Austin Singer and Songwriter Kelley Mickwee brings her blues-tinged voice and whole-hearted songs to The Mainstay in Rock Hall, Maryland on Sunday evening October 16 at 7:00 p.m. Admission is $15. For information and reservations call 410-639-9133. Information is also available at the Mainstay’s website https://www.mainstayrockhall.org.
Kelley Mickwee is an Austin-based singer and songwriter with deep, soulful Memphis roots. She made a name for herself as a member of the renowned Texas-based group, the Trishas. Her sultry Southern drawl seasoned their trademark heavenly harmonies with an organic, earthy grit.
Mickwee (pronounced mc-WHEE) has a powerful, expressive voice, which she uses effectively to convey the emotions in her lyrics, exploring such topics as love, loneliness and temptations of various kinds. She was born in Birmingham, Ala., and grew up in Memphis, Tenn., which helps explain the bluesy, soulful tone that colors her singing. That organic and soulful Memphis mojo is prevalent throughout her debut solo recording, You Used to Live Here.
A longtime singer, Mickwee started writing her own songs when she was still with The Trishas, first as a co-writer, and then by herself. When The Trishas stopped touring, Mickwee gathered together her best songs for a solo record and headed to Memphis to make a recording with a sound rooted in Americana and the duskier, groovier side of the singer-songwriter genre.
“I’m a singer first and foremost,” she has said, “It’s what I really love to do.”
Inspired by singers like Aretha and Linda Ronstadt, her subtleties, her raw power and her smoky sultry voice, reminiscent of Bonnie Raitt, soar whether she is singing one of her own songs or covering an inspired song by the likes of John Fullbright or Eliza Gilkyson. She plays guitar, mandolin and harmonica.
“I see people perform and sing their songs with zero emotion, and I don’t understand how,” says Mickwee. “That would be so hard for me to sing a song without putting any kind of emotions into the performance. That’s what songs are. That’s what music is. It’s an emotional experience that we can all have together…. emotions and words put to song.”
The Mainstay (Home of Musical Magic) is the friendly informal storefront performing arts center on Rock Hall’s old time Main Street.
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