#ellykelly

Some of you may recall from an earlier blog post how Elly, Terry & Brian picked up a $70 pawnshop guitar in Lafayette, Louisiana, while touring the countryside in October 2013. Here is Brian selecting the PS 70 in Lafayette. 

Some of you may also recall how we struggled with the fate of the guitar, wondering if and how we would transport it back to Canada. 

The struggle ended when we found the New Orleans Musician’s Relief Fund (www.nomrf.org) and contacted them the day before we left New Orleans so that we could donate the guitar to their cause. We were successful in making these arrangements and the guitar was picked up by Jeff from the NOMRF.

We stayed in touch with Jeff from NOMRF and he recently sent us a photo of the passing of the PS 70 to a street musician in New Orleans named Norbert. Those of you with keen eyes may notice the passing of the Elly Kelly Sticker too, which we had placed in the body of the guitar.

"The weather warmed up enough for Norbert to start playing again and here he is accepting the guitar. Let your mom know he’s very happy with it and we found a good case so it won’t get weatherbeaten."

Music is a beautiful thing. 

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We are pleased to announce Elly finished the recording process of her 5th album today, in Ken Tizzard's studio. There are 19 tracks recorded featuring a wide variety of musicians. 

Elly has decided to name her fifth CD, the "YOLO Album". For those of you that don't know what that means, YOLO stands for You Only Live Once. The name of the album was inspired by a text message exchange with her granddaughter, Emma, while Elly was in New Orleans, Louisiana in October 2013.

The songs are currently being edited/mixed by John Whynot. John Whynot is a Canadian producer/engineer that has worked with a wide variety of artists, including; Bruce Cockburn, Blue Rodeo, Lucinda Williams, Kathleen Edwards, Colin James, Big Wreck, Loreena McKennit, Change of Heart and Jim Cuddy.

Once mastered, we will move forward with the manufacturing process. We do not yet have a release date and once this has been determined you will be the first to know. 

We are eternally grateful to Ken Tizzard for dedicating his time, effort, and resources to ensure everything was captured in the best ways possible.

Elly Kelly YOLO Album, features:

Elly Kelly - Accordion (Of course!!)

Brian Cosbey - Guitar & Vocals

Terry Kelly - Guitar & Vocals

Jimmy Ellis - Guitar & Vocals

Randy Morrison - Fiddle

Ken Tizzard - Bass & Steel Guitar

Elly wishes everyone a Merry Christmas and would like to present her video recording of Silent Night, captured upstairs at her original homestead, in November 2013. 

Some of you following this blog will recall from an earlier post that Elly learned to play accordion upstairs in her original homestead in St. Charles NB, when she was 13 years old. 

Elly performed at the Chit Chat Cafe in Napanee on Friday and Saturday. 

This unique venue hosted a buffet dinner followed by a set of music from Elly and friends, dessert, and concluded with one more set. 

Both shows were sold out and, on Friday, when we were there, we witnessed Elly and friends put on an amazing action packed show. Elly always has an amazing smile, an abundance of energy, a sense of humour and friendly connection with the audience - not to mention, an incredible ability to just pick up and play along with songs she has never played before. 

Elly has been in Ken Tizzard's studio in Campbellford over the past few days recording more tunes! 

At this point, we are not announcing a new album. 

Elly and Jimmy Ellis at K. Tizzard's, Wednesday Nov 27, 2013 - photos by Ken Tizzard

We wish to thank Ken Tizzard for approaching us to offer his time and energy to enable Elly to record new material. 

We will keep you posted on these recordings in the coming weeks. 

For those of you that may not know, Ken Tizzard is a seasoned musician with a long history of dabbling in all sorts of projects. 

From his website (www.kentizzard.com):

"Ken Tizzard, the unique low-to-the-ground bass player for gold-and-platinum selling Canadian rock bands Thornley and The Watchmen, continues his thriving and ever-exploratory solo career with his fourth album, The Goodness Of Bad Intent." 

Ken just recently returned from touring with Ron Hynes in his homeland of Newfoundland.

Ken has a long and meaningful history with Elly and her family. Ken co-produced her son Terry's album (Gibbus - self titled 2002) and was also a good friend of Elly's late husband, Joe Kelly. Ken has an unwavering commitment to the music & musicians in the Campbellford area and is known to rally support for them during times of crisis. 

Ken is loved and respected in the community and we have been moved by his kindness, generosity and sincererity as we continue to move forward with Elly on her journey.