[00:00:08] Speaker A: Hi, this is Aaron Nathans from the Nathans and Roncast. This week we're featuring an old friend of mine, Beth Kelly, who fronts the Beth Kelly Band in Madison, Wisconsin. I lived in Madison in the late 90s until the mid two thousand s, and that's where I learned the craft of songwriting as a member of the Madison Song Writers group. It was a group that met monthly at a local brewery, and we sat at a table in the private back room and critiqued each other's new songs. We all became a tight knit bunch, discovering who we were as writers and performers and supporting one another through our nascent musical journeys. They include Beth Kelly, who had been the drum major in the University of Wisconsin marching Band. She was trying to reimagine her performing life now that she was out in the big bad world. She had begun playing out a few years earlier, and when we met, she was just launching her first band, the rock group clear Blue Betty. I wore her group's t shirt around town back then, proud to say I knew the group's front woman and even prouder to have heard many of their songs as works in progress.
Beth has long had a way with songcraft, building songs designed to be played loud. They were tight three minute pieces full of expression and heart. I'm so glad to see Beth continuing her mission to master her craft and to use music as a means to build community and lift people up. These days she plays as a soloist and as a member of two duos and in the full band that bears her name, which includes her husband, Tony, on drums. She's also a founding member of the acoustic pop Americana trio gin chocolate and bottle rockets. So Beth, as you could tell, keeps quite busy. She recently released a book on songwriting, embrace your authentic songwriter. It's as much about why to write songs and exploring your purpose as much as it is a how to manual.
Beth's songwriting skills are on stunning display on the Beth Kelly Band's new album, this open Road. It was hard for me to choose a track to feature, but I was really taken with the opening song, all is one. It's an anthem filled with optimism and strength. The structure of this song is unorthodox, hovering around a few sparse words and a guitar riff in the verses, but it works brilliantly, building powerfully around sweet harmonies and leading to a triumphant finish that I can imagine crowds bopping to in crowded music halls. Here's all is one by the Beth Kelly band.
[00:02:55] Speaker B: Them.
[00:02:59] Speaker C: Because I never stand alone I can feel the ground beneath.
[00:03:08] Speaker B: My feet lifting and connecting me all.
[00:03:14] Speaker C: Who came before my life had begun.
[00:03:19] Speaker B: Home is one take my breath just in time for my bravery when all I am.
[00:03:48] Speaker C: Cycles back into the earth.
[00:03:54] Speaker B: Beneath the skin the same connected friends of DNA circle link us fall beneath our sun fall is one Saturday stare.
[00:05:00] Speaker C: Up into the star nothing and everything inside our life.
[00:05:23] Speaker B: Cooper fastness up if you every day I know my kingdom come all this one sa.
[00:06:15] Speaker A: Thank you for listening to the Nathans and Roncast. Do look up Beth's
[email protected]. Killy is spelled Kille. And please do us a favor and follow the Nathans and Roncast on Apple Podcasts. We'd love to grow our audience, and it's a great way to make sure you don't miss an episode. Have a great day, and we'll see you next week. Peace.
