If there is one piece of his life that Josh Kelley is more than comfortable displaying, it’s how he feels about his family. The central line running through the 11 songs on My Baby and the Band is the contentment he’s found in his life with his wife and three kids. He paints a picture of a man who has found his place nestled deep into the small mountain town they call home, along with everything that entails: the simple, extraordinary moments, the disagreements, the makeups, and a deep love for one another. It’s wrapped in sonic packaging that’s true to who Josh is, clear in its reverence for a great voice and song but unafraid to experiment with new textures surrounding it.
Growing up in Augusta, Georgia, Josh absorbed R&B, soul, and vintage country, while also developing an affinity for classic rock. His musical family would often sit around their piano, creating songs. When his older brother accidentally left his guitar at home when he headed back to college, the rest was history. These varied influences sometimes sneak into Josh’s music, in a phrase or a chord progression, but other times they’re fully on display. “Hold Me My Lord” was a somewhat surprising addition to My Baby and The Band, a gospel-soaked tune complete with a 30-member choir.
“The kids and I flew to see my wife, and there was a cool, old piano, and it was almost like it was what the piano needed to say. I asked Katie to film the chords, and when I got home, the melody came out—it’s unlike anything I’ve ever played but sounded exactly like what I heard as a kid walking by gospel churches in Augusta.”
“It feels like people, the earth, the world, needs some healing,” he says. “The older I get, and the more I learn about science, the closer I get to religion; the more it all seems to make sense to me. Having my beliefs to fall back on has gotten me through tough times, and sinking into the nostalgia and the comfort they’ve provided me, and reminding myself not to stray too far from my core beliefs, was what I needed to say at that moment.”
The song is just one in the journey presented on My Baby and the Band, the first album of original material that Josh has released in five years. The album traces his and his family’s story, a scenic walk through the evolution of a relationship, family, and growth.
Writing the new album began with “Love Her Boy,” a smooth and soulful number that finds Josh delving into different uses for the phrase. “I was trying to write a totally different song on a plane back home from a Colorado festival,” he says, explaining that he wrote the title down and filed it away for a writing session he had the next day. “I brought the idea of ‘love her boy’ to the session. The different uses within the song create an oronym, two phrases that sound the same but mean different things. I think it’s a clever angle, and we had so much fun bringing it to life.”
“We Don’t Need The Money” finds Josh and co-writer Erik Kertes reversing their usual roles to create a funky groove. When Josh and his wife lived in Los Angeles, while riding his bike around town one day—he’s really into vintage bicycles—the idea popped into his head. He pulled into co-writer Kertes’s driveway, and a few hours later, the song had come to fruition.
“Back To You” begs for a sing-along, and “If That’s Alright” continues the theme. They were all written back in 2017 and recorded with Josh’s band. “It’s different recording with the band than it is at my studio,” Josh says. “There’s a different energy, everyone’s individual inputs—it’s not always perfect, but that’s what makes it so great.”
“You Can Count On Me,” with background vocals from his kids,
