I am honored to be on Radio Promotor Angela Backstrom’s contact list for new music being released by the amazing cadre of Americana/Roots Artists she represents. Angela reached out to me to arrange a phone interview to highlight Kiely Connell’s appearance at Kansas City’s recordBar venue in support of her amazing sophomore record “My Own Company.” I went down the rabbit hole, as I so often do in preparation for this conversation. I was entranced by Kiely’s voice, her
affinity for some of my personal favorites like Courtney Marie Andres and Patsy Cline, and her totally relatable lyricism.
Kiely Connell is a Nashville-based, rustbelt-born Country singer who has widened her musical horizons by recording My Own Company in Portland, Oregon with producer Tucker Martine (Roseanne Cash, Courtney Barnett, Madison Cunningham). It is a gritty and generous display of heartbreakingly honest lyricism, powerhouse vocals, and a deep-dive into recovering after heartbreak, staring down the barrel of depression, and coming out the other side…to choose oneself. Instrumental backing provided from bassist Nate Query (the Decembrists), drummer Andrew Borger (Tom Waits, Norah Jones) and long term musical companion and guitarist Drew Kohl.
In Connell’s own words, “It’s about a love that you work so hard on that doesn’t work out in the end, so you ultimately end up working on yourself. You learn that the most important relationship is the one you have with
yourself.”
Enjoy this conversation with Nashville’s Kiely
Connell.
