Sarah Kelly - ChristianMusic.com
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 on 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, Ill., 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. Sarah 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."