Sarah Kelly began to hone her songwriting skills at the
early age of seven, and eventually found her songs being incorporated
into the worship services of her local church as she continued to develop
as a writer and performer. You Overwhelm Me, an independent project
Sarah recorded in 2000, was birthed during a time she served as worship
leader for Master's Commission, an internationally-based discipleship
training program for students aged 18 and up. Before she knew it, concert
requests came in from around the world including England, Ireland, and
Canada.
As Sarah's indie project began to circulate throughout
the industry, industry insiders began to take notice. It wasn't long
before Sarah found herself pursued by several major labels. "Everything
happened so quickly," Sarah recalls. "I wasn't expecting it
at all, and I know it was nothing more than just God's timing."
With her national debut recording on Gotee set to drop
in early 2004, Sarah Kelly is already busy, performing an average of
150-200 concerts a year. The honest themes in her music cut across all
demographics and place Sarah in a unique position to reach audiences
everywhere from small club venues to amphitheaters or even church worship
settings.
Sarah Kelly burst onto the Christian music scene in early
2004 with a lot of buzz surrounding her national debut. And the primary
source of that buzz is this Rockford, Illinois native's powerful rock
chick voice - easily one of the best to hit Christian music in recent
years.
Kelly is one of the first Christian recording acts to
work with Sony Connect. Sarah Kelly, who released her debut album "Take
Me Away".
Sarah was picked as one of the best new artists of 2004
by ChristianityToday.com.
Continental Airlines will also be featuring multiple songs
from Kelly's Take Me Away album, as well as her upcoming sophomore release,
on their "In-Flight" radio station programming. Kelly's songs will be
available to airline passengers sometime in early 2005.
Regardless of who she personally reminds you of, it's
a vocal that lends itself well to her worshipful outpourings, which
combine contemporary praise with a clear affinity for retro rock.
Passionate, dark, and warm with just a little bit of scruff,
Kelly's singing has often been compared to Janis Joplin's throaty wails,
though it's probably closer to beautifully husky tones of Dolores O'Riordan
(The Cranberries), Alanis Morrisette, Rita Springer, and Lori Chaffer
(Waterdeep).
Regardless of who she personally reminds you of, it's
a vocal that lends itself well to her worshipful outpourings, which
combine contemporary praise with a clear affinity for retro rock. These
heartfelt and prayerful conversations are driven home by a stirring
delivery that's sure to make Kelly's a voice that brings people's hearts
closer to God.
Kelly was on the Jars of Clay tour and immediately joins
Everyday Sunday and Gotee label mate Paul Wright on the "Rock The Halls"
Christmas tour. "Rock The Halls" will take the all-star musical cast
to 16 cities nationwide.
Sarah Kelly will also be part of the "One Thing" conference
in Kansas City. The "One Thing" youth outreach conference is sponsored
by the International House of Prayer, and will feature Kelly leading
worship for upwards of 16,000 college kids alongside of other well-known
worship leaders including Jason Upton, and Shane & Shane.
Sarah recently joined good friend tobyMac in the studio
to record his rendition of U2's Mysterious Ways for the new benefit
CD In The Name Of Love: Artists United For Africa. The CD released on
Sparrow Records and is in stores now.
The music of new Gotee Records singer-songwriter Sarah
Kelly is the stuff that defines musicians as artists. It turns heads,
lights up audiences, and makes record label executives swoon. And while
it's hard to pinpoint exactly what it is about this fresh, new talent
from Rockford, IL., that captivates people her gutsy, heartfelt vocals
or honest, inventive melodies there's no question she's poised to make
her artistic mark in a very big way.
Sarah's release, Take Me Away, is already creating a buzz
in music industry circles, where she was pursued by several major labels
before landing with Gotee Records. Kelly wrote or co-wrote each song
on the project, which features the perfect marriage of edgy guitars
and Sarah's distinctive rock vocals, along with the subtle piano melodies
of the album's worship songs. The album's title cut is set to impact
radio stations across the country in October, while Sarah hits the road
with the Paul Colman Trio in 20-plus cities nationwide on "The
One Tour."
"I have to admit that I never really thought I would
sing," Sarah says. "I just wanted to be a songwriter and create
songs that other people would want to sing. But all of my music 'everything
I write' comes from the heart. So if I can somehow be an inspiration
to this generation, that's what I want to do."