Taking a Walk.
I'm buzz night and welcome to the Taking a Walk Podcast.
This is the podcast where we talk to artists and get their stories, their songs, their journeys.
That shape them.
Today, we take a walk with a voice that's become a staple of country and pop music over the past.
Couple of decades.
Charles Kelly a Grammy winning singer songwriter founding member of the chart topping trio Lady A. From his early days growing up in Augusta, Georgia, to forming a band with his brothers that caught the attention of James Brown, Charles has always followed the music wherever it led him. He's written songs for some of the biggest names in country, released acclaimed solo work, and opened up about his personal journey, including his path to sobriety and the lessons he's learned along the way.
With a brand new solo.
Album, Songs for a New Moon out now, and a growing family at home, Charles is embracing a new chapter, one filled with optimism, fresh perspective, and as always, unforgettable songs. Before we listen to the Taken a Walk Podcast episode with Charles Kelly of Lady A, fame. Let's take a look at the great career of this Grammy winning artist, and for that we go to our correspondent in Nashville, Sarah Harrelson.
Thanks, buzz. I am really looking forward to this interview because I grew up, of course listening to Lady A and hearing Charles Kelly's voice. But when he released his first solo country album, The Driver in twenty sixteen, I just fell in love with that album. It's always been one of my favorites, so I'm really excited to finish listening.
I've already listened to a little bit of songs for a New Moon, his new soft rock album, and it's filled with a lot of eighty since and of course his vocals are always amazing, but I am so curious to hear why he took this sort of direction with his music. And I also got to meet him when I was working in Nashville backstage at the CMT Awards, probably around twenty fifteen, and got to escort him backstage, and he was such a great guy, so I can
only imagine that's how the interview went as well. Once again, I'm Sarah Harrelson, based right here in Nashville, Tennessee. And back to you buzz.
Thanks so much, Sarah. Now Charles Kelly, Taking.
A Walk, Charles Kelly, welcome to Taking a Walk, my friend. Hey, we do oh doing great, doing great, Thank you for being here. So, since we call this podcast taking a Walk, if you could take a walk with someone dead, doesn't have to be musical, but it could be someone involved with music.
Who would you take a walk with? And where would you take that? Saunter?
Oh gosh, Paul McCartney for sure. Yeah, there he is right there. Yeah, this is a kind.
Of a wall.
I've got a bunch of different influences up here, and all kinds of different genres of artists, but hugely influenced by.
Just everything but Beatles. I think. I think Paul McCartney and you know.
One of the best songwriters of all time, and he's just one of those guys I still haven't you know, haven't gotten to meet. I've been lucky enough to meet Bruce Springsteen. We got to do a show opening up for Bruce in London actually at Hyde Park a long time ago. That was pretty cool, funny story about that. We we had, like you know, any time in between songs.
You know, these are diehard Bruce Springsteen fans, and you know they're like Bruce between I remember Hillary Goes, were they booing us and it was like, no, they're saying Bruce, like, don't take it like they're diehard fans, like they're they're ready for us to saying need you now and get off the stage so Bruce can come up here?
Where would you go with Paul for that walk do you know?
Oh, my gosh, somewhere you know.
I would love to like just you know, walk through like I don't know, maybe maybe Abbey Road, the studios, you know, or something like that, and just hear some of those stories. But I don't know anywhere really, I mean it just just to be able to just have a moment with him would be would be pretty amazing, you know. But that was my first tattoo. Was was a lyric from Blackbird. All your life, you were only waiting for this moment to arise.
Yeah, you were reading my questions.
I was going to ask you about that and why do those words resonate with you to this day.
I basically got this this tattoo.
To me, it means it was around the time that I felt like my whole life was leading up to this band and leading up to this chase, you know, of being a musician, and you know, I felt like all my life I was only waiting for this moment to like have a chance to like follow my dream, you know. And so that's that was my first tattoo.
And then I had another one about a year later, and then I didn't get another one for like five or six years, and then all of a sudden, I kind of went crazy, which is all over me now.
Expression exactly the artistic expression. We're going to talk about songs for a New Moon. Congratulations on your new solo album. But I want to go back to Augusta, Georgia. As the youngest of three brothers, well musically inclined, what was it like being in the Kelly household?
Was it was?
It always filled with music? It was chaos, Yeah, it was. I had so I have two my oldest siblings, my sister Christy and John were ten years older than me, and then Josh and I, you know, were ten years younger, about the same age, and so we always had like so many different styles of music coming in and out.
My mom loved R and B. My dad loved country, and then you know, my oldest siblings would bring home whatever was happening, you know, So it could have been Dave Matthew's band, it could have been Nirvana, it could have been just anything, you know. I mean it was like I got. I remember my oldest brother was obsessed
with like led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. So I like I had this mix of like, you know, listening to Delilah and Richard Mars in the car with my mom, to Garth Brooks with my dad, to you know, Ozzy Osbourne with my oldest brother, and so it was like this weird kind of like I just gravitated to whatever I felt great, you know, and felt right.
And so I do remember though in my room, so like when my oldest siblings moved out, you.
Know, I ended up getting like you know, we had like the whole upstairs to ourselves. And I remember my brother and I dragging out this old record player. It's a piece of furniture, you know that you would that you lift up the top and there's the record player in there. And being I was highly intrigued by it, and so I dug around found all these records. I remember lo and behold, I found the Fleetwood Mac Rumors record, and so we've got Stevie back there. But that was
the first actual like vinyl. I think I was probably nine or ten years old, and I remember just sitting in my room like playing it over and over again. I mean, it had such an effect, Like no one told me to play it.
I just was like, out of.
All these records, I was like, this is the one. This is the one that's like blowing my mind. So, you know, there's a lot of those Fleetwood Mac influences in the band, and even on this record, there's a song called kiss this Thing Goodbye that is so reminiscent of a Fleetwood Mac you know, kind of base.
Of music down there. You know a lot of those.
Just great wholt saving bass crews and stuff, you know that they were so known for.
And I think musical diversity really is an amazing part of the creative process for you. It really it feels that way.
It just feels, you know, the rich experiences really play out in your music.
It always has been.
I mean, I think with the band and especially you know, as a solo artist, I mean I think I.
Think you can't help but.
Be influences, influenced by everything, especially you know, as we keep moving on in music, I feel like, you know, the genre border is is wide open. And I think that's because, you know, it's not like we grow up with one station in our town that we listen to. You know, we kind of grew up with everything, and
especially just generation now. I mean, they're they're just putting together a little playlist, you know, they're they're listening to Drake and then turn around listening to Morgan Wallend and turn around listening to Taylor Swift.
You know. So it's everything, and I think.
That's what's so cool about where we are, and I hope it pushes, you know, the sound of music because too, I mean, you know, there's there's only so many chords, and so you know, we're all trying to find something that feels fresh. And for me, you know, with this project, I wanted it to feel very throwback and nostalgic, but still have a fresh, you.
Know, current energy to it.
And so it was fun kind of you know, kind of towing that line about about how much, you know, because I never wanted the music to feel like a character of the eighties, you know, I didn't want it to be like, Okay, he's just throwing together these you know, this wild you know, throwback poking fun.
At thing, you know, and it's it's.
Not it really truly is a celebration in a nod at all my heroes.
You know, you and your your bros.
You formed the Inside Blue as as teens, and you caught the attention of the one and only James Brown.
Yeah, well at least his manager. Yeah, it it was pretty cool, uh that time. I remember our parents kind of we're a little hesitant of us signing any deals that early, but but it was cool to even have that opportunity. It's funny you did your research. My it's
so funny that whole time when by so fast. I barely remember it because we had a band, you know, all through like middle school and high school and and you know, we had a little little tiny bit of buzz going, but you know, nothing really ended up coming of it. And I put music down all through college and everything. And and my brother Josh got a record deal out of college and eventually moved to Nashville.
And he's the reason I gave this a shot. I moved to Nashville.
You know, with with a ton of encouragement from him, and and you know, it was lucky enough to run into Hillary and and you know, taught my buddy David to move in town.
We started this band.
But but yeah, those early years it was pretty cool. I mean, we had this little five song EP and and you know it was Inside Blue because we did a little little bit of blues. We also, you know, it was very much you know, rock and roll stuff too, and so it was it was just it's funny that anybody was interesting, because if you go back and listen to those songs, they were they were pretty weak.
They must have seen something in us.
I guarantee they did. And look, everything starts as a as a germ, and then of an idea, and then it evolves and the passion flows.
So give yourself more credit back for Inside Blue for sure.
Now.
I have a friend that does this other podcast called Celebrity jobb Or, and he asked the question, if you weren't going to be a musician, what would you have been.
Did you have a Plan B or were you a no Plan B? Guy?
No, I did. I mean I went to the University of Georgia. I to me, music was was just going to be something in my life and maybe a party trick.
You know.
I always kind of assumed I would have some you know, like cover band on the weekends I would play with. But I studied finance at Georgia and David and I did too, Dave as well, and yeah, you know, I was going to try to move.
To Atlanta, get a job, you know, do that whole thing.
And then you know, maybe if I went went to a wedding on the weekend, i'd hop up with a band and say, hey, guys, you know a little uh line of Ritchie, you know, something like that, and that would be kind of my party trick. But but so, yeah, something in the business world, hopefully. But I will say when I had graduated, I worked with my oldest brother and and we were he was he like flipped houses
and did somewherecial real estate. So I had this degree and I remember like literally a week after I graduate, I go into work and and you know, he's like, well, one of our workers didn't come in today, so you gotta you gotta hop into the dump truck and.
Take this take this stuff to the to the dump. And I just remember going like this is not what I thought it was going to be.
Somehow you knew it triggered you exactly was that and it was a motivating trigger.
It was, it was.
I mean, I think I could have found happiness in anything. I mean, to me, I love I love putting in a hard day's work. I mean, that's just I really do. I mean, even to this day, there's something I just love about, you know, about working hard.
I learned that from my dad. But to be able to.
Find something though that you actually, you know, wake up and just feel like so lucky that you get to do. And you know, a lot of times, especially being you know, on stage and writing songs, it doesn't feel like work.
The work comes in when with the travel.
I feel like that's where that's where we earn the word, you know, we work for a living. But the rest of it, that's just all that's all fun.
All right.
So I do want to dig into the process for songs for a New Moon and the work behind that process. And I guess the first thing when I think of writing sessions is that the type of thing when you're in that process that you're nervous. Enthusiasm in a good way keeps you up at night, because you know the next morning you're waking up and you're going into a session exactly.
I mean, I call it a lot of you know, I had a lot of cautious optimism. I've been doing this for you know, close to two decades now, and I know it's just you know, you get so you get so caught up and Okay, I want to make something special that sometimes you have to just step back and just do it. I feel like it's just literally go in and if it's moving you, there's a good
chance that can move other people. I think any time in the past when I've tried to go in there and be like, all right, we got to write a hit like this or whatever. And so I really try to get out of my own way, honestly, and I think to be able to start writing music under a different betup music brought out something different in me. And it was the most fun I've ever had. I mean, I was writing with you know, guys like Josh here,
who wrote Needs You Now with. I mean, he's one of the best songwriters in talent and he you know, when you got a guy like that say and when are we doing this again? This is so fresh because I think everybody needed to be pulled out of their box a little bit, you know, and this project allowed them to kind of show how versatile they all are. And and for me too, it brought out just this new sense of like, Okay, there's no rules, you know, I don't.
Have to make a country record.
I can go out here and try to do something different and fresh.
Because, like you said, I am influenced by.
So many different styles, but I think the common thread needed to be I needed to still sound authentically myself, you know. I didn't try to put on some you know, eighties voice that didn't sound like me or you know, whatever whatever that might be.
You know, it still is my voice to the core.
And I don't know there was there was just I don't know this like cool little hint of like, man, I think we're onto something here, you know, and I don't know where it'll go and what it'll be. And there was a sense of wanting to make sure we stayed precious with like staying there. And I think that's one reason I wanted to release it myself and like pay for it myself, because I was like, I know exactly what's going to happen when I take this into
the label that you're gonna go. Okay, you've been known as a country artist. We gotta throw some mandolin on this, we gotta throw some steel guitar, and it just it didn't feel like the music needed that. And so I really have to give a lot of praise to to Big Machine for allowing me to just do this on my own as well, you know, I mean, I really just felt like I wanted this to be, you know, a success or failure on my own terms, if that makes sense.
You know, We'll be right back with more of the Taking a Walk Podcast. Welcome back to the Taking a Walk Podcast.
So take us through some of your favorite tracks or all of your favorite tracks.
We got time. Charles, ah God, I think.
I mean, the first song, Can't Lose You is what really kicked off the project. I mean, there's something about that song. I think it encompassed everything I wanted to say as well. I you know, I'm getting close to it. At the end of this month, I'll be three years sober. And so there was just a lot of growth, you know, spiritually, mentally and you know, with my relationship with my wife, and I wanted to put that into the music, you know, and I wanted to be it to be a joyful record,
you know, and feel really redemptive and positive. And so I feel like that song encompassed kind of everything I was going for. And then from there it was like once I we had that song, the rest just kind of really came out really easily. I mean, I think my one of my favorites is a song called Can't Be Alone Tonight. There's just something about it that it reminds me of all those great eighties like ballads that just feel great. There's also a song called never Let
You Go. He got the great Dan Huff, so he's also a great producer. But he used to play electric guitar on all those massive eighties and nineties hits that you've almost anything you've ever heard him. He's played with Michael Jackson, Journey, I mean, all these crazy bands you know,
in the studio, and to have him. If you listen to that song, I think it's the tenth track off the record, there's just this epic electric guitar tone and solo section that he has that just I don't know, there's something about it where I was like, that's what I was going for. It has a key change, it has the electric guitar sound that only Dan could do. So there's a lot of those moments throughout the record, but I will say it changes which you know, which one is my favorite?
I would expect it would, right because for a while, you're you're living with it for so long and in your mind you're going through the hard work that led up to the creation. So when you're in the studio and working on this and then you leave for the day, do you leave with tracks that you can listen to as you're driving driving home to kind of like think about it.
Dude, and that that makes it exciting, you know. That's the great thing about you know, this whole record. I worked with Lindsay Rheims and another guy named Sam Ellis and you know, being able to actually you know, they programmed most of this stuff. So what we would do is we'd have pretty fully fleshed out, professional sounding demo and then you know, we would go and harvest out. We had like a drum day where we went this guy here in Stirling and then laid real drums on it,
or we go, you know, lay bass. If we didn't like the way that that one of them played the bass. You know, we had a saxophone player come in or something like that. But we when we would leave each day, we would have a pretty solid foundation and feel for what we were going for.
And then when you walk in the next day, then you've got like the ability to what you want to tweak, right, Yeah, So.
We would leave there, we would have pretty much a you know, a full form of a song, and we were even able to, like sometimes we come back in tweak lyrics. If we got to live with him, we're like, Okay, I don't like the way this hook is turning and flipping. But you know, that's the difference I will say in how a lot of people right now than we did when I first started. You know, we used to go in there with an acoustic guitar. It sometimes you couldn't quite tell what it was going to be.
I mean, need you now.
As one of those examples, I remember we had this little acoustic, really rough sounding recording off of our computer, and you know, we almost didn't cut the song because it didn't sound as big as like the other demos we had. And so you know, to be able to like now really get an idea of how the song is going to sound when you leave. It's a big you know. It's just such a nice advantage to the writing process.
Charles, What is recovery taught you that kind of leads into your musical process?
Oh?
Man, I think gratitude more than anything, I think, you know, I think I was hold on to a lot of fear, you know, fear of.
A lot of stuff.
I mean, fear of losing success, fear of, like of so many things I didn't even know that I was kind of fearful of, you know, and you kind of drink to kind of calm all that down. But I just think it brought a sense of gratitude of like where what I have and how much you know, I don't I don't want to lose this, and how much I just love it. And I think it also just made me enjoy the quiet moments of life.
You know.
I'm into so many different things. I mean, A small thing that I just love now that I used to never do is read. I mean, I've probably read a hundred books since I've you know, gotten sober, and like, I feel.
Like my mind's expanding a little bit.
I feel like I'm calming down and I'm just I'm realizing that some of the best things happened to when you get out of your own way, and you know, I feel like I really tried to do that with this record, and like, I don't know, I'm just kind
of really just enjoying enjoying the journey of it. I mean, all the ups and downs are such a big part of what makes life kind of fun, you know, and celebrating the little winds that come along and uh, but really, I just I think it gave me a little bit more of a purpose to life and what I was going for. I used to live and die by the music business and successes and failures, and now I just I realized that, like it, it's not the end all
be all, you know, and it should be fun. And I feel like I'm enjoying it again in a way that I kind of did when I first started, because I think when you don't know what's going to happen, you just you do celebrate any tiny little wind that you get. And once you've had success, well then you have a bar of that what what you think everything should reach for it.
To be quote unquote a success.
And you know, especially the song that needs you now it's like, well, that's going to come along once in a lifetime.
Like so if that that's my bar, I'm never going to be happy, you know very well.
Put, do you get nervous before you're presenting to I don't know, like a scop worshitto or something like that.
Always, I mean always you're a little nervous.
I mean, I think there's nothing more heartbreaking sometimes for an artist when you play something for your management or label or friends even and they're.
Just like, yeah, that's nice.
I like that, and you're like, shoot, that was not the expectation or it was not the response I wanted. But but I just again just you know, I think for this, I just knew I was digging it so much and I was enjoying it that I was like, no matter what anybody says, like, I've got to do this, and I don't know, just for everybody or on my
team to kind of follow me down this journey. But I got a lot of encouragement, I mean early, right from the get go, Like when when you know my team heard Can't Lose You and another song called Run, they were like this, whatever this is, keep doing it. And so I did get a whole lot of encouragement. My wife was really big with that too, just kept saying like this is you're onto something. Just keep going down this road, don't put a timeline on it, and see where it goes.
You know.
So a new album, growing family, fresh outfit. What are you most excited about as far as the next chapter?
Oh gosh, I just it just it's fun to see people respond to something in a fresh way, you know. I think that's what makes putting this out solo kind of fun too, because I am a new artist in a way, you know. I mean I put a solo record out, you know, about eight or nine years ago, but you know, it's still a fresh introduction in a new sound, and so there's there's, you know, a certain vulnerability and like healthy kind of anxiety about what's what it's going to do.
And I think that actually makes it kind of fun. I'm allowed to fail.
It's okay, It's it's a little more scary when Lady A fails, you know, a project comes out fails, But when I fails, like, okay, cool, it was something fun anyway. So you know, I can always kind of play it off that uh that you know, I didn't I didn't care.
If it went back, obviously I do. I think any artist wants it to be heard.
I mean, you know, I'm not looking for this to
be some giant, you know, Sabrina Carpenter global smash. But I tell you, if it could reach reach a really great audience and I was able to actually go out and do some shows, you know, and have a have a you know, have a have a packed house somewhere, and be able to actually perform these songs, I think that's what gets me the most excited, because it's such a fun bed of music that even when I was just rehearsing with the guys, you know, we did some content of just kind of a live show of some
of these songs that we're gonna, you know, share online, I.
Couldn't stop dancing.
I was like, I've never like moved like this, and I'm sure I look ridiculous, but I can't help myself. I was like, I can't help but move when I sang this music. So I think it would just be a very joyful show, you know. So I'm hoping that can can come about at some point.
On closing, if you could go back and give advice to your younger self, maybe that fourteen year old writing songs with Dave.
What would you say, Oh gosh, Well, first off, I'd say, learn how to play piano. That you know, that was That's one thing. If I could go to Eddie young kid and be like, learn how to play piano. I can play guitar, and I used to. I grew up playing drums. That was my instrument in the band. I played drums and sing But I wish I could have played I wish I could play piano.
I feel like I would.
I would have written a heck of a lot more songs, you know, if I was able to do that. But I think the advice would just be just enjoy the journey. I mean, I think at the beginning, you know, the first ten years, it was so much fun. And in the middle of that career it kind of got where I was not enjoying it, and I think you have to love it, you have to enjoy it, and you have to just, I don't know, sometimes just sort of remind yourself that you get to do what you love
to do. So I think that would be the thing I would love to have told myself early on. Well also too, just you never know where life's going to go. I mean, my fourteen year old self would have never dreamed I was actually going to do this for a living.
You know, Charles, this is why I love what I do. I'm so grateful for the opportunity.
To talk to you.
Congratulations on this chapter Songs for a New Moon, and thanks for all the great music you continue to give us.
My friend, Thank you, Boss, Appreciate you, buddy.
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