by Jeff Rose | Oct 6, 2022
8:00pm
Join us at The Pershing for a taping of “Who Said You Could Do That?” with special guest Harmoni Kelly.
“Who Said You Could Do That?” is a series of taped interviews with artists, musicians, and people with strange jobs, about what they do, why they do it, and how they got where they are today.
Tickets and Info TBA
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Harmoni Kelley is a nationally touring bassist and vocalist from Austin, Texas, currently on tour with country music superstar, Kenny Chesney. A self-taught musician, Harmoni picked up the bass guitar at age 17 and hasn’t looked back. With over two decades of experience both on the road and in the studio, she has mastered the art of playing by ear and understands the importance of being able to lay back, listen and play for the song.
During her time as a young musician in Austin, Harmoni worked her way up through the ranks and spent time both in the studio and on the road with local legends Fastball, James McMurtry, Slaid Cleaves and Bob Schneider to name a few. Those years proved to be the most important in starting Harmoni down the path of honing in on her craft as a bass player and vocalist. She cut her teeth with bands of all musical genres from rock, pop, blues, funk, bluegrass, country and americana.
In 2013, Harmoni had the opportunity to make the move to Nashville, TN and jumped at the chance. During her stint in music city, she toured with Hank Williams, Jr., Radney Foster, Bonnie Bishop, Holly Williams and Louise Mandrell. All of her time spent networking and gigging around Nashville would eventually culminate with her call to audition for Kenny Chesney in 2014.
Harmoni currently splits time between her hometown of Austin, TX and Nashville, TN. When she’s not on the road with Chesney, she continues to tour and do session work with various artists around the country.
by Jeff Rose | Oct 6, 2022
8:00pm
Join us at The Pershing for a taping of “Who Said You Could Do That?” with special guest Chris Layton.
“Who Said You Could Do That?” is a series of taped interviews with artists, musicians, and people with strange jobs, about what they do, why they do it, and how they got where they are today.
Chris Layton was a member of Double Trouble, and can be heard banging away on all the Stevie Ray Vaughn albums. But he’s more than that. He’s smart, funny, and has an approach to life that can only be earned through many hard lessons. He’ll be joined by Austin guitar veteran Derek O’Brien for a short set following the interview.
Ticket info TBA
by Darden Smith | Jul 15, 2014 | And here's another thing..
The songwriter Billy Kirsch and I were talking about our work a couple of months ago. What we came to was that in order to do our jobs well, to really be in the song we’re writing, recording or performing, we have to be present, alive, and paying attention.
For artists, job #1 is to wake up. In order to write a song, I first have to see the world. Only then do I have something to pull from, something to say. It’s not so different from other jobs. Whatever you do, being awake and bringing your whole self to the task is the route to your best work.
When I sit down to write a song, I pull inspiration from anywhere I can find it. Something seen while traveling, bits of conversation overheard in a coffee shop, the latest article or book I’ve read, a movie, anything, it’s all fair game. Basically, I throw a lasso around my life and use it in the song.
I bring myself to work.
I used to put up a wall between my work and my family. I kept the guitars in the studio, rarely played music in the house. I was afraid that I would overwhelm those around me, take all the oxygen out of the room. At some point, I did a U-turn, and started hanging guitars on the walls, kept one in every room in the house, put a piano in the kitchen. I let my kids see me working on songs, played guitar while they got ready for school in the morning. The result was that they began to know me, and I saw them differently as well. They would come sit in the living room while I played piano and do their homework. When I showed up, it opened doors for my family to do the same.
I brought myself home.
At work, at home, wherever you are, whatever you’re doing, bring your whole self.
Show up.
