All About Kelly Bell
Q&A with Kelly Bell by Kathleen Warnock
The frontman of the Kelly Bell band gets up close and personal, telling the story of his journey to becoming the Phat Bluesman
Q: How would you describe what Phat Blues music is, and how you got there?
KB: If you could imagine Muddy Waters wearing a Bob Marley T-shirt riding on Black Sabbath's tour bus on their way to a Parliament Funkadelic concert, listening to Sammy Davis Junior on an 8-track tape humming a Run DMC song, that would be close to what we do...
Q: How did it the Kelly Bell Band come about?
KB: I was in a blues and New Orleans funk band called Fat Tuesday, and I was trying to get a gig for the band at the 8x10 Club in Baltimore. Bo Diddley was coming to town, and we were told we could back Bo up. We would come out and do an hour, he'd come out and do an hour, clear the house and do it again. But Fat Tuesday wasn't interested, they'd done stuff like that before. But I had a friend, Automatic Slim, who was sitting in with the band that night. When they said no, I was kind of dejected. Then Slim came to me, and said: "Take the gig! We'll put a show together."
Slim suggested we call it the Kelly Bell Band. The other players we got together for the gig were all top notch musicians. So that's how we started the Kelly Bell Band. Our first two gigs were opening for and backing up the legendary, Bo Diddley. Now I've played with Bo four or five times since then, he knows who we are.
I was really nervous at first. I was a backup singer. I played congas. Now, I had to step out and be in front.
At the time, I was the bouncer at 8x10 and after we opened for Bo, and the club got phone calls to ask when the Kelly Bell band would be playing there. I was happy being in Fat Tuesday. But there was a demand for the band, off of our first two shows! The next month, we ended up opening for Ronnie Spector and my idol, Bobby "Blue" Bland. And since them I've been able to play with Bobby several times.
Q: And you've been performing with the Kelly Bell Band ever since.
KB: We play about 200 shows a year. We go from Boston, Massachusetts to Jacksonville, Florida and every point in between. There's the gigs, plus rehearsing and writing...we're a blues band. We play original stuff. We're not a cover band. That takes time, writing it, rehearsing it, learning it and recording it.
Q: That's a lot of work; how do you stay focused and go out there every night?
KB: The road is hard. The road works people out. But we're not rock stars, we're bluesmen. The best thing I've been able to do is not participate in the rock and roll lifestyle, drugs. What is comes down to is - you owe more than that to your audience. You need to bring your best, whether it's 8 people 80 people or 8,000 people, bring your game.
Q: You also spend considerable time developing a relationship with the fans.
KB: It's something you just can't do part time. We come out and talk to the crowd after every show, it endears us to our audience, That's why we've been voted Best Blues band in the mid-Atlantic region 11 years in a row. We've been named the Best Band in Baltimore by The City Paper. Half the town has our cds; we've sold 100,000 on our own. To be able have people digging what you're doing, especially in the age of cyberspace and American Idol is great. And then there are cover bands…making 50 grand a month and they don't have one original song. And you don't even have to be a good cover band these days. You just have to play what people hear on the radio. We're blessed that audiences have allowed us to continue to grow.
For a band that isn't signed, we do get a lot of love and attention and have no real complaints. I think a lot of bands don't realize that they spend so much time trying to get to the rainbow, they forget to enjoy how beautiful the rainbow can be. You have to enjoy all of it. Last night…when we were on the road, the van broke down, and we had to deal with it, and that's all part of it. And we're blessed and lucky to do this. The day you take it for granted, is the day you should stop doing it.
Q: What kind of satisfaction do you get from performing?
KB: It feeds you because it feeds other folk. It does do a body good when you're helping somebody else. I had this guy come up to me and ask "So who was she, man?" I said "I can't tell you that brother." He told me the name of his and said, she just ran out on me, and I just wanted you to know you stopped me from putting a bullet in my head. It reminded me that this is what blues music did for me when I was a child. When I was debating "to be or not to be," it showed me you're not alone in your walk through this world. And he shared that with me. That gives you the power to go do it every night. Best drug you could ever have is to know that your words made such a huge difference in someone's life.
Q: Has this been something you wanted to do since you were young? Did you have favorite artists you wanted to be like or sing like?
KB: When I was a kid, I took my voice lessons from Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin records. Growing up, I was listening to funk go-go from DC, which was pioneered by Chuck Brown and the Soul Searchers.
I guess I always had the itch. I played flute when I was a kid; baritone and tuba in the youth orchestra. But I gave up playing orchestra music in high school, because I was an athlete. You couldn't play football and be in marching band. You had to be in the marching band if you wanted to be in jazz band. I got bumped out of jazz band for football.
Then some friends of mine had a rock band, a heavy metal band, and the singer was kind of flaking out on 'em. I've always been a metal fan too. I came to a practice one time because I was hanging out with my buddy, who was the lead guitar player. I was just hanging out. They did a song by Iron Maiden called 'Flight of the Icarus.' Here I am, and no one would expect a black guy, 280 pounds to be able to sing that high. They started playing the song, and were singing. My friend said "I wish someone could sing this. We're losing our place because we don't have anybody singing along." They weren't top notch musicians. So I said, I know the song. If it helps you guys out, I'm here. They were like, "hell yeah." I did it, and it kicked ass. You could see their eyes get really wide. That was the first time I thought people seem to like when I do this. I was still really bashful. And that was Border Patrol, the world's worst heavy metal band.
Q: Was it something you were interested in pursuing as a career then? Did you keep working on the DC scene?
KB: I moved to Baltimore to go to college (UMBC). After I graduated, I went back to DC for a while, then came right back to study for my Masters, and that was at UMAB so I moved into the city. That's when I got into Fat Tuesday. It was 3-1/2 years, it was great. I learned a lot of songs, got into the blues-heavy, wonderful experience. Those guys were operating in a different place. We played as much as we wanted to play. At the time, I was in school, and we weren't playing nearly as much a the Kelly Bell band plays.
Q: And how did the Kelly Bell Band get into recording its original work?
KB: When we started recording, we put out one tape, with 6 songs, and sold 2,500 copies. I didn't think anyone would want a CD of mine. I'm still amazed that people do. I'm the one who peeks through the curtain before a show and thinks no one's going to be there.
I guess I just got to the point where I started to write songs. But you can't do your own music with pickup musicians. And I had to get some regular guys. I got some regular guys, and we started working together. We started making records, and our first record broke all the local sales records for regional artists. We sold 35,000 out the gate. And the sophomore effort became really crazy.
Q: How were you able to promote your indie CDs?
KB: That's one of the reasons I started wrestling. I'm a professional wrestler, and I do some radio stuff. It came up by accident, to promote the band, promote the new record. It ended up working out, I enjoyed it. Then I started doing radio shows in town. Doing comedy stuff, and so it just got more popular and next thing I know I'm on the radio, in the ring, playing more and more, working more, sleeping less.
Q: And you're still having fun?
KB: We've been blessed, very lucky. Music has been great to me. I've been able to play with a lot of the guys I admire. I've been in B.B. King's dressing room, talking about music. I've been onstage and had things like Charles Barkley showing up in Philadelphia to see our show.
Q: And how about reaching out to the fans, especially the ones who aren't in your area.
KB: We do everything electronically, send it out, mail it, now everybody has e-mail. We send out weekly mailers, we're on myspace. We have people now who are coordinating our communication for us to reach more fans. We felt like we were missing the boat, but we're on top of it now.
Q: So if someone's just finding you now on the 'net or hearing about you, why should they come out and see one of your shows?
KB: There's no way to go to a show and not enjoy something about the band because of the music. My style of music is eclectic, not just straight 12-bar blues all night long. They say kids don't dig the blues, but we say "you just haven't presented it to them in the right fashion." I think Phat Blues Music is that fashion.
Q: Where were you born?
A: At home in Washington, DC
Q: Who were your earliest musical influences?
A: Aretha Franklin, and the greatest singer of all time any genre.
Q: What is your favorite style of music?
A: Blues
Q: What was your first instrument and how did you get it?
A: An electric guitar from my mother on my 9th Birthday.
Q: Favorite Color?
A: Blue and Turquoise is my favorite stone.
Q: What is your favorite song?
A: I'll take care of you, by Bobby Blue Bland the greatest blues singer of all time. My greatest musical influence.
Q: Do you have any hobbies?
Weightlifting
Q: Favorite sport/team?
Favorite Sport Wrestling/ Favorite team The Washington Redskins
Q: Random Thought:
A: I don't remember when love left, I just remembered that it was gone.
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