Quick Update

Posted on June 4th, 2018

Songwriter, singer, guitarist and storyteller are the words that truly describe Russ Kelley. At this point in his career, Russ only does what interests him most. After years working as a full time professional musician (during which he toured all over Canada and the USA) and another number of years working in arts funding (mostly with the Canada Council for the Arts), he has spent the past few years back on stage, during which he has produced two CDs of original, toured all over Canada, and played festivals, music rooms, and house concerts. Last year (2017) he produced a small concert series in Ottawa, played a number of gigs, and began a unique recording project with four other colleagues that has occupied much of his time this year. There is much more to come about this project soon!

Please check out the buttons at the top of this page for more background information and streaming of his last cd “In Plain Sight” . This site has been experiencing difficulties and has not been fully updated in awhile. For more information and updates on gigs please checkout Russ’ site at Reverb Nation. http://www.reverbnation.com/russellkelley

Home Routes Tour to BC starts Oct. 16th

Posted on October 7th, 2015

My Home Routes “Cherry Bomb Circuit” tour begins on the 16th of October. I will be playing house concerts in Prince George (Oct 16), Mackenzie (Oct 17), Hudson’s Hope (Oct 18), Dawson Creek (Oct 21), Prince George (Oct 22), Fraser Lake (Oct 23), Houston (Oct 24), Smithers (Oct 25), Hazelton (Oct 27), Terrace (Oct 28) and Prince Rupert (Oct 29). House Concerts are my favourite thing to do. I absolutely love the intimacy and the connection with house concert goers who are true lovers of music. If you are in any of these places and would like to catch a show but do not know the hosts, you can call Selena from Home Routes at 1-866-925-6889 ext. 201

I will have both of my CDs with me for sale and as usual at least a couple of new tunes. You can also check out my other site at http://www.reverbnation.com/russellkelley. There are a couple of songs from both CDs streaming there, as well as more bio material and record reviews.

Looking forward to seeing you at one of shows somewhere. RK

Three CD Release Shows with Russ and Chris Rawlings In June

Posted on June 5th, 2015

Friday, June 12th, 2015

Russ Kelley with Chris Rawlings at the Musideum, 8:00pm, $20

401  Richmond Street West, Suite 133, Toronto, ON, (Richmond at Spadina)

I am the featured artist for this show, with my long time friend (and early musical collaborator) Chris Rawlings opening the show.  We are both Presenting our new CDs.  This is a wonderful listening room.

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Saturday, June 13th

Chris Rawlings with Russ Kelley at the Lazy Daisy’s Cafe, 8:00pm, $15

1515 Gerrard Street East, Toronto, ON

Chris is the featured performer for this show and I will open with a short set.  Chris will be accompanied by Abby Zolz on vocals.  This will be a fun evening in an intimate space.

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Friday, June 19th

Chris Rawlings & Russ Kelley at the Piggery Theatre, 8:00pm, $20

215 Chemin Simard, North Hatley, QC

This is the third cd release show with Chris Rawlings.  It is a fundraiser for the Massawippi Valley Health Centre.  I will be opening the show and we will be playing a couple of songs together, from our long ago days in Rings & Things, on a beautiful theatre stage in the Eastern Townships.

CD Launch – Release Show for 2nd CD – “In Plain Sight”

Posted on April 16th, 2015

May 6, 2015   –  Irene’s Pub

CD Release Concert – 8:00 pm  – $10

with special guests Keith Snider and Dave Draves

IrenesPub.com – 885 Bank Street, Ottawa, Ontario

Tickets available at the door

Home Routes Tour in Alberta

Posted on October 15th, 2014

Red Square Circuit
Edmonton, cialis sale Nov. 15th
Evansburg, Nov. 16th
Rocky Mountain House, Nov. 18th
High River, Nov. 19th
Lethbridge, Nov. 20th
Eastend, SasK, Nov. 21st
Medicine Hat, Nov. 22nd
Okotoks, Nov. 23rd
Calgary (private), Nov. 24th
Olds Nov. 25th
Ponoka Nov. 26th.

RK News Letter #6

Posted on October 15th, 2014

So as usual it has been a long time since I posted my latest news but no apologies as I have been busy writing and recording my second CD with just a handful of gigs in between. I’m in the final mixing stage with mastering next week. The CD is called “In Plain Sight” and I’m quite proud of it. This time I recorded in Ottawa with all Ottawa musicians. It will be released in the new year. When it is finally out there I will post lyrics and background info on this site. But I want to give thanks to Rufus Stewart right here and now for his unbelievable restoration work on my Guild D50. Rufus has known this guitar for much of its 47 year history – Ive had it for 45 years. It is once again a beauty. In other news, I’m heading out on a Home Routes tour in Alberta, in four weeks and wanted to have the CD ready for the tour. This tour will be eleven dates in twelve days and I know it will be great fun. I’m touching down in Edmonton-Nov.15, then on to Evansburg-16th, Rocky Mountain House-18th, High River-19th, Lethbridge-20th, Eastend, SK-21st, Medicine Hat-22nd, Okotoks-23rd, Calgary-24th (private), Olds-25th, & Ponoka-26th. If anyone is interested in attending one of those shows, you will have to contact Home Routes in Winnipeg for the info. As usual, I will keep this short and sweet. Look for more news about the CD quite soon. RK

RK’s Newsletter #5

Posted on February 23rd, 2014

So the latest news is that I shot a couple of videos with Graham Lindsey on February 11th. I’ve posted one to my website so far but you can find both at http://youtu.be/0bxsvxTXpxs (We’re Falling) and http://youtu.be/LhRgkJkydPs (Whiskey Stone Blues). You may have to cut and paste the url into your browser. There are some fun shows coming up, including an afternoon set at the Ottawa Grassroots Festival on April 26th at 3pm. I’m also planning a show in Montreal on June 13th with Chris Rawlings. Chris and I began singing together in grade 7 at Westmount Junior High as we walked to school. This led to our first group and ultimately to our first professional touring group. Our high school is having a 50th reunion and we thought it would be a perfect time to do something together again – more to come. The trio with my son is also readying for our first public performance sometime in the spring. As a final note, I want to thank Missy Burgess and Bruce Murdoch for the great sold-out show that we did at Irene’s Pub last month, with thanks also to Mike Regenstrief for his hosting and for all the promotion that he did for the show. Until the next time. RK

RK’s Newsletter #4

Posted on October 28th, 2013

Hi everyone,
So the Alberta Home Routes tour went really well. I LOVE playing house concerts. They have the feel of the coffee houses when I was young, eager listening audiences. The weather in late September in Alberta was wonderful and I didn’t have a single bad driving day. This tour was shorter by three days than my tour last year but the audiences were larger so it worked out great. I have an upcoming gig in Wakefield, Quebec on Sunday that I’m looking forward to since it will be my first time playing in Wakefield. This one is at Kaffe 1870 which is a restaurant/pup with a nice stage and fine sound system. This gig is hosted by Paul Hampsey who plays the opening set. I will doing a one hour set. I hope you are able to make it if you live in the area. A couple of other dates are coming up but I will wait until they are a bit closer before I post them. Until the next time!

RK’s Newsletter #3

Posted on September 3rd, 2013

So it seems that it takes me about three months to update my newsletter. Hopefully, I will get faster at this. So the Ottawa cd launch at the National Arts Centre’s Fourth Stage went really well – I loved playing that room (the sound is great) and my audience seemed to really enjoy the evening.

That show was mid-June and since then I’ve been writing a few new songs that I will get to debut in Alberta in a couple of weeks when I play my second Home Routes tour. This one is mostly around and outside of Edmonton with one date closer to Calgary. I love playing house concerts for a number of reasons but mostly because it is for a dedicated listening audience. Can’t wait!!

The other fun thing that has been happening is that I have been rehearsing a trio in Toronto with Josh Turnbull (drums/percussion) and Alan Kelley (bass)and yes that’s my son. This will be an exclusively Toronto thing since the guys have many other things on the go. More news and dates to come. I’ve also been rehearsing with Missy Burgess here in Ottawa. We are hoping to do some shows together hopefully with Bruce Murdock in kind of a songcircle format. We’ll see how this takes shape.

I will keep this short. Hope to see my Alberta friends very soon and hope to make new friends along the way.

RK’s Newsletter #2

Posted on May 15th, 2013

Hi Everyone,
Once again it has been awhile since the last newsletter. In the interim I have had the opportunity to play a very fun gig at Grove Hall in Huntingdon, Quebec with a great group, the Durham County Poets www.durhamcountypoets.com . This was part of the Ormstown Branches and Roots Festival series. Over 100 people came to the show and it was a treat to share the bill with the poets. Another major treat was to re-connect with the extraordinary Bruce Murdoch after a very long time.

For those of you who don’t know, Bruce was a powerful, fast rising singer/songwriter from Montreal who left the music business in the early 70s but was highly regarded and touted in the US as the next big thing in folk music. Bruce and Mandy have returned to Quebec and he has a new CD out and is playing again. Check him out, www.brucemurdoch.com .

So my big news is that I will be playing my first Ottawa show on June 19th at the National Arts Centre’s Fourth Stage. The 4th Stage is an cosy room with exceptional sound. I’m hoping that the show will feel as intimate as a house concert. I’ve come to love the spotlight that a house concert puts on songwriting and storytelling. I’m hoping that many of my Ottawa friends will come out to the show, it will be fun. After that, I expect to be back in Toronto for a July show at a little club with Josh Turnbull (drums), Alan Kelley (bass) and other guests.

So now it’s back to songwriting (I have three new ones that are almost ready) and preparing for the NAC show. Until next time, RK