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May 25th, 2007
I'm posting this to
announce a special show
that's coming up next
week. On
Wednesday, May 30th,
The Kajun Kelley
Band
will be performing at
Jammin' Java
in Vienna,
Virginia.
For those of you not
familiar, Jammin'
Java
is one of the premier
live music venues in
the DC area, with a
great stage and sound
system. It's a true
concert setting-- a
great place to see live
bands. We will be splitting
the bill with Alowishious
Farhatt,
a great new band out
of Manassas, VA. The
Kajun Kelley Band
will be playing one
set of all original
material starting at
8pm, followed by Alowishious
Farhat. Tickets are
$10, and it's an all
ages show. Jammin' Java
has great food and a
full bar as well, not
to mention some kick
ass coffee! Kajun
May 2nd, 2007
Hey Everybody! Want to
thank everybody who came
out to the shows last
month. It seems the good
word is spreading. The
crowds are getting bigger
and better, and I'm seeing
familiar faces who are
bringing more and more
new faces with them. Thanks
for the support! The audiences
are growing ex·po·nen·tial·ly!
(Math ROCKS!)... Kajun
April 3rd, 2007
Hey Everybody! Welcome to
April, my favorite month
of the year, being as I
love paying me some taxes!
But I rant about that every
year, so I'll save it, much
as I should have done with
my money. Instead I'll tell
you about some good things,
or at least better things
than paying taxes, which
leaves...pretty much anything. Kajun
February 1st, 2007
Hey Everybody! I just got
in from my gig tonight, and
I'm here to tell you, it's
damn cold outside! I think
I've been spoiled by this
relatively mild winter we've
been having, so this new level
of frigidity is too much for
my thin skin to handle (I
said "frigidity"-
Word!). I'm not prepared.
I'm just not a cold weather
kinda guy- no ski trips for
me, thank you. I'm all about
the sun, yo! Swim trunks,
lounge chairs, pool drinks
and the whatnot. So you KNOW
this brutha is counting down
the arctic days to our week
long stint playing at Margaritaville
in Key
West, Florida.
We leave here on the 18th,
heading due south on 95, steady
watching the temperature climb
as we go. Then we set up shop
at the club and play Tuesday,
Feb 20th thru
Sunday, February 25ff
(pronounced "twen-tee-fiffff")
That ain't nothin' but love,
yo! I'm rubbing it in, I know,
but it's all in the hopes
that I can persuade you to
get your spontaneity on and
come on down for some rock/sun/party/relaxation
time. Don't you owe it to
yourself? Go stand outside
for about 5 minutes, and I'll
bet you'll decide you do. Embrace
the Rock...
January 2nd , 2007
Hey Everybody! Hope everybody
had a happy holiday! Thanks
to all of you who sent me some
sympathetic-email-love in response
to my I'm-too-sick-to-play/gig-cancellation
newsflash on January 3rd (My
apologies to all my Arlington,
Virginia peeps for having to
pull out last minute). I think
I'm finally over it. Which
is good, because I'm getting
a late start. It's a new year...2007...and
the time has come...time to
start fresh...dare I say "anew"...and
take the first, small steps...baby
steps, if you will...on the
never ending journey...some
may call it a quest...to seek
out, find, and...ultimately,
bring...The ROCK! I feel the
responsibility falls squarely
upon our shoulders! For if we
don't truly bring The Rock,
then who shall? The new
season of "American
Idol"? Fergie? Diddy? Esteban?
These are sad musical times
we live in, and Rock is hard
to find. We must pull together,
my friends, dig down deep, and
embrace The Rock that lives
within us all. Do it now, in
2007, before it's too late..... It's all about The Rock..... Kajun
November 2nd , 2006
Hey Everybody! Hope you are now
fully recovered from your Halloween
hangovers, be they from a sugar
high or a high of a more "Adult" origin.
I was too busy playing and singing
to overindulge in either, but
I'm still feeling sluggish from
the Halloween weekend. I think
it's just this damn Daylight-Savings-Time-getting-dark-at-5pm-thing.
It messes me up every year. The
good news is I've got lots of
leftover candy, so I can
mack on that to keep my energy
up. Chocolate and coffee is a
beautiful combo! Word!
September 28th , 2006
Hey Everybody! Thought I'd get news
page written a little early this
month. That's right--a whole 3 days
early! My ambition is overwhelming,
I know. Sitting at my computer and
typing is quite a difficult undertaking.
Don't try to keep up with me, my
friends--I'm livin' at a pace that
kills. (Just like Van Halen circa '78/"Runnin'
with the Devil") I've
got a busy month coming up.
Busy VACATIONING! That's right,
me and my girl are about to jet
away to an undisclosed (so
as to avoid the paparazzi) sunny,
southern, foreign locale and get
our RockStar tan on! Not to
give too much away, but I have two
weeks to learn some conversational
Spanish. But it's vacation--all
I should need to know how to
say is "Cerveza, por favor?"....I
think I'm ready! Kajun
September 1st , 2006 Hey Everybody! I can't believe it's September already- the summer seems to have flown by. And at no point this summer did I ever achieve the coveted "savage tan" that I so desire. That's so wrong. The sun and I have been strangers, cause I've been straight up stuck indoors, handlin' my bidness! But bidness is good, so I can't complain. A brutha is trying to WORK, yo! Got another busy month of gigs coming up. Couple of shows of note: Playing at O'Briens in Annapolis, MD this Saturday, Sept. 2nd, which is my first time in there with my full band (ROCK shall be achieved!) Saturday, Sept. 9th, I'll be returning to Badfish Grill (formerly Harbor Sounds) in Solomon's Island, MD- I've had people asking when I'd be back down in that area, so there you go. And on Saturday, Sept. 16th, I'll be pulling a double- playing an afternoon acoustic duo gig at RamsHead in Annapolis, MD from 1pm-3:30pm (outside, weather permitting), and then playing with my full band that night at RiRa in Bethesda, MD from 9:30pm- 1:30am. (My complete schedule and details are listed below) "Ego Check" is still holding steady at #4 on PulseRated Internet Radio/Sky Channel 0155 in the UK's Top 40 Chart. It's been in their Top 4 now for six weeks- thanks to all of you who have been going on to their website (http://www.pulserated.com/) and voting for me. I can't tell you how much that means to me- you all ROCK! Thanks for all your support! I finally got the ball rolling on mixing the new CD last month. Been getting a few hours of studio time in just about every day over the last couple of weeks. That being said, I've only completed ONE song (and I use "completed" loosely, as there's always the high probability that I'll decide to change something later). At that staggering pace, I'll have the CD mixed in about 5 months. I've gotta tighten up! But now that I'm in the mixing groove, things will (hopefully) speed up. I'll keep you posted on the progress, or lack thereof. Word
August 6th , 2006
PulseRated Internet Radio announced today that “Ego Check” from Kajun Kelley’s StaleStories FreshEars CD is now #1 on their Top 40 chart! Thanks so much to all of you who went on to http://www.pulserated.com/ and voted for Kajun! Remember to continue to tune in to PulseRated and vote for Kajun once a day to keep him on the chart! Click on the PulseRated link to go directly to Kajun's Artist Page to vote.
August 3rd , 2006
Hey Everybody! I've got a lot going on
right now, so I've got to keep this short.
I'm actually in the studio this week,
trying my damnedest to get this new CD
finished and out there! I've been playing
five of the new tunes live, and the reaction
has been way positive. Trouble is, people
are asking "is that song on your
CD?" to which my usual reply is a
Butthead-like "Uhhhhhhh.......no...or
something?" I want to be able to
say "No, but it's on the new CD which
will be out on ____ "(fill in blank
with very exact date that ends with
"2006") So I'm tryin' to turn
this mutha out! Uhhhh.....Word....or
something.
July 11, 2006
"Ego Check"
(also known as the "F---
You" song) from Kajun
Kelley's CD "StaleStories
Fresh Ears" has been
picked by PulseRated
Internet Radio to be on this
weeks "Top
5 Hot Trax" list. (Apparently,
explicit lyrics aren't a problem with PulseRated!)
Just go to http://www.pulserated.com/
and you'll see "This
Week's Hot Trax" listed
right on the home page.
July 10th, 2006
PulseRated
internet radio will be playing Kajun's song
"Never Go Away"
TODAY,
July 10th, on "The
Rock Show," hosted by Wyatt
Wendels. The show is on from
4pm to 6pm EST.
Kajun is also one of this weeks five
featured new artists on "The
Rock Show."
June 27, 2006 Hey Everybody! I'd thought I'd take a little break from building my ark and type up my newsletter. I'm not yet gathering animals two by two, but what I'm tryin' to say is, it's raining like a muv up in here! The east coast just had a big ol' rain cloud roll up and park over it. It's never ending. And the dark and dreariness of it all is startin' to bring a brutha down- I've had to step up the coffee intake in a big way to compensate. Now I understand why Starbucks got it's start in rainy-ass Seattle. That being said, the artificial high I'm on is gonna lead to the inevitable coffee crash, so I'd better get to the point. Got a lot of gigs coming up this week, a couple of which aren't on the website yet, so I thought I'd get this out a little early this month. I'll be playing with my full band this Wednesday at Rock Bottom in Arlington, VA, Thursday at Casey Jones in LaPlata, MD, and Friday at Wild Duck Cafe' in Middle River, MD. Then on Saturday, July 1st, I'll be doing a 45 minute acoustic set of my original material opening up the Liberty Festival at the Dulles Town Center in Dulles, VA. Dave DeMarco will be joining me on bass. Show starts at 6pm. Details and the rest of my July schedule are on the schedule page. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get back in the studio to work on my new CD this month, but I've got a good stretch of days off July 9th thru the 12th that I plan on "scheduling" studio time. The danger of having the home studio is that I can go in there anytime- so I end up saying "I can go in there anytime" and blowing it off until later. So I've found that if I write it on my calendar, I fool my simple ass into thinking I HAVE to do it. It's quite pathetic, actually. I'm a sad, sad, man. I blame it on the rain. (After all, that's what Milli Vanilli would do)..... Kajun
June 1 , 2006
Hey Everybody! So, in the further adventures of
getting my new band up and running, booking gigs
and such, I've come upon a stumbling block that
I really hadn't expected- my name. For those of
you who don't know, my real name is Kajun Kelley-
it's on the birth certificate, which I'm starting
to think I should copy and send out in my press
kit. I'm obviously aware that my name is unusual,
and on top of that, the spelling is tricky. I've
seen every imaginable spelling and heard every possible
pronunciation (which comes in handy for screening
telemarketers- "could I speak to cah-joon keely?"-
I'm pretty sure he's not home). The ironic thing
to me is that when I was growing up, playing guitar
in high school, people would always say how cool
it was that I already had a good "stage"
name. But now that I'm actually playing on stages,
people assume it's made up- I can't win! It also
doesn't help me that "Cajun" is a style
of music, so when my name is advertised as "Cajun
Kelly," people might assume that it's a girl
named Kelly rocking some good ol' cajun jams. So
with that in mind, I decided to bill it as the Kajun
Kelley Band, to lower the confusion factor.
But this is apparently not good enough for some.
I've had some club owners actually not want to book
my band because of my name, saying they just "don't
get" why, if I DON'T play Cajun music, do
I call myself "Kajun Kelley"? And, reaching
an all new low of ridiculous insanity, I've
actually had it suggested to me via some agents/promoters
that if I CHANGE MY NAME, they could get me
more work. How wrong is that? But a brutha
needs some gigs, so starting in July, I will be
playing under my new stage name- "John
Smith". It's pretty RockStar to change
your name- Vincent Furnier to "Alice Cooper,"
Brian Warner to "Marilyn Manson," DeClann
McManus to "Elvis Costello".....and now
Kajun Kelley to "John Smith". I think
it's the one thing that's been holding me back!
I'll be sure to thank all those responsible agents/promoters
on my "VH1 Behind The Music"....... Hope to see you this month. Thanks, The Artist Formerly Known As Kajun Kelley
May 1 , 2006
Hey Everybody! April was a busy month for me. I'm
here to tell you- it's hard work getting your
own band up and running! Much time spent on the phone,
contacting musicians, scheduling rehearsals,
calling club owners, talking to agents. Burning CD's
of the material for the musicians to learn, and promo
CD's for the clubs and agents, putting together
press kits, running to the post office. Throw
a lot of quality e-mail time in the mix also. Then
you realize, oh yeah, I probably need to be able play
my instrument and sing at these gigs, so maybe- at
some point- I should practice! But, all complaining
aside, it's all a labor of love, and judging by my
first two "Kajun
Kelley Band" gigs, it's well worth
it. I had an absolute BLAST! Thanks to everybody who
came out to the gigs. We had great crowds at both
shows- BIG thanks to my many friends who came out
to show their support. And, as a bonus, I sold a good
amount of CD's to some newcomers, and got many new names
signed on to the mailing list (Roni was working
it!). The coolest thing for me was finally being able
to play my songs live, full band, and see the
positive reaction they were getting, not only from
the people that own the CD, but even from people who
had never heard them before- that is the best feeling
in the world for any musician- Thank you! Check the Schedule Page for the complete May Schedule. That's it for now - gotta get back to workin' the phones... Word(s) Kajun
April 1 , 2006 Hey Everybody! Well, this month, rather than rambling on about nothing like my usual newsletters, I have some pretty big news to report. After 11 incredible years of playing with the Deanna Bogart Band, I've decided that it's time for me to move on. I'm going to concentrate all of my time and energy on my own music. It goes without saying (but I'm gonna say it anyway) that Deanna, Mike, and Eric are like family to me. As a band, we have shared experiences together on the road that forever changed my life. And, I also must say, playing with musicians of their caliber has made me a better musician, for which I will forever be thankful. There's nothing but love between us, no hard feelings whatsoever, and they have all been totally supportive of my decision to pursue my own thing. My last gig with the band will be Saturday, April 15th at Jammin' Java in Vienna, VA.- please try to make it out. So now comes the fun part........putting together my own band! This is no easy task, my friends! Finding good players who dig your music and aren't already too busy is tough! But there's an old adage that I first heard years ago from a certain world-wise female musician (see first paragraph): "Book some gigs, and they will come"! So I did just that- I booked three Saturday night gigs in a row at the Kajun-friendly establishment Rams Head Pub in Annapolis, Maryland- April 22, 29, and May 6. And as luck would have it, there's a different combination of players each one of those nights- It's all about variety, yo! So come out and see the maiden voyage(s) of my new trio(s)! I've started working with a bass player/vocalist named Dave DeMarco- his first gig with me is the May 6th Rams Head show- and in the midst of trying to get my thing up and running, he asked me if I wanted to do a new every-other-Wednesday-night thing he's starting this month at Dick's Famous Halfway Inn in Rosedale, MD - so I said "sure"! We're going to be working together with my thing anyway, so it's good practice for us to tighten up our harmonies and such! He's doing some real cool, eclectic covers, and I'll be singing some songs as well. Should be a really fun gig. So...there you have it! I'll be keeping everybody very well posted on upcoming shows, and as soon as the train is rolling on the whole live band side, I'll get back to work on the new CD. And maybe get some sleep..... Words(s)! Kajun
March 2 , 2006
Hey Everybody! I'm going to try to keep this short and
sweet this month. I've been a busy boy since getting back
from the Deanna Bogart Band's
Midwest tour- not enough hours in the day! The tour itself
was, in reality, a short one (12 days), but it was a nonstop,
8-gigs-in-4-states, little-rest-in-between trip, capped
off with a 24 hour drive home from Oklahoma. And it was COLD....everywhere
we went, the cold weather followed. Even in Ft. Lauderdale,
Florida, which was probably the coldest gig we played-
outdoor stage, 35 degrees, with a wicked wind blowing
right through us (Eric wore a coat onstage- and he never gets
cold!) But the gigs all went real well, and we had a great
time playing, cold and tired as we were. Thanks, Kajun
January 30, 2006
Hey Everybody! In light of my non-posting of anything “new”
on this News page last month, I'm getting a big ol' two
day jump on getting this month’s up. You'd better recognize!
Stand back and watch a brutha rise up and break off a little
piece of redemption! Or not. I guess I'm only doing what should
be expected of me, so I'm deserving of no praise. But I've
got a lot going on this month, so it was important that
I get this out before it got away from me again. Got some more work done on the new CD last month. All the songs are recorded now, and I should be starting the mixing process when I get back from the road. I'm getting excited about it now- light at the end of the tunnel and all that good shit. But the mixing stage is the longest and most tedious part for me (I mix about as quickly as I type), so don't expect that it will be finished anytime soon. I'm still holding to the December 2007 release date, so now it's definitely getting to be crunch time... Kajun
December 6 , 2005
Hey Everybody! So it seems fall is over, and winter has officially
begun. I know this because yesterday I was bundled up tight, working
out in the yard, steady raking leaves when the snow was coming
down. That's right- I said raking leaves. In the snow. It
was SO wrong. I had to laugh at myself, wondering what the
neighbors must have thought. "That brother's got no sense.
He's trying to rake the snow. Somebody needs to put a shovel
in his hand." What can I say, I got behind in my
yard grooming duties! The whole season-change thing
came way too quick for me. So when I heard the snow was coming,
I had to get out there with a quickness! But, alas, not quickly
enough. It literally started snowing as soon as I stepped
outside. I started to bail, but I was determined to get my
rake on! Besides, I was all suited up in my yardwork-in-the-cold
garb: my brand new Roni-supplied-early-Xmas-gift thermal underwear
shirt; my Big-Ass-warm-as-a-muv ski gloves; my Outback Steakhouse
stocking cap (worn backward of course, to keep it real); and
my expressly-worn-for-yardwork-grass-stained-circa-1992-still-rockin'-the-"swoosh"-Nike
running shoes. Where else could I go dressed like that? So
I stuck it out, and many bags of snow soaked leaves were bagged. Kajun
November 3 , 2005 Hey Everybody! This newsletter would have been rushed out earlier this week, being as we were supposed to leave for the Deanna Bogart Band's Florida tour yesterday. But, alas, Hurricane Wilma had other plans. We were scheduled to play the Ft. Lauderdale Riverwalk Blues Festival tomorrow (Friday, Nov. 4th), but they had to reschedule the entire four day festival due to all the damage from the storm. So now we leave Saturday morning to drive straight to Key West, where we will be playing at Margaritaville for a week. We usually make this trek in January/February, but we're changing up the groove this year. That means our chances of NOT getting caught in a blizzard on the way home this year are a little better. And this time I get to come home and rake leaves instead of shovel snow, which is nice. Now I'll be getting my Autumn tan on, more of a PRE-winter hookup, a little sun before the cold hits, which is still ayyyyiiiight by me. Basically, Key West rocks no matter what time of year you go. Unless, of course, it's during a hurricane. Key West=GOOD, Hurricane=BAD. You
all should be proud of me- last month I got MUCH recording done.
I would even be bold enough to state that I have completed
all the recording on 8 songs, and they are now ready to
be mixed. That leaves only 2 to go before the mixing process
can begin in earnest. (Where is "earnest" located
exactly? Apparently, that's where I'll be mixing.) So I may
have to move up the scheduled release date from 2008 to 2007.
But, you know, more like late 2007. For now, let's say Winter
2007. That's when the new shizzle is gonna "drop."
I'm so street... Kajun
October 4 , 2005
Hey Everybody! It seems that the fall season has brought some
musical creativity within the cooler air. I've been hard at work
here recording the new CD. Took advantage of some days/nights
off from gigging and got down in the studio with a regularity
(pronounced reg-gool-lahr-eh-tay) last month. My main objective
was to get some vocal tracks done, so of course I came down with
a heavy-on-the-sore-throat head cold just in time to sing- lovely!
But rather than let it keep a brutha down, I decided to try to
take advantage of the extra raspy quality it gave my voice, and
although it required much more effort to get the notes out, and
I could hardly talk when I was done, I'm pretty happy with the
results. I should get sick more often. (Miracle Drug Alert- get
next to some "Airborne"- take it as soon as you start
feeling any signs of a cold- it'll keep it from gettin' out of
control.) I got keeper vocals tracks done on 4 songs last week,
which brings me.....well, 4 songs closer to being done with the
whole thing. Most of the music is recorded at this point, so it's
almost finished....until I decide to re-record something again.
Hey, I've been saying all along- release date, 2008! You can't
rush quality...or something. Seriously, it's almost done. I think. Kajun
September 6 , 2005 Hey
everybody! Yeah, I'm late with this, what's new! No excuses this
time, I'm just late. All apologies. Thanks,
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