Ep 479- New Orleans Musician Steve Kelly Talks His New Album "Here's The Thing"

After enduring a near-fatal car accident, natural disasters, heartbreak, and years of life’s ups and downs, New Orleans-based guitarist and vocalist Steve Kelly has channeled these experiences into his 8-track debut solo album, Here’s the Thing. Coined as “Alternative Soul,” Kelly’s songwriting navigates the complexities of life’s cycles, candid struggles with mental health and the perils and pitfalls of substance abuse and addiction, and the peaks and valleys of personal relationships, ultimately delivering a message of hope and perseverance. . Listen to Here's The Thing HERE.   In 2015, Kelly started working with Robert Mercurio and Ben Ellman of Galactic on a record with the band Gravy, of which Kelly was a founding member. With a new manager, new agent, and new record under their belts, the band was poised to take it to the next level when tragedy struck and Kelly was hit by a drunk driver on a Thursday afternoon. Kelly broke his pelvis, leg, ribs, nose, and ankle, spending a week in the hospital and over four months at home recovering. Upon recovering, he learned that their new agent had gone MIA, the manager didn’t have the bandwidth to uphold both his duties & booking, and the rest of the band was ready to pursue new directions in their lives. With the band fizzling out, his house being sold out from under him, and his girlfriend of 8 years leaving him for another man (on top of never showing up to the hospital), Kelly took that as a sign of the universe telling him it was time for a change.   He decided to do some soul searching and spent a little time traveling around Australia and Bali before returning to New Orleans in 2018, with a newfound directive for helping people. He started a company that essentially served as a digital Swiss Army knife for small businesses, with a focus on artist merchandising, e-commerce, and digital marketing. At this time he also began working as a talent buyer for a small but historic music venue in Uptown New Orleans, creating an incubator for emerging talent in the Crescent City. When the Covid pandemic hit in the spring of 2020, bars and music venues were forced to close, creating anxiety and terror for musicians as they scrambled trying to find other means of income. Having been through that type of uncertainty and pivoting before, Kelly was able to turn lemons into lemonade, taking the opportunity to set up recording sessions to flesh out some of his newly minted material with an all-star cast and providing a shot in the arm to the local music economy.   Each track on the album is a reflection of Kelly’s lived experiences above—raw, honest, and intimately crafted to speak of a relationship gone wrong mixed with both everyday and traumatic challenges. “How Are We Here Again” kicks the album off with a nod to 80s pop brilliance with influence pulled from Talking Heads, Prince, and Peter Gabriel. It’s a narrative of cyclical life challenges from a lens of Groundhog Day-like recurring events ultimately serving as a reminder that we’re all in the same boat at different points of our respective journeys. “Loretta” channels strength from vulnerability in a breakup anthem and an ode to discovering self-worth and empowerment.   Although not intentionally crafted as a concept album, Here’s The Thing, vividly depicts a relatable journey distilled through eight individual stories that recount the complexities of love; life’s trials and tribulations; and the empowerment to transform your own life fearlessly, no matter how many times you have to pivot—it’s a testament to the human experience.  ____________________________________________________________________ Check out "The Roundtable with Robert Bannon" here on BPN on the daily, on YouTube, Broadway World, and on social media! Like, comment, share, & subscribe! For more info on Robert- www.RobertBannon.com Follow Him on IG- @RobertMBannon TikTok-@RobertMBannon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices