Award-winning singer-songwriters on their own,
Cletus Kennelly & Lori Kelley combined their artistries, developing a style and a sense for each other's voices that is
magical. "I haven't heard harmonies this tight since Simon & Garfunkel" (Gene Dawson, Dawson Concerts)
Their work has earned them 40WAMMIE nominations and ten WAMMIE awards
(Washington Area Music Awards) between them, including the WAMMIE award for BEST
CONTEMPORARY FOLK GROUP (three times). Both approach their writing from a lyrical, melodic place with songs that
speak to the heart. The wit and depth each adds to the other's songs makes for an engaging show. "Cletus and Lori
are two standout solo performers whose voices blend beautifully." (Scott Moore, Moore House Concerts)
As solo artists, and again as a duo, both Cletus & Lori were selected to perform at D.C.'s Kennedy Center.
Cletus describes Lori as "a gift that just landed
in my lap. I was a solo performer when we met, and wasn't really looking for a duo partner, but Lori really thought we should
sing together, and she was right. I'm eternally grateful for her tenacity. Singing with her has been a gift to
me."
"What's better than a good singer-songwriter?
Two singer-songwriters whose meshed voices seem built for close harmony. That's the case for Lori Kelley and Cletus
Kennelly, two independent artists who began collaborating five years ago after meeting at a Mid-Atlantic Song Contest awards
ceremony and exchanging CDs. Kelley showed up at Kennelly's next gig having learned all the songs on his debut album,
Thread, and they immediately started weaving a new vocal tapestry. Kelley, blessed with a four-octave range,
leans toward pop, while Kennelly is a 12-string guitarist in a more contemporary folk/pop mode, but they fit well together
and obviously savor harmony singing. Kelley and Kennelly have each won multiple Wammies, including this year as Best
Contemporary Folk Group, and they'll soon make their longtime partnership official with their first recording as a duo."
(Richard Harrington, The Washington Post, 3-18-05)
"In addition to sharing close
harmonies on their new CD, Lotus, Cletus Kennelly and Lori Kelley alternately contribute tunes that tend to fall
gracefully between folk and pop. In fact, so consistent is the song quality that it's sometimes hard to tell who wrote
what. Among Kennelly's best efforts are The Gate, an inspirational love song concerning a soldier blinded on
the battlefield, and Looking Up, a 9/11 ballad that's likely to outlast most. As for Kelley's lyrics, none
is more poetic or evocative than Snow Is Falling, a contemporary spiritual dedicated to Pfc. Lori Piestewa, one of
a handful of Native American women in the U.S. military and the first woman to die in the Iraq war." (Mike Joyce, The
Washington Post, 9-23-05)
INTERVIEWS
Read another interview with CLETUS
Read an interview with
LORI
CLETUS KENNELLY
Cletus is an eight-time
WAMMIE-winner in the categories of: BEST NEW ARTIST, SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR, BEST CONTEMPORARY
FOLK VOCALIST (three times) and BEST CONTEMPORARY FOLK GROUP (three times). He’s earned a total of 33
songwriting awards, including 24 Wammie nominations. In addition to his debut CD Thread,
Cletus has released a 2-song benefit CD with the WAMMIE nominated SONG OF THE YEAR, Looking Up (Three Days in September),
written on September 13th 2001, and Celestial Dance a lyrical, driving, percussive serenity prayer.
Chris Slattery of the Gazette Newspapers
writes, "Cletus Kennelly has a way with words. [He] takes only the finest words -- the most honest and expressive.
He painstakingly crafts them into finely wrought phrases, and coaxes them into verse." "[Songwriting] is a gossamer
art, especially in Kennelly’s capable hands. [He] is able to pan for nuggets of lyrical gold. As simple
and as complicated as life itself, ‘Thread’ is that and much more." Cliff Johns of the Old
Town Crier describes Cletus as "a powerful artist", and the CD as "genre-crossing music of great power". "[Thread]
is a strong, emotionally engaging record!" "Thread will wake up the listener; it is truly worthy of your attention."
"His player collaborators add to Kennelly’s rich talent and accomplishments to make a truly rich, memorable CD for all
of us to enjoy and be inspired by." Says Eric Brace of The Washington Post, "Cletus Kennelly wields a mean
12-string acoustic and writes a moving tune…the earnest and true kind."
Ray Ruskin, proprietor of the Kensington Coffee
House Concert Series, had this to say about Cletus: "What makes Cletus great is Cletus. He has a way of connecting to
the audience directly, and the rich quality of his voice is so effective, he doesn’t need a band behind him.
LORI KELLEY
Lori is a five-time WAMMIE-winner
for: SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR, SONG OF THE YEAR (for It Was A Great Day), and BEST CONTEMPORARY FOLK DUO/GROUP (twice) along
with 19 other nominations, and wields a four-octave range. Her songs have been voted #1 by
Northern Virginia Rhythm Magazine among all genres, and she was the overall GRAND PRIZE winner among all categories in
the 2003 Mid-Atlantic Song Contest.
Says Scott Moore of Moore House Concerts,
"Lori Kelley has a remarkable way with melodies. Plus, you never know what she's going to say." Songwriter Phil Stoecker
remarks, "I come to hear Lori play because her songs make me happy."
Lori has shared the stage with Nashville
hit songwriters Pat Alger, Tia Sellers & Mark D. Sanders, and Mark Selby. On her last solo release, Like
Sea Glass, her third CD, Lori Kelley’s style has evolved from kick up your heels two-steps to melodic, tender ballads
and laugh-out-loud, quirky, real-people songs. The CD itself garnered four Wammie nominations. Michael Jaworek of The
Birchmere states that her CD is "excellent on all accounts". Sing Out Magazine agrees: "Lori
takes her writing seriously. The lyrics are carefully crafted and the songs tell stories with ending that are not always
predictable. Lori has you listening for what comes next". "This is a fun album. Lori clearly had fun doing it,
and the listener can have fun listening."
VENUES
A partial list of past performances
include:
Rehoboth Beach Bandstand
University of Maryland College
Park and Baltimore campuses
Kensington Coffee House Concert Series
Cletus and Lori are honored
to have shared stages along the way with:
Sophie B. Hawkins
Jill Sobule
The Nields
David Wilcox
The Kennedys
Tom Prasada-Rao
Bill Danoff
Francis Dunnery
Peter Mayer
Tia Sillers & Mark Selby
Mercy Creek
Grace Griffith
Al Petteway & Amy White
Naked Blue
Rachel Bissex
Jason Byrd
Lisa Moscatiello
Pat Alger
Johnsmith
Todd Sheaffer (Railroad
Earth, From Good Homes)
and many others.
