thing is I wrote poetry to process what I was told I couldn't tell anybody about, and that poetry later became lyrical content, and so that's where I feel like the man upstairs had other plans. And, yes, what I went through was horrible. And there are people who have gone through far worse, far worse than what I have gone through, and my heart goes out to them. And you know, there are a lot of people who have never said anything to anybody and I shout my truth for little 11-year-old me. But I also pray that it finds the people that it needs to find. You know it finds its way, just like music does. I mean there are songs that have wrecked me Like I'll never forget.

Speaker 3: 45:16

The first time I heard the House that Built Me. I had to pull over. I was in Austin, texas. I was in house that built me. I had to pull over. I was in Austin, texas. I was in my first tour van that I had ever bought and I was by myself.

Speaker 3: 45:28

And I had to pull over because the house that built me was the house that my dad moved from the neighboring town and remodeled, and that is the house where the sexual abuse started with the man who used to be my stepfather. But I don't see that house in that light. I see that house in the light of, you know, my mom and my dad being married and us being a family. And I wrote poetry to process what I was told I couldn't talk about, and that poetry later has become lyrical content and I talk about my music in the episode of the podcast. So it's kind of like this is the story of Kristen Kelly, this is what I went through, this is how I processed it, and then this is my music and this is how we got here. So that is the quick rundown of the episode.

Speaker 1: 46:25

Well, how powerful is that song, the House? That Built Me and I'll just go on record to say that it kind of wrecked me as well. I'm not going to lie, because if you listen to music like I listen to music, I get inside of a song like I'm not an outsider looking into that song, like I immerse myself in three and a half minutes of story from the artist. And there's so many people that don't listen to music like that anymore. If you write a song called ex-old man, I want to know what in the hell? What is your message in that song? I'm intently trying to dissect that song to find out what is the story about. Right, and I'll give you an example of that had a great artist, local artist here, a guy by the name of Kyle Hutton. You may have heard of him. He has a great podcast called, I think it's Real Life. Real Music has a lot of great artists from all over.

Speaker 1: 47:26

Anyway, I had Kyle in my home studio here and he was telling me that he I think if I I've done a lot of episodes, so my stories might run together a little bit, but I think he co-wrote this song with a guy named Radney Foster, right, and the song is called Three More Bottles and she's Gone. Well, on the surface, you say, well, kyle, you're a country, western guy. Three more bottles and she's gone. It's another sappy, you know. Three more bottles of whiskey and the girl leaves the guy.

Speaker 1: 47:58

Right, we've heard it all a hundred million times. But what you don't know about that song is that Kyle and his wife are foster parents and when he wrote that song, they had a baby at the time and they had literally made three baby bottles of milk, put them in the refrigerator because the mother was coming to get the baby and the song was three more bottles and she's going to be gone. Right, so it can. The songs, you can hear them one way, but if you really don't know the meaning, you, you, you totally listen to the word, or you listen to the songs a completely different way. When you know where the artist heart is and where they're coming from, you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 1: 48:38

Yes, sir artist's heart is and where they're coming from. You know what I'm saying. Yes, sir. So it's amazing that you built yourself a platform with the podcast. Is it safe to assume that you'll have guests on the show, or is it literally just first person? You're talking about life as you see it.

Speaker 3: 48:58

Oh, I just shared my truth To get the episode Out there. But my goal is to have guests and let them share their truth and there's there's more To it Possibly, but we'll see how that shakes out. But yeah, I definitely want to have folks on as guests and utilize the platform that the good Lord has provided.

Speaker 1: 49:34

Well, it can always evolve, right. I mean, your podcast can always evolve into. It can be spun off to do other things, to have guests on or to not have guests on, like. It can go in any direction, and mine has always been music centric. But I've gone off the beaten path with what I call bonus episodes, right, where I bring in UFC fighters, world champion, olympic gold medalist, speed skater, like it's just, it's so random. But I think sometimes those do just as well, if not better, than having a Hall of Fame artist on my show, because it's something different, right. So it kind of keeps it fresh. It's not always just about the songs, right, you know. So it's. It's good to just keep an open mind about your show and just allow it to go where it goes, right, and you'll know that when you get there you may not know it today, but you, you'll know it when you get there.

Speaker 1: 50:31

Right, it's kind of weird, but it's. It's really true, you know.

Speaker 3: 50:35

Yes, sir, yeah, I want to have everyday people. I like I'm an everyday people. Yes, my job is singing and writing songs, but that's not the only thing that I do. You know, my husband and I, we own a small restaurant and he has a cattle operation with his mom, and there's so much more to Kristen Kelly than just my music. Um, and you know, there's, like I said, the gift of music has completely humbled me and and changed my life in so many ways, and one of those is is the community and the beautiful people that the good Lord has crossed my path with, and there's so many, so many more beautiful people out there, um, with stories that I oh, there's there's, I feel, called.

Speaker 1: 51:35

You'll never run you'll never run out of content, my friend. You'll never run out of content, right? There's always a story, even when you don't expect a story from somebody. Everybody has a story, right? Everybody has a past, some good, some bad, but they all have a past. It's what makes us who we are today. You could talk about something as simple as divorce, and maybe you don't like or you didn't like the ex-husband at one time, but he is part of the fabric, of what made you who you are today. Right, my ex-girlfriends are part of the fabric who made me the man that I am good, bad or indifferent, it doesn't matter, right, but they're part of my life. And, no, I don't talk to them anymore, but you understand what I'm saying.

Speaker 3: 52:26

Oh, yes, sir, yeah, and I truly believe, like you were saying everybody has something worth saying.

Speaker 1: 52:31

They do. And now is your show live, or do you record it down, like I do backstage pass radio?

Speaker 3: 52:40

Well, I actually recorded my podcast while I was on the Rock the Coast cruise, when I wasn't playing or hanging out with all the other artists. I was in my cabin on the ship and I recorded my podcast and I tried to do video. And that's where that dadgum technology chimes in and just is the dandy.

Speaker 3: 53:07

Uh, the camera cut off in the middle of recording, but I do plan to have a video along with the audio. But right now it's audio and it's available everywhere you can get your podcasts YouTube, amazon, spotify, apple Podcasts, all the places.

Speaker 1: 53:32

You know video is an awesome thing and I have bought the cameras. I've done the whole nine yards. I've dabbled in video. I, unlike you, I work a full-time job. Right, as you know, I'm a 130 show a year musician as well, but I don't call that a living. I get paid to do it, but it's not how I pay my mortgage. A living, I get paid to do it, but it's not how I pay my mortgage. But my show is heard in over 90 countries now and I'm very proud of that in excess of a million streams. And I only say that to say that I'm wondering where my show would be if I had introduced video early on. But video is another monster in and of itself and even if the technology works, okay, you, if you've well, you'll probably get to know this. But if you edit a podcast and you do it well and you want your podcast to be really sound, really really good.

Speaker 1: 54:39

You're going to take the time to do it well, and you want your podcast to be really sound, really, really good. You're going to take the time to do it right. So if you do a two-hour interview, it's easily four to five hours of editing, right. So it becomes it becomes a time suck, okay. So think about adding more on top of that with video editing too, and I'm like I don't have the time for this as much as I would love to, and to take the podcast, like, get it on YouTube and do all the things.

Speaker 1: 55:07

I know my limits and if I hired five or six people around me, I could pull it off, but that's not. That's not. That was never the vision of my show. I'm glad where it is now, but my vision was to never monetize it and to never really do video. It was just going to be an audio podcast and 130 episodes in, and I've never, I've never done a video podcast. Like I've had the cameras on, but I I've never really used the video for anything. So it's great, but it's going to be a time suck for sure.

Speaker 2: 55:39

You just have to be prepared for that I'm not going to lie to you.

Speaker 1: 55:42

It's a time suck.

Speaker 3: 55:44

Oh, I know, I know I just spent I don't know how many days editing just the audio part and I broke it down into little like chunks, like little sections of where I talk about I was a child, and then I go into the next part, and then the next part and yeah, yeah, I totally get it.

Speaker 1: 56:11

Well, what is new and exciting that you can talk about, as it relates to new music from Kristen Kelly that you can share with the listeners right now?

Speaker 3: 56:18

Well, my song Drink Myself Out of Love With you that I wrote with Paul Overstreet. Fun fact we were actually writing this song and I made a comment in passing about the fact that I have an ex-husband and an ex-best friend, and Paul Overstreet, that's who I was writing. That's I was writing Drink Myself Out of Love With you With and I was writing it with Paul, and I said I have an ex-husband and an ex-best friend and Paul said, okay, we can shelf drinking ourselves out of love. I need to know all about that situation and that's how Ex-Old man came to be. And then it was the debut single and my first top 30 and all that. So Drink Myself Out of Love With you is a fan favorite that everybody's loved for so long, and it just impacted Texas radio last Thursday, may 15th, and I just got word that it is the number one downloaded song out of all of the current and new releases Super cool.

Speaker 3: 57:25

And so, yeah, we've got a song at radio Drink Myself Out of Love With you, and back in October I play at the Floribama, which is a really cool place. If you've never been, you have to go to the Floribama, which is a really cool place. If you've never been, you have to go to the Floribama. It was Southern Living's number one beach bar recently, and so I recorded a live album. It's just me and a guitar and everybody in the room and I am going to be playing back at Floribama July 31st and the first couple of days of August and we're going to be releasing the Kristen Kelly Live from Floribama album that weekend. So that's really exciting.

Speaker 3: 58:20

You are the first person legit, the first person outside of my husband and my mother-in-law to know that little nugget of information.

Speaker 1: 58:31

That's super cool and it just goes to show you that Randy Halsey and backstage pass radio only bring on the bad-ass artist, right? We don't go second fiddle around here, I'll tell you that. So congrats to you. That's super, super cool. What a huge accolade and, I guess, morphing into great written songs. You're going to have to totally educate me here, because I read this and it was. It was kind of. I read it as I was on the go, I was doing a couple of other things and I was reading up about you and this is what I think I read and I want you to set me straight. Did you write down in flames?

Speaker 3: 59:19

Yes, sir, I'm a co-writer with Brandon Jenkins and.

Speaker 1: 59:22

Stoney LaRue. Okay, so my reading was correct. I didn't dream this. So what a badass song. That is Down in Flames and Brandon Jenkins was one of my favorite singer-songwriters before his passing right Super great songs. You know singer-songwriters before his passing right, super great songs. And for some reason years ago I don't know where, if it was Stoney that I heard first or maybe somebody else recorded it. But it's so interesting because in mine and Chris so I'm in a duo, right, chris Hughes and myself play all over and that song has been in our rotation for every since we started playing together and I had, I had no idea that. You know, I'm okay, I'm having Kristen Kelly on the show and I'm like, wait a minute, am I? Am I reading this correctly? Like I play her songs. I play her songs like in my show. So what a great song, kristen. That's super cool to learn that about you.

Speaker 1: 1:00:22

Yeah, talk, talk about the song and talk a little bit about Brandon Jenkins, because I don't know. You know, I guess if you're in the musical circle everybody knows about Brandon Jenkins. But Untimely Death, right? Can you speak a little bit about your relationship with him and then just about the song in general?

Speaker 3: 1:00:41

Yeah. So Brandon, beautiful human being, super talented and I was in the classic rock cover band Big Dave and the Freaks and it was May of 2004, and we were playing the Bruce Velletti Mayfest, which Bruce Velletti is just like five minutes south of my hometown, lorena Right, and I'm in the band Big Dave and the Freaks and Brandon Jenkins and Stoney LaRue and Stoney's fiddle player at the time. The three of them opened up for us acoustic that night at this Bruce Folletti Mayfest stick that night and at this Bruce Folletti Mayfest.

Speaker 3: 1:01:26

And after the show, um, I'm divorced at this point and I had started seeing this guy and we went to his property, um, which is in Bruce it was in Bruce Folletti and, um, we were out in this pasture at my boyfriend at the times house and there's a big bonfire burning and I'm sitting in the bed of a truck, uh, with brandon and stoney's standing outside around and several other people, but brandon and I, uh and stoney co-wrote down in flames and, um, when brandon went to leave that night, he got all of my contact info and next thing I know it's like two months later the Down in Flames album is released. It's the title track for Brandon's album and then Stoney puts it on the Red Dirt album and then the Live at Billy Bob's album, and it was written watching this big bonfire burn and the song truly changed my life. It truly changed my life. It truly changed my life and it fueled more so the passion and desire to continue chasing this music dream that I didn't know I was supposed to chase you know what I mean?

Speaker 1: 1:02:57

Yeah, I totally, I totally get it. And the interesting thing about me as an artist back in 2016,. So I was in bands back in the 80s and then time went by. You know, you have a family, you get away from the whole music thing. Back in 2016, I said, you know what? I'm going to buy an acoustic guitar and I'm going to jump out there and start playing some live shows.

Speaker 1: 1:03:17

And at the time I've always been a rock pig Like I'm classic rock guy from the core right 70s, 80s, 90s, classic rock kind of thing and I never was steeped in country music Like I.

Speaker 1: 1:03:30

Of course I know it, of course I know the songs, but I never was the kid running out and buying country records Like I. Just that was not my passion. And I learned early on in the solo shows at the time when I was playing solo, that you, you can't be a one trick pony. You've got to mix it up because people, there's going to be some country fans, there's going to be some Americana fans, and I think Brandon was probably one of the first guys that I stumbled across. Of course, I could have learned all the George Strait and all the Randy Travis and Clint Black stuff, but I wanted something a little more, I guess, obscure or or you know, something that just is a great songwriter that maybe not the whole world has heard of, and and I fell into Brandon Jenkins. And still to this day, chris and I cover probably at least a handful of his songs, right, that's so awesome probably, probably die alone.

Speaker 1: 1:04:28

Finger on the trigger like there's a lot of them right and of course, now I'm learning about you know, down in flames like had no idea so again. We go back at the very part. At the front of this conversation we said it's great because you get educated on your podcast and another education piece for me, so good stuff.

Speaker 3: 1:04:48

Yeah, brandon brandon was a very beautiful human being and we co-wrote several songs and there's a few songs that are on his, his last album that he had released before he unfortunately passed, and we were set to go grab lunch the following week after he went in for surgery and we had texted just a few days before and it's hard, it's hard, yeah, but he, you know, having him as a friend and a co-writer again, like I said I was, I was nobody from Lorena Texas, from Lorena Texas, in this classic rock cover band, you know, and as a songwriter, that is my first and so far only number one song as a songwriter.

Speaker 3: 1:06:05

It went number one for Stoney on the Texas charts and, um, for Brandon to give me a chance and, you know, write that song with with Stoney, but also include me, um, and to continue writing with me. And I actually was able to invite Brandon to play the bluebird. Um, he, you know, he played the bluebird for the first time in a round that I asked him to be on, and so that was really cool to sit next to him and watch the whole room of folks at the bluebird get to experience the magic that brandon brought all the time, um, and it's it's not surprising to me that know there's other people that sing his songs.

Speaker 3: 1:06:45

I mean, feed, don't Touch the Ground. Stoney covered that one too. You know he recorded that one as well. I mean, it's just, it's hard. You know I've had a lot of very beautiful people that I have been blessed to know through the gift of music, and some of those folks have been taken from us far too soon.

Speaker 1: 1:07:04

Yeah, well, it's, it's. You would be glad to know that, and you know this, being a solo artist, you and I do the same thing, right? I'm not, I'm not a solo artist, but you, you go out and you perform with you and your acoustic guitar, right, and many, many times you see people sing the songs that you're playing, right, and I'll tell you that many, many times there's people singing Down in Flames along with us.

Speaker 1: 1:07:31

So you will be glad to know that, kristen, that right here in Cypress, texas, there's people singing a song that you wrote. Probably every time we play it, so, so cool.

Speaker 2: 1:07:40

That's so crazy.

Speaker 1: 1:07:41

So cool, so cool, so cool, so cool. Um, speaking of performing and live shows, you've been you've been out on tour in the past with some of the biggest names in the business and you know we're talking about artists like Willie Nelson, Brad Paisley, Alan Jackson come to mind. Is there any of the artists that you've been out with that really stand out to you as a highlight to your career, Like they just there was something about a particular person that was just a little bit above and beyond every other artist, that was maybe a big-name artist. Did one ever stick out for you?

Speaker 3: 1:08:28

Yeah, there's, first of all, pretty much everybody that I've ever had the opportunity to share the stage with. They're very gracious and it's humbling to be able to share the stage with a lot of the folks that I have been blessed with the opportunity to do so. Um, Brad Paisley uh, he would bring all of us out every night for the encore, Um, and he plays slide guitar, uh, at the uh, you know, at the end of the night, and, um, so I had the opportunity to take this beer bottle to him and he played, played slide guitar with it, and then he'd hand it back to me and then he and I both signed all of the beer bottles from each night that this happened on the tour and I still have them and the plan back then was to do something to give them back and I don't recall why it never came to be, but that is still something that is on my radar to do.

Speaker 3: 1:09:52

But Brad also like he came out and played guitar on stage with my band and I like in the opening set, you know.

Speaker 1: 1:10:03

Right Wow.

Speaker 3: 1:10:04

Not all the time, but he didn't have to do that, yep. And there's been people that I've connected with and still stay in contact with, still stay in contact with. Again, I am just continuously humbled by the gift of music and I have had some not so great experiences with music and there's one artist that I was so excited to play shows with and it it didn't. It didn't go so well, um, not that the shows didn't go well, but they just weren't very friendly and it was really disheartening well, you've heard the old adage, right?

Speaker 1: 1:10:58

you know what the old adage is about, that right, that they always say don't ever meet your heroes, right, because a lot of times you will be disappointed, and that's. That's sad. Because, you know, I I spent 17 years in professional hockey and you, you see, you see the players coming off the ice and you see the little kids hanging over the rail holding their hand out for a fist bump from the players, and a lot of the players are gracious enough to do that. But then there's other players that walk right past the kids and there's nothing that pisses me off more, because those players were those kids at one time wanting that fist bump from the player, and they've already forgotten where they came from, and that just twists me off to no extent.

Speaker 1: 1:11:58

And the artists that make it big, that act that way to people like you or me, like I'm never going to play with the big artists, I'm okay with that. But for you to have a bad experience with an artist that you might've opened a show for, that, that should not even be a conversation with you, like they should have, you know, greeted you like they were you at one time. Do you disagree with me on this topic at all, or am I just skewing?

Speaker 3: 1:12:27

here I'm skewing. You've got folks. You have folks who are awesome, Um, and you have folks who are extra awesome, like Willie. Uh, I've smoked Willie's weed there you go.

Speaker 1: 1:12:41

Oh, I wasn't gonna ask you, but since you mentioned it, that's oh yeah, no, it happened.

Speaker 3: 1:12:46

Hey, it's a thing, okay, anybody I don't see how anybody, I don't care what walk of life or whatever, I mean anybody who would turn down smoking weed you don't do that.

Speaker 3: 1:13:06

Even if you just do it once, you know. But yeah, I mean it's, we're all everyday people. We're all everyday people and we all put our britches on one leg at a time, yep, and we've all. We all laugh and we all love and we all live and we all cry and all of the things. And I just it's a motto of mine and I try to encourage people to lead with love every chance you get, because you have no idea when the slightest little bit of kindness can change the trajectory of somebody's life. I agree.

Speaker 3: 1:13:48

You know the person, the artist that wasn't so nice to me. I didn't let that. It's not that they weren't nice, it just was like off-limits, they weren't welcoming.

Speaker 1: 1:14:03

Yeah.

Speaker 3: 1:14:03

Yeah, exactly, I mean, there's that. You get that in everyday life and you know, what I mean. You can't, you can't let it get you down, you got to just kind of. Okay, I see you.

Speaker 1: 1:14:22

And you know what? It would be easier. It would be easy for somebody that had a podcast show to say, oh, who was the artist? It doesn't even matter, because at the end of the day, that person knows who they are and they have to live with that conscious right. So it doesn't even matter, right? So it doesn't even matter. So I always say if you can live with your conscience, with the things that you choose to do in your daily life, that's all that matters, right? You have to live with your conscience, and I couldn't not fist bump a kid holding up their fist. I couldn't.

Speaker 1: 1:15:02

If you were opening for me, I would make a point to come out and talk to you, Like. But that's just. Maybe that's the way I was raised. I don't know, why is it so hard, Like? Why do some people have to be like that? But I digress, I'm not going to go down that rabbit hole. I promised myself no rabbit holes tonight. But it makes you wonder, right. It makes you wonder, like, why would you be like that? Because you were the starving artist at one time too. You were not always King Ding-a-ling at the end of the day, right? So when did you forget this, right? When did your memory just evaporate? So anyway, but it's good to hear that you had a lot of great experiences with some of the bigger names on the road, because you never know how they're going to respond or act. But it sounds like you've had more great experience than than you've had bad experience.

Speaker 3: 1:15:54

So that's oh yes, absolutely the good, the good far outweighs the 100 100%.

Speaker 1: 1:16:00

Good always prevails. You mentioned earlier in the show you dropped some dates for a tour. Please reiterate a few of those dates that you have coming up, to just remind the listeners where they can find you out on the road.

Speaker 3: 1:16:20

Well, you can find my dates. I need to, by the way yes, you do. By the way, I already looked literally thinking about that earlier, I was like I need to update these dates.

Speaker 1: 1:16:31

I wasn't, I wasn't gonna call you out, but since you called yourself out, I just came over the top of you right and said, yeah, look hey, I know, I know I've.

Speaker 3: 1:16:41

I've been running a restaurant with my husband, land Look, and so I'll be hitting the road May 30th, indiana, may 31st, ohio, and then from there I'll be in Idaho June 6th through the 14th, and then I'll be in the Montana area the next couple of weeks. I think I'll be in Big Timber July 5th and then I'll be back in Idaho July 11th for an archery thing with my friend Christy Lee Cook, and then it's music related, but it's also outdoor related too, and then I'll be full band in Arlington, texas, july 25th. I'll be at Elk Hall July 26th, which Elk Hall is just outside of Central Texas, and then from there I go east again. I'll be back in Ohio.

Speaker 3: 1:17:47

In August there's a big festival called Fort Fest in Fort Jennings, ohio. I'll be in Chicago. I'll be in Minnesota. I'll be back at Buck's Bar and Grill in Nebraska. I'll be back at Floribama the end of July, beginning of August I forgot about that one and that's going to be the live from Floribama album release weekend. Yeah, so you can find all of my dates at KristenKelleyMusiccom you've got a lot.

Speaker 3: 1:18:21

You've got a lot on all the socials.

Speaker 1: 1:18:23

You've got a lot going on and I was going to ask you about that. Where can the listeners find you on social media? And, of course, kristen Kelly musiccom is the domain name where they can find you, and I guess they could just Google everything Kristen Kelly, right, and that's where they'll find you, what's your? What's your main platform and that's where they'll find you what's your main platform. Is it Instagram, is your main go-to, or is it something else?

Speaker 3: 1:18:45

I've always loved Instagram. I've always loved Instagram. I post on Instagram mainly and then feed it to Facebook a lot of times, and then I had a TikTok for a while and then I deleted it and then I got it back again. And social media is just it's a necessary people yeah. I have a love relationship.

Speaker 1: 1:19:15

Yeah, I'm on another a whole, nother podcast topic, yep. Youtube Yep, okay.

Speaker 3: 1:19:21

I'm on. My music is everywhere. You can find your music digitally Yep, youtube, yep, okay, I'm on. My music is everywhere. You can find your music digitally iTunes, apple Music, spotify, amazon Music, youtube. And I yeah, I need to update the dates on the calendar. I will do that as soon as we get done talking. And then my podcast is something we're saying and that socials is SWS dot podcast, I believe.

Speaker 3: 1:19:51

And then Storyville the restaurant that my husband, bradley and I run um and own and want to do more to give back and raise awareness, is Storyville, texas. It's in Mart, texas, m-a-r-t. The physical address is 302 East Texas Avenue and you can find us at storyvilletexascom. That's S-T-O-R-Y-V-I-L-L-E and Texas is spelled out T-E-X-A-Scom, v-i-l-l-e and Texas is spelled out T-E-X-A-S dot com.

Speaker 3: 1:20:27

And some of the things that we do there are we don't have a soda machine. We serve drinks in a cup over ice, but we serve canned drinks and we keep the cans and we recycle the cans and turn those in for money, and all of that money goes to child sexual abuse survivors, goes to child sexual abuse survivors. And then we also have Storyville tumblers that are $10, and 100% of the proceeds from each sale of those tumblers goes to survivors of child sexual abuse. My cousin, carrie Jo. She makes this elderberry syrup that we offer to add to the drinks and she has Folk Remedy, apothe, and she makes. She's made some candles and some salves and all kinds of homeopathic stuff, that some of the candles we've got a Storyville candle but I, yeah, I'm going to have all of that stuff available and I'm pretty much anywhere you can find me. If you can help me find the millions of dollars that Google says I have, then you can have them.

Speaker 1: 1:21:34

I'm not going to hold my breath, but anyway, you can find me everywhere online Also.

Speaker 1: 1:21:40

hopefully somebody can find the millions of dollars that google says I have yeah, well, they, they just need to help me find it before they help you find it. How about that? Yeah, okay, yeah. So you, you know your, your podcast, you, you have a whole lot that you can talk about. There's a lot of cool stuff that you have going on in your personal life with the restaurant and all the things you do for humanity.

Speaker 1: 1:22:07

These are the stories that I hope that I would hear from you.

Speaker 1: 1:22:11

Like there's we could talk about guitars and strings and writing songs, like, but it's the human side of the podcast that I love.

Speaker 1: 1:22:21

I love to see the fact that we can talk about a common human being that has moved our music, like Brandon Jenkins, and it touches you, and I can see how he has affected your life, and I think that that's what I love more about this show than anything. So, thank you for being open and thanks for sharing your, your story about your, your upbringing. I know those things aren't easy to talk about, but they're they're necessary because they could help a whole lot of people, right? So if there's anything that I can do to help you get your show like, I don't say that I have anything much to offer, right, but I've been through some trials and tribulations with my show and if you ever have an idea or a question about podcasts that I can help with, like we'll exchange numbers. But don't hesitate to reach out because you know, if I would have known some of the things that I learned by you know, just trial by error I could have saved myself a whole lot of time. So I'd love to help where I can.

Speaker 3: 1:23:28

Thank you, randy, thank you my pleasure.

Speaker 1: 1:23:30

Well, listen, it's been super fun. Thanks so much for taking the time to join me this evening. So thank you for that and I wish you continued success in the studio and out on the road. And you know, if you ever find yourself in Houston, make sure you look me up and let's have a coffee or a beer or swap a song, or I'll put you on the stage somewhere, and that would be super cool. I look forward to that Absolutely.

Speaker 3: 1:23:56

I look forward to it.

Speaker 1: 1:23:57

Yeah. So I asked the listeners to check out Kristen's website, kristenkellymusiccom, and make sure to follow her on all of her social media handles. I also asked the listeners to like, share and subscribe to the podcast on Facebook at Backstage Pass Radio Podcast, on Instagram at Backstage Pass Radio and on the website at BackstagePassRadiocom. You guys make sure to take care of yourselves and each other, and we'll see you right back here on the next episode of Backstage Pass Radio.

Speaker 2: 1:24:28

Thank you for tuning into this episode of Backstage Pass Radio, backstage Pass Radio. We hope you enjoyed this episode and gained some new insights into the world of music. Backstage Pass Radio is heard in over 80 countries and the streams continue to grow each week. If you loved what you heard, don't forget to subscribe, rate and leave reviews on your favorite podcast platform. Your feedback means the world to us and helps us bring you even more amazing content. So join us next time for another deep dive into the stories and sounds that shape our musical landscape. Until then, keep listening, keep exploring and sounds that shape our musical landscape. Until then, keep listening, keep exploring and keep the passion of music alive.