Kelly Joe Phelps, the Slide and Acoustic guitarist and lyricist, was born in 1959 in United States. He is known for is remarkable fusion of jazz and blues. He belonged to a proletarian family living in the farms. He took guitar at the tender age of 12. Initially he was inclined towards jazz and looked up to John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman and Miles Davis. He changed over to acoustic blues when he heard the music of Robert Pete Williams and Fred McDowell. He turned towards song writing after the birth of his daughter, Rachel. He also started singing his own songs and his debut album was Lead On Me (1995). This not only established him as a guitarist but also a singer. This album shows the use of traditional elements in “Fare Thee Well” and “Mother Children”.

The second album called Roll Away The Stones was released in 1997 and the third album called Shine Eyed Mister Zen was released after a hiatus of 2 years. This was followed by Sky Like a Broken Clock came in 2001. In this album he was accompanied by players on the bass and the drum. His next album called “Beggar’s Oil” not only touched the hearts of the audience but also of the critics. He roped in the well known guitarist Bill Frisel and the bass player Keith Lowe, Andrew Downing, Steve Dawson and Jesse Zubot for his next album called Slingshot Professionals which released in 2003. The album tape The Red Cane Whirlwind, which released in 2005 was a record of his stage performances. Tunesmith Retrofit was his next studio album.

According to the Washington Post, Kelly music has pathos, fervour, mysticism. Portland, his next album, he has concentrated on the lyrics as he felt that in his last few albums his lyrics degenerated due to his focus on the guitar. He came out as a more mature song writer through this album and this album had his solo performances apart from duets, triads and quartets. He is credited with creating some of the heart wrenching ballads and power packed lyrics in this album. The songs like “Spanish hands” and “Loud as Ears” have touched the audience and resulted it this album behind a massive hit. This has also marked his debut instrumental track. His track, “MacDougal”, is a tribute to the legendry Dave Van Ronk, who was the Mayor of MacDougal Street in Greenwich Village. The title track witnessed a music that was like the music of a carnival, while “Scapegoat” has a fast paced banjo rhythm. Although he had stopped playing the banjo at the age of 25, he was drawn to it all over again in his middle ages and prompted him to use it in his album. The emphasis on Banjo is seen in “Handful of Arrows”.

Kelly is known to write, sing and play the blues. His songs are meant of a blue mood (all puns intended). His music gives company to a lonely soul.