Josh Kelley Comes Home to Country

By Lorie Hollabaugh
© 2011 CMA Close Up® News Service / Country Music Association®, Inc.
Plenty of artists have been crossing that divide from pop to Country. Some may feel that Josh Kelley is the latest addition to this parade, but in his case the release of Georgia Clay, his Country debut on MCA Nashville, is more like coming home after a long road trip.
Kelley’s musical roots dig deep into that clay. Growing up in Augusta, he began exploring music at 11 when his older brother John took off for college and left his guitar behind. “When he came back home to get it a month later, I had taught myself to play, so he just gave it to me,” he remembered. “Then my mom bought us a cheap drum set and we just kept learning new instruments.”
“We” was Josh and his younger brother Charles, whose superstardom with Lady Antebellum wasn’t yet even a gleam in anyone’s eye. Charles played drums, Josh played bass and guitar, and both sang. Eventually they formed their own band, Inside Blue. But more pivotally for Josh, both were more preoccupied at the time with golf. By high school, Josh had landed a scholarship at the University of Mississippi to play Division One golf and study graphic design.
“I don’t think I would be in the music business today if I hadn’t gone to Ole Miss,” he said. “It happened kind of randomly. I was playing guitar in my dorm room and somebody asked if I could play one of their fraternity gigs. So I learned, like, 40 covers in a week and played this gig. Then I got a regular gig, and the next thing I know I signed a record deal. It was the craziest thing in the world.”
Kelley landed his pop deal with Hollywood Records by harnessing the power of the Internet. Random messages he sent out through Napster piqued a label exec’s interest, and soon Kelley was on his way to impacting pop music with hits including “Amazing” and “Only You.”
But he followed that path only after first testing the Country waters. “I’ve actually been trying to move into Country since the beginning,” Kelley explained. “I did a showcase for labels in Nashville when I was 21, and I got turned down. They felt like I needed a little more time. Then the next year, I got signed by a pop label. Still, I was writing Country songs with friends, so a lot of the songs on my pop record (For the Ride Home, released in 2003) were originally Country. I’ve come back now to where I’m most comfortable with my writing and singing.”
After departing Hollywood Records, Kelley released several projects on his own DNK Records imprint. “I didn’t actually develop any real fans until after I went independent,” he said. “When I did that was when I started touring and hitting the road hard. I made five independent albums. That’s where I got my real fan base and most of them were Country fans. If you go back and listen to those albums, there’s a lot of soulful bluegrass and Country on them.”
Moving to Nashville in 2005, Kelley began collaborating with local writers and honing in on the sound that would ultimately win attention from MCA. “I just kept getting better,” he said, who wrote or co-wrote all 11 songs on Georgia Clay. “It was like writing boot camp. I make sure I try to write from 60 to 100 songs a year. I’m obsessed with it. I absolutely love writing. That’s all I do, and now that I’m not writing so much for the pop world, my focus has changed. I used to sit in front of a Pro Tools rig, fire up a beat and write around the beat on the piano. Now I work on an acoustic guitar, and I don’t even think about recording a song until the whole thing is done.”
“I don’t think Josh sat down to make a Country record; he was just writing songs that were relevant to his life,” said Tom Lord, VP of Marketing, UMG Nashville. “This project just naturally fit into the Country format. They’re story songs about being in love and having a baby and looking back on his life growing up in Georgia — memories of his childhood. Those are all themes that run strongly through Country.”
Kelley credits his co-producer and longtime friend Clint Lagerberg with getting him out of his comfort zone vocally to make his Country debut a standout. “I pride myself on being a singer more than anything,” Kelley said. “And I was used to being able to give somebody three takes and that’s done. But Clint wouldn’t settle for that. He wanted to push me, to really give more than just a vocal that sounded good. He wanted a take that really spoke the message emotionally.”
Kelley's writing does still spill across genre lines, as in his recent co-write with bluesman Keb' Mo' of “I See Love,” the theme song for the CBS sitcom, “Mike & Molly.” But that's because his aim is to write good music, most of which happens to come out Country.
“A Real Good Try” (written by Kelley), the gorgeous “Naleigh Moon” (a loving song to his adopted daughter, which Kelley penned with Lagerberg) and “Georgia Clay” (Josh and Charles Kelley and Lagerberg) encourage honest emotional expression. This material, coupled with years performing in small clubs and opening for the Dave Matthews Band and Counting Crows, equipped Kelley with the stage presence to win over Country fans while touring last year with Miranda Lambert.
“I’d put Josh on the stage in front of anybody,” Lord said. “Whether his music is an exact parallel to that other artist’s music or not, he just has this charisma about him. If you’re sitting there with your arms crossed, waiting for Miranda to come onstage, by the time Josh starts to sing and talk and engage the audience, you’re sold. He’s a pretty open book onstage. He’s relaxed because he has years of experience playing live and touring. It’s natural for him onstage; that’s where he thrives. I’ve been to several shows where an opening act goes out and sings, gives a thank-you between songs … and then on to the next song. It’s somewhat robotic, almost like they’re not seasoned enough to take advantage of the opportunity. Josh sees it as a challenge. That’s part of his personality. He wants to win ‘em over. And he does.”
The label has been reaching out to potential new listeners through social media to capitalize on the exposure Kelley received while on tour with Lambert. His association with Lady Antebellum through his brother Charles, not to mention his high-profile marriage to actress Katherine Heigl, have factored into the campaign to increase Kelley’s profile during the album launch. Equally significant in his case is the fan base he has already built through his pop performances. In fact, according to Lord, their decision to provide those fans with special product prior to the album release was a key component of their outreach.
“One thing we felt was important when we released Josh’s single was to get a three-song EP out to digital partners, with ‘Georgia Clay’ and two other tracks, with the idea that we wanted to get music into his fans’ hands before the full album release so they could hear a little more from the project and also start evangelizing on behalf of Josh, saying, ‘Hey, great new music from Josh Kelley! You know him from yesterday — now know him today!’ That definitely built awareness and excitement leading up to the new album release.”
All of these factors combine uniquely in Kelley’s case, along with his obvious talent and performing ability, to work in his and MCA Nashville’s favor. “Absolutely, we use it to our advantage,” Lord said. “It’s helped open the doors particularly with talking to some brands. We’re in conversations with ad agencies and brands about promotional opportunities. The good thing is that when we’re talking about a new artist, generally speaking, the door closes really quickly or they’re hesitant even to open the door. But we can say Josh Kelley has popularity on both coasts, in the Eastern part of the country because of his Nashville ties and also in the West with his Hollywood ties, so they’re intrigued by him.”
As for Kelley, he couldn’t be more excited about staking out his claim to a place in the Country Music family. “I think the reason I’ve loved Country more than anything is that I’m obsessed with stories and storytelling,” he reflected. “You get the opportunity to basically tell a movie in three and a half minutes, and it’s just the most amazing thing. I get more chills when I listen to Country Music than anything else. That’s why, when we were talking about those vocal takes, we’ve got to create the chill factor where people get that emotional reaction from the song. That’s one of the biggest bright, shiny factors of Country — emotional vocals and great stories. And I think this album is full of them. I’m very excited about it; this is by far the best album I’ve ever done.”
On the Web: www.JoshKelley.com