Musicians - Paul Kelly

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	Musicians - Paul Kelly

Paul Kelly (born 1955, South Australia) is an Australian singer-songwriter, based in Melbourne, and widely considered as an icon of Australian music.

His output has ranged from bluegrass to studio-oriented dub reggae, but his core output comfortably straddles folk, rock, and even some country. His lyrics, simply and laconically voiced, have managed to speak to Australian experiences and history perhaps more broadly and directly than any other artist, from "Bradman", about the Australian cricketer Sir Donald Bradman, through "To Her Door", a tale of a struggling couple's breakup and attempts at reconciliation, to "Every Fucking City", a darkly comic story of a backpacker chasing a former girlfriend through a Europe stripped of distinctive national character.

Life and career

He was raised in the South Australian capital, Adelaide, the sixth of nine children, in a family with an Irish Catholic heritage.

Kelly's career can be broken into three distinct periods: first as Paul Kelly & The Dots; then as Paul Kelly & The Coloured Girls, later known as Paul Kelly & the Messengers; and lastly as Paul Kelly the solo artist (a period that also included his involvement with side-projects Professor Ratbaggy, a more groove-oriented and less song-based ensemble and with Uncle Bill/Stormwater Boys, both bluegrass ensembles).

In the late 1970s Kelly was vocalist for the Melbourne pub-rock band "The High Rise Bombers", following their dissolution he formed "Paul Kelly & The Dots". The Dots period (roughly 1978-1982), saw the release of two albums, Talk in 1981 and Manila in 1982. It was followed by a year or two of uncertainty, plagued with drug use, as Kelly grew as a songwriter but lacked a recording contract. In the liner notes to his 1997 Greatest Hits Collection, Songs From The South, Kelly makes special mention of Michelle Higgins, a former Mushroom Records employee who "locked herself in a hotel room ... and refused to leave until had a record deal".

With the Coloured Girls aka Messengers

By the mid-1980s, Kelly had assembled a backing band known as The Coloured Girls, named in homage to a line in Lou Reed's "Walk On The Wild Side".

Originally a loose aggregation of sidemen, the Coloured Girls line-up backed Paul on his 1984 solo album Post. Thereafter, the line-up solidified into :

Michael Barclay - drums
Jon Scofield - bass
Peter Bull - keyboards
Steve Connolly - guitar

This line-up released following five albums: Gossip in 1986; Under The Sun in 1987; So Much Water So Close To Home in 1989; Comedy in 1991; and Hidden Things, a collection of B-Sides and rarities, in 1992.

The first two albums were credited to Paul Kelly and The Coloured Girls in Australia, but for North American release, these albums were credited to Paul Kelly and The Messengers. (It was feared that some might take offense to the moniker "Coloured Girls".) For the final three albums, the band was credited as Paul Kelly and The Messengers in all territories.

Feeling the band had run its course, Kelly amicably dissolved the Messengers line-up in 1992.

Solo and collaboration

Though he has worked with other songwriters since 1992, the years from then 'til present, might be considered his solo period. His first post-Messengers solo release was the (truly solo) live double CD Live, May 1992 in 1992, followed by Wanted Man in 1994; Deeper Water in 1995; Live At The Continental And The Esplanade in 1996; Words and Music in 1998; Smoke (with Uncle Bill) in 1999; Professor Ratbaggy (as member of Professor Ratbaggy) in 1999; Nothing But A Dream in 2001; Ways & Means in 2004; and Foggy Highway (with The Stormwater Boys) in 2005.

Kelly had a big year in 1999, releasing two albums — both in very different musical directions from each other, and from what he was known for. Professor Ratbaggy had a more groove-oriented style compared to his usual folk or rock formula, using samples, synth and percussion. Smoke, released with Uncle Bill, was poles apart from his Professor Ratbaggy project: a bluegrass album composed of a few new songs and several of his old songs played in bluegrass style. "Our Sunshine" was one of the new songs on the album and was written as a tribute to Ned Kelly, a famous Australian outlaw. Kelly and Uncle Bill were nominated for a Golden Guitar Award for the song "Until Death to Them Part".

During his solo years, Kelly has also worked as a composer of film and TV scores including Lantana, Silent Partner and One Night The Moon in 2001; and Fireflies in 2004.

In 2002 and 2003, two albums of Paul Kelly songs were released: Women At The Well featured songs performed by female artists including Bic Runga, Jenny Morris, Renee Geyer, Magic Dirt, Rebecca Barnard, Christine Anu, and Kasey Chambers; and Stories Of Me featured artists like James Reyne and Jeff Lang.

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Musicians - Paul Kelly

Life and career

With the Coloured Girls aka Messengers

Solo and collaboration

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