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Folksinger-songwriter Kelley Smith is a hopeless romantic who fancies old poetry and grandpa sweaters. All at once whimsical and haunting, Smith delivers deeply affecting lyrics with wry charm and a time traveler's voice. Prone to melancholy and daydreaming, Kelley spent her childhood roaming the woods of Minnesota and singing to forest animals. To this day, her longing for that landscape runs deep and seems to find its way into her songs in one way or another.Raised by musicians, Smith always had music in her bones, but it wasn't until she was 40 and a mother of four that her first record, Moon Child (2022), came to be. As an insomniac, she wrote this first batch of songs by moonlight. They evoke a sense of belonging, juxtaposed with escapism, as she croons about long-term love, grief, and her draw to the night sky. ”Her authentic, rootsy sound, falling somewhere between country, folk, bluegrass and old-time music, is a pitch-perfect vehicle for the themes she explores...” - Adventures in Americana
Since 2022, Kelley has shared stages with the likes of Charlie Parr, Dave Simonett, Alan Sparhawk, Wild Horses, Drew Peterson, Erik Koskinen, Stephen Wilson Jr., Storyhill, Molly Maher, Sarah Morris, and more. Kelley will be joined by Minnesota resonator slide-guitarist and songwriter Jeff Ray. Ray's music is rooted in the traditions of acoustic blues and American primitive fingerstyle guitar while also integrating Indian classical and world music styles under the cryptic guise of alternate guitar tunings. His music recalls early blues and rock, fingerstyle-folk, and Indian Carnatic music - sounding equal parts Ry Cooder, Grateful Dead and RL Burnside. Jeff has shared the stage with Chris Smither, Justin Townes Earl, Indigenous, Spider John Koerner, Earl Greyhound, Black Diamond Heavies, Pat Donohue, Retribution Gospel Choir, Dawes, and Charlie Parr, among others. He has earned recognition as a first-place winner of the Minnesota Blues Society "Road to Memphis" competition and placed second in the Trocadero's Spotlight Songwriter Competition.
JEFF RAY hosts the “Roots & Resophonics” concert series at the White Squirrel Bar on the 2nd Sunday of every month, 1-3pm, featuring a unique duo performance of the most talented local and regional musicians in the American roots genre.
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
974 7th St W, St Paul, MN 55102-3520, United States, 974 W 7th St, St Paul, MN 55102-3552, United States,Saint Paul, Minnesota