Josh Kelley has a look that reflects the genuine quality of his music and lyrics. The minute he takes the stage, his dark brown shaggy hair and plaid button-up shirt compliment the soulful, yet direct honesty of his voice.
He headlined at the Granada Theater on Greenville Avenue on Thursday night with special guests Five Times August and Alexa Wilkens. The crowd was intimate yet enthusiastic, and Kelley fed off the energy and adrenaline of playing live.
Kelley, 27, is touring venues across the country promoting his latest album, “Just Say the Word,” released on his own music label, DNK Records. Although you may not recognize his name, I guarantee that most college students are familiar with his music. His hit song “Amazing,” featured on his 2003 release of “For the Ride Home,” climbed Top 40 charts and actually made it into the Top 5 of the countdown in 2004. The lyrics “I say baby you are amazing/ I want to let you see/ That you are everything and more to me/ I will let you be, I will, I will” are reminiscent of the sound and tone of John Mayer’s 2001 hit “Your Body is a Wonderland.”
However, Kelley’s interest is not in being compared to others. His objective is in making a name for himself as a talented artist and musician that can hold his own among the rest of the musical career successes and the hopeful one-hit wonders. After his performance, I was lucky enough to land an interview with him underneath the marquee of the Granada. Cigarette in hand, bassist at his side, he playfully asked “Alright, whatcha got for me?” Despite his laid-back nature and dry humor that is prevalent both on and off the stage, Kelley is serious and passionate when discussing his life thus far in the music business. “To me it’s not a race, it’s a marathon…and I plan ending up at the top,” he remarks philosophically.
This could very well be the case for Kelley. Though he has played music all his life and even in college (he started playing acoustic guitar in college simply because an amp and cords were too difficult to bring into a dorm room), his music career was jumpstarted at the age of 24 with the assistance of none other than Napster.
While many artists loathe the idea of the Internet and what electronic file sharing has done to the music industry, Josh Kelly remains an avid supporter of the online movement and, in fact, the semi-poster child for Napster-artist relations. Kelley says he used the program to mass e-mail his music to industry big-wigs. Eventually a representative from Hollywood Records got a hold of it. He signed with the label and came out with his first record “For the Ride Home” in 2003.
Kelley also noted the widespread effects of MySpace and downloading music from the Internet as opposed to the increasingly outdated way of purchasing an album in the store. He stated, quite frankly, “it weeds out people that shouldn’t be making music.” Kelley’s focus is on promoting himself as an artist with true talent as well as a true entertainer (“I conform to the show, absolutely”) and his goal: acquiring fans simply because they “appreciate [his] craft.”
As we wrapped up our conversation and I headed back out toward the dusky neon glow of upper Greenville, I couldn’t help but feel as though I’d just talked with an old friend. Josh Kelley’s comfort with himself and approachable nature seems to rub off on those around him. He’s adored by audiences for his easy-going, yet expressive appeal – and his fiancée could probably vouch for that as well (Katherine Heigl, anyone?).
Kelley impresses you with his drive and ambition during performances as he does in conversation. I asked him what he wanted from his career. His answer? “[I want to fill] stadiums.”
