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Wed. August 06.2003 12:00 AM EDT |
Josh Kelley: Riding, Writing and ‘RithmeticAcoustic newcomer wows crowds with playful jams and freestyle raps. He talks about the old frat days and his new career on the stage. by Torre Catalano |
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If you ever combed the vast lands of Napster for a Dave Matthews tune, you may have been turned on to the name Josh Kelley. Mississippi’s latest addition to the singer/songwriter pool didn’t wait for an audience to find him. Instead, he
While invading the music folders of file-sharers around the world, the singer also built a local fan base loyal enough to constantly pack the University of Mississippi’s Blue Marlin bar. Not bad for some sophomore on the golf team. In addition to filling his gigs with rabid student-fans, college also allowed Kelley to flex his muscles as a graphic design major and make his own CDs. Kelley, however, has foregone a diploma to tour on the laurels of his debut major label album. The upbeat For The Ride Home is a collection of bluegrass-inspired love songs and ballads that put a foot-stomping spin on modern acoustic pop. Think John Mayer wearing a flannel shirt. The wistful single “Amazing” has Kelley searching for his perfect dream girl. The sunny chorus and skipping organ solo leaves listeners hoping the singer wins his imaginary crush. But there's some serious stuff in there too. “Angeles” finds a nervous Kelley on the way to the West Coast to face the music industry for the first time. “So scared for what the future brings to me,” he sings in a reluctant voice. “It’s time to pack my bags and get it right.” “Faces,” the dreamy tune Kelley wrote in his bedroom after waking up one morning, draws you in with a chilled-out slide guitar over punchy licks, evoking the same peaceful mood it was conceived in. The former frat boy is now chilling out back home in Oxford while gearing up for his short tour opening for Dave Matthews – in-between rounds of golf, of course. He spoke with VH1 about his love of college flicks, his failure to make a name as a party animal, and why you shouldn’t use seafood to pay him for his work. VH1: You look a little like Phantom Planet drummer Jason Schwartzman. Ever see Rushmore? JK: No one has ever mistaken me for him, but I love that freaking movie! I love Bottle Rocket and The Royal Tennenbaums, too. What else is good? You need to get Office Space, Swingers and The Big Lebowski if you don’t have them. VH1: Did you really entice online listeners by saying you sounded like Dave Matthews? JK: Usually I’d say, “If you like James Taylor, you’ll love Josh Kelley.” He was my first influence and comparison because my songs were strictly acoustic then. I didn’t really want to think about comparing myself to Dave with not having a full band. People would be like, “What? Where’s Carter Beauford!?” VH1: What do you think about those file-swapping sites getting shut down one by one? JK: Back then I used it as a tool. You can’t download a Picasso, but you can download a singer/songwriter’s art. That is a little bit unfair. I do think it’s going to make people make better albums though. The only reason that [Napster] got so popular was because there’s only really one good song on most of the albums you buy. VH1: You just got four dates opening for Matthews. What’s going through your head when you hear you will be opening for one of your idols? JK: Are you kidding me! I’m freaking out! I think Dave had gotten some positive wind of our music from this gig we did in Charlottesville, Va., where he’s from. He and his manager asked us if we wanted to open up. VH1: Sometimes Dave invites his support acts by jamming on a number or two. JK: Any instrument he wants me on, I’ll get on it! VH1: You met James Brown as a teenager. How did that happen? JK: We’re both from Augusta. Me and my younger brother made this album when we were 14 and 15 and we did it at the same place where James Brown produced some of his stuff. He used to come into the room and say, “You boys are good!” Then he’d do a little jig and hop out. The producer gave the five songs we made to James. He and his manager really liked it and wanted to sign us to Atlantic Records. My Dad wouldn’t sign the paper and I’m really glad we didn’t do that. We would have been another teeny bop band. VH1: The CD is called For the Ride Home. What was in your CD player on the rides home from college? JK: Jeff Buckley a lot. I would listen to a lot of my demos and stuff because I was always recording constantly. I liked Pink Floyd. That’s a great thing to listen to when you’re driving back. James Taylor, Stevie Wonder - I’m a huge fan of theirs. VH1: Did you play any songs from the album back in the University of Mississippi bar gigs? JK: About half the songs on this album were on an independent release I put out in college, called Changing Faces. I played a lot of those songs live. I started off playing a lot of covers and then built a really cool underground fan base that demanded originals. The songs have just morphed by doing them live. Playing them live gave me different ideas of how I wanted to rearrange them and rerecord them when I did them for the album. VH1: Give us a picture of normal night back in the college days with you, a guitar and a stage. JK: My stomping grounds were this place called the Blue Marlin. I would go to school during the day, play a little golf, then have a show at night and it would be in the papers. For about six months in a row I would play shows there and have about a thousand people there every night. With a three to five dollar cover, you could definitely make some pretty good cash. VH1: Any horror stories of the crowds getting rowdy back then? JK: The crowds back then were great. They felt like they discovered something. The weirdest gig was a sorority gig down in New Orleans. It was like a big crawfish function and it was pretty weird. They tried to pay me in crawfish! They were all eating and people were yelling for Skynyrd covers. So I played this song called “Stairway to Freebird” where I play “Stairway to Heaven” but sing “Freebird.” I heard a guy named Monte Montgomery do that and I thought it was so cool I had to figure out how to do it. VH1: You used to play an acoustic rap medley too. Can you really jam Snoop Dogg on a six-string? JK: Oh yeah! That was an idea I came up with at home as a part of my own little marketing plan. To get people to pay attention I would play some cover and would start freestyle rapping in the middle of it. VH1: Have you heard Jason Mraz bust out the rap over acoustic licks? JK: I haven’t, but I wish I had! He’s incredible; I’m a huge fan. He actually made his album with the same producer as me, a month before I came in. VH1: While you were gigging, you were also getting a homegrown Josh Kelley CD business going. JK: I’d make all the album covers and all the things that go in a jewel case at Mailboxes Etc. I could just cut them all up myself. The CDs looked so good; I would even shrink-wrap them. Also I was an art major and had access to all the shrink-wrapping and really great printing. I did the graphic designs myself because I was a graphic design major, then printed them and made them. VH1: The song “Amen” has the lyrics, “I once was wild / Now I’m tame.” Were you a wild frat boy? JK: No, no! I’ve never been wild. I’ll have a few beers but I don’t ever get wasted. I think that song is just about maturing. I’ve matured so much and now that I’m on my own I’m definitely arrived in my own element. That’s what that’s about. I’ve never been wild. VH1: I stumbled across a web page with your sophomore year golf stats and profile. In the bio it said you “enjoy music as a hobby in your free time.” Was it always a hobby or something you knew you’d pursue? JK: Oh man! I wrote that my freshman year. I had just gotten a scholarship to play golf and I was all geared towards golf. I said music was my hobby, but it was something I did with a passion all the time. You just don’t want to put in a golf bio, “Yeah, my main love is music, but I’m just kind of playing golf.” VH1: Have you played any golf in while you’re at home in Oxford, Mississippi? JK: No, but I played golf for the last two days in a row. I’m hitting the ball flawlessly but my short game is just awful - that’s the first thing that goes when you’re not playing enough. I can go out there and shoot a 76, but that’s about where it stands. VH1: You played on Late Night with Conan O’Brien. Any jitters you’ve never felt before? JK: I was so amped up that I wasn’t nervous doing it at all, just excited. But ill tell you, watching it later in the hotel room - I was about to freaking faint! VH1: Did Conan say anything about your music? JK: I sat down with him after the show and we talked about Martin guitars and the vintage NBC shirt I had on. He loved the music and said he really liked the CD. Then the other guest Jennifer Coolidge - Stiffler’s mom from American Pie - turned to me and said, “I just loved your CD.” I was like, “No way dude! Stiffler’s Mom!” She was actually trying to take Conan’s copy of my CD off his desk and he was like, “I’ll get you another one.” VH1: Is finishing college still in the game plan? JK: I’ve got a year left and I had like a 3.7 GPA. I’m definitely going to finish. That’s not going to be a waste of my money for me and my Dad. VH1: For all those up-and-coming-artists, do you think you can finish college and still get discovered? JK: Totally. I didn’t think this opportunity was ever going to arise this fast. When it came, I had to take it. I was ready to do this after college and maybe do music and graphic design. I had a bunch of different ideas and music was something that just happened to take off and the right people found me. That’s pretty much all it takes. VH1: What would you have been doing if you didn’t make this album? JK: I’d probably be living at home, going to the pool everyday and playing music two or three nights a week - making some bank! |
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