Shred Kelly to play 2012 Salmon Arm Roots and Blues Festival!

Well it looks like our summer is starting to take shape and our first show announcement is a big one!  Shred Kelly is going to be playing the 20th Annual Salmon Arm Roots and Blues Festival along with legendary players like Cuff the Duke, Five Alarm Funk, and Robert Randolf and The Family Band......just glorious!   More headlining acts will be announced over the winter and knowing Roots and Blues, the line-up will get more and more great in the coming weeks.

For those who don't know, Salmon Arm Roots and Blues Festival is a legendary music festival in BC.  Back in 2009, a bunch of us made the pilgrimage from Fernie to Salmon Arm to attend the festival (Sage actually biked there!)  It was a weekend of Elliott Brood, Sam Roberts, Bedouin Soundclash, Chad Vangaalen, and many more.  We danced to "Valley Town" barefoot in the mud and it was one of the best times I've ever had.

And what a treat to know that one of the most entertaining bands, Robert Randolph and the Family Band, are playing the festival as well.  Here's a taste of the awesomeness that will befall on Salmon Arn this summer. 

Great live show reviews!

We're pretty stoked about a few reviews we've been getting lately about our live show.  While in Windsor, Ontario in November, we played a place called The Phog Lounge.  The Phog Lounge is a great place to go catch live music and the staff there are stellar.  A bunch of amazing people from Detroit were at our show and as it turns out, they come to the Phog Lounge all the time to discover and support Canadian indy bands by blogging about them on their website.  HOW AWESOME IS THAT!  Spreading the Canadian music gospel in Michigan.  And they liked us!  They liked us so much that they named us one of their top live shows of 2011 amongst the likes of The Handsome Furs,  The Rural Alberta Advantage, and Hey Rosetta!  We couldn't be happier. Thank you NORTH TO DETROIT, SOUTH TO WINDSOR.

See blog and list here http://www.n2ds2w.com/2012/01/our-top-shows-of-2011.html


And here is a review from (HEART) ON OUR SLEAVES of our first show back in Golden, BC since opening for Elliott Brood:

"I did a show review a few months back for these guys, and nothing has changed. From Fernie, BC, Shred Kelly’s live performances have become something of legend. I can honestly say that mosh pitting at a folk show is quite uncommon, so I was stunned as I charged head first like an asshole into the ring :D. All kidding aside, it is impossible for anyone to walk into a venue and not instantly become taken away with the atmosphere the band has created. Combining the heartfelt sincerity of Mumford & Sons, and the rambunktiousness of Flogging Molly, Shred Kelly’s brand of self-appointed ’Stoke Folk’ is definitely not something to miss."

http://onoursleeves.wordpress.com/2012/01/25/check-out-shred-kelly/

Thank you (HEART) ON OUR SLEAVES!

"I Hate Work" on Tourism Fernie Video!

STOKED! I love this new video from Tourism Fernie that has our song "I Hate Work" as the soundtrack. 

Shred Kelly Green Couch Sessions video is here!

It was a rainy autumn day when we descended on the great city of Vancouver.  We had just driven 10 hours over many mountain passes coming from Golden, BC after performing as the opening act for the great Elliott Brood the night before.  We had a few days in the city before our show at the Railway Club and during this time we had two things on our agenda. The first was to eat sushi...because the city of Vancouver has a lot of good sushi. The second was to meet with the wonderful people at Green Couch Sessions.  This is a wonderful group of people who make videos of bands performing somewhere in the city.  What makes their videos unique is that they capture the bands in a raw, stripped down acoustic performance in various locations around Vancouver that you would not necessarily see a band performing.

Not being from the city and with a torrential downpour of rain on our hands, we had no idea of what location we should choose for the backdrop of our video, so we went to a community center and asked someone behind a desk.  They told us that there was a really cool old manor that serves as a community retirement home just up the street.  So we met the Green Couch people on the deck of this cool old manor, but after two takes of Tornado Alley, the owners told us to leave because the foot-stomping was disturbing the tenants.  Sorry tenants!

Not satisfied with the first takes and just getting comfortable with the camera, we decided to find another location and sure enough, a park gazebo in English Bay provided an amazing shelter and backdrop.  There were no stairs up to the gazebo because it was closed for the winter so we had to hoist the couch and ourselves up over a crazy high banister.  There was evidence of people inhabiting the gazebo, but lucky for us they weren't home.  We shot two takes, I broke a banjo string, and after two takes the police came and shut us down.  We got the goods though and we couldn't be happier.

Thank you Green Couch Sessions for the amazing day. (www.greencouchsessions.ca)

And here it is!

Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year Shreddies!
I would have updated this yesterday, but I was piecing together the events of New Years Eve in a world of pain, running over my resolutions while pounding back a huge plateful of fries. Was there really a band of women dressed as men and a man wearing a tutu? Luckily, I think so. (Thanks to Blackberry Wood and Oxygen Orkestar) Thank you to Paul and the staff of the Royal on Baker in Nelson for throwing one rad New Years Eve Party.

While overindulging in fried food I had the unique opportunity to reflect on the highs and lows of 2011. SO so many highs. Too many to list. So instead we'll condense that section by saying - playing many amazing shows and festivals, meeting many incredible musicians, and getting to spend time with some of the most generous people in the world who open their doors to us and endlessly support us on our musical journey. We feel so lucky to be living our dream.
For the amount of time on the road, we really have had only a few moments of pain and suffering - Tim drank some bad water, and had a beaver fever baby, we hit a antlered animal outside Saskatoon, jack-knifed the trailer, ran out of gas a few times, had a few tantrums, but all in all it was a good year.
Thank you friends, family and fans for another great year. See you in 2012!
Love, Shred Kelly.

                                                Happy New Years at The Tie Dye Ball

                                                      Blackberry Wood New Years Eve         

                          Getting our midnight kiss action on. Poor Timmy. Rough start buddy.

Shred Kelly invited to Canadian Music Week in Toronto!!

Say Whaaaaaaaaat?  Looks like in March we will be hitting the road again all the way to Canadian Music Week!!  Canadian Music Fest is Canada's biggest music festival and this year's line-up is already epic including acts such as The Cat Empire, Blackie and Rodeo Kings, The Trews, to name a few.  And we couldn't be more STOKED! Stay tuned for a list of shows that will be our Spring Tour to Canadian Music Week in Toronto and also stay tuned for an anouncement of our showcase show at Canadian Music Fest from March 21 - 25th 2012.

http://canadianmusicfest.com/
http://www.cmw.net/

Shred Kelly Fall Tour 2011 Wrap Up

Well folks....we haven't been all that good at keeping you updated the last few months with our fall tour to Ontario and back. Maybe it was the cold. Maybe it was lazyness. Maybe it was the 10 hour drives. But you Shrederites deserve more than that so here is a captivating summary of our last 5 weeks!

We technically started off the tour playing two halloween shows, one in Rossland at the Flying Steam shovel, and another in Nelson at the Royal on Baker opening for the great Cuff the Duke and Hooded Fang, two killer bands that had the place hopping. We didn't have a costume until about 5 minutes before going on stage so we ended up being the 1984 Canadian Olympic Speed Walking team. Hilariousness ensued.

The next show was in Golden opening for the legendary Elliott Brood to a very rowdy crowd. We can always count on Golden, BC to raise the bar in awesomeness. One hangover and 10 hours later we were in Vancouver for a film shoot with The Green Couch Session crew ( http://www.greencouchsessions.ca/ ) and to play a show at The Railway Club, a cool venue that happens to hold the longest running liquor licence in Vancouver. The film shoot with Green Couch was awesome as we pounded out "Tornado Alley" acoustically in two different spots in Vancouver in the rain, and got kicked out of both by residents and police. Stay tuned for the video coming soon.

The next week saw us make giant strides to Jasper, Edmonton, and Saskatoon. With a push to Winnipeg, we opened for the amazing (and current winner of the Peak Performance Project) Current Swell. What can I say? Great tunes and equally great guys. Two more shows in Winnipeg (see footage at http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150456899836066) and one in Thunder bay (see footage at http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150521318131454) ended the praries for us and now it was time to drive 18 hours south to Toronto.

Ah Toronto...the big Smoke. With an epic show at The Piston, we reunited with good friends and had a bouncing dance floor all night. The next morning we were on the 401 to Windsor to play the Phog lounge where we randomly received a band-touring care package from a group of amazing people who traveled from Detroit to see us play. Gummy bears, cookies, pretzels, and even a note-pad for making set lists!....we couldn't have been more impressed with the good people of Detroit and Windsor.

We circled the mega-ness that is Southern Ontario playing London, Guelph, Collingwood, Peterborough, Kingston, and finally found ourselves playing at the Lengendary BlackSheep Inn in Wakefield, QC. You wouldn't even beleive how beautiful the town of Wakefield is which sits quaint on a lake and smells of wood stoves everywhere you walk. The Blacksheep Inn won our hearts in so many ways. I can't stress how nice it is to feel appreciated on the road and the Blacksheep Inn went out of their way to do just that. Great food, good people, and amazing sound makes it a must on our tour schedule.

Another push back to Winnipeg saw us play our last show for the tour at the Standard Tavern. Santa hosted the night and with cowboy hat, sunglasses and always a drink in hand he declared "Santa is getting druuuunk!!" At the end of the night we high fived each other with another tour under the belt and parted ways for the holidays. I have to admit that it is nice to have some time off, not squeezed in a van for 8 hours a day and living off of pub food but to be honest I know that by New Years I will be getting the itch to do it all again. (Dec.31 NYE party at the Royal on Baker in Nelson, BC)

One thing that we realised on this tour is how lucky we are to have such a great network of friends and family from Vancouver all the way to Newfoundland that always have their doors open to us while on the road. This tour was the first tour for us in cold weather where camping was not an option and in 5 weeks we only stayed in a total of four hotels. These ski bums from Fernie were pretty stoked not to have to fork over tonnes of money for rooms. Thank you so much to those who put us up and fed us sometimes for two or three days at a time. Your contibutions will always be remembered.

So here is a video of us on the road that was filmed at Dave and Sigrids in Winnipeg, a wonderful couple who host house concerts at their home which backs onto the Red River. They also put us up and fed us! This clip is an acoustic version of a new song called "The Bear" that will appear on our upcoming album this summer and was filmed at sound check.  See you in 2012 Fernie!


Shred Kelly Presents " THE BEAR " from David Warrenchuk on Vimeo.

On Stage with Elliott Brood at Wapiti Weekend in Fernie.

As I fight dozing off at 9:15 on this warm Sunday evening, I keep myself awake thinking of the fun we had this weekend. Played at Annie and Adam's wedding on Thursday, and those East Coaster's started our weekend with a bang. Then we played Wapiti on Friday night, which was amazing. Congratulations to everyone involved for putting on such an amazing festival. We were thrilled to have been a part of a festival that we're sure is going to go strong for years and years to come. Then we hit up the ski hill for the NOS Gravity Festival, and finished off today with Shred Kelly's first "kid inspired" set. (which with my preschool teaching background, was certainly a highlight for me.) Thanks to the organizers of Bippity Boppity Boo for being so amazing and making sure those little ones could have the time of their lives too on this busy busy weekend!

However, I'm sure the band can all agree that being invited onstage with Michael Bernard Fitzgerald and ELLIOTT BROOD were what made the weekend for us!

Can you tell we're a little stoked?

Elliott Brood in Nelson and Whistler.

It has been a dream of ours to open for the Legendary Elliott Brood for some time now. And that dream came true in Nelson and Whistler this past week. They are the three most amazing, kind and friendly guys ever, and they slayed both towns with their amazing repetoire and new songs. Everytime we see them we are blown away. It was an honor to share a stage with such talented musicians. Too bad Tim got the beaver fever.

Elliott Brood killin it at the Spiritbar in Nelson BC.

Can you spy Tim and Jeremy rockin out at the GLC in Whistler?

Kispiox Valley Music Festival!

Another Festival! Bloody awesome. None of us have ever been so far north, and I ask, why not? Friendly people, beautiful landscape, great times were all on the agenda. So I don't think we will wait another lifetime to venture North. Thanks again to everyone who made Kispiox Valley Music Festival possible. We feel blessed to have been a part of it. We really felt a part of something very special.

Lookin good in Shred Kelly garb.

Amanda Sandwich.

Gettin' Pumped on Throat Coat before our afternoon set.

Add caption

Bringin' the Waltz back.

All the amazing festival organizers. Thank you for everything you do!

The prettiest photographer in all the land.

Our good lookin merch booth. T-shirts, hats, cd's and SUNGLASSES!

Donne Roberts on the mainstage Saturday night.

Tim getting a birthday massage from Sunflower.

Starbelly Jam

What an amazing time we had. Going from South Country Fair, which knocked our socks off, then driving to Starbelly Jam was one of the best weekends this band has ever had. Thank you to all the festival volunteers and organizers at both festivals for letting us be a part of such an incredible experience!

Before the show with G-money.

The gorgeous Emma and Lenny joined us too!

Dance Party

G-Money are those some sick Shred Kelly sunglasses?

Bustin out some new tunes.

The men on the GEE-tars.

Lindsay McDirt made the mission to shake a tail feather!

Jordan gettin' sexy before the set.

Lenny getting her dance on.

Reggae Newts? What happened last night? We found Tim here on Monday morning after Starbelly Jam. Must've been good.

South Country Fair..!

Our first backstage passes!

Ballgag and Chain Gang = Amazing!

Gillian! Thank you for all your hard work and organization and letting us be a part of such an amazing and beautiful festival.

Dino and Ali of Coal Creek Boys. You are two of our favorite people! Love every minute with you both.

Summer Tour Update

Hey ALL!
We have been oh so negligent. But we have been playing our hearts out and maximizing seeing the beauty and outdoors of BC, so internet time has been few and far between. But on this beautiful sunny day in Victoria I have locked myself in an internet cafe and have sworn not to leave until some pictures have been posted, gosh darn it!

Start of Tour Wedding in Kaslo... open bar... great floral arrangements. Congrats Kelly and Andrew!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sarah! Just Killin it on Merch and Keeping us company in the van!

Twister at the Distillery in Calgary!

Apres Kaslo Street Shannanigans

Gang violence is high on the streets of Kaslo.

Starbelly Jam.....sandwiches?

Sasquatch was so very sweet.  My leathery red skin, slow intestines, and punched liver don't agree but they're a bunch of negative Nancy's.  Four days of amazing music and good times in the most beautiful music venue I have ever seen.  The Shithawk made the trip there and back without a hitch and now that we're home the band is back together again after some of us were gone on a month off treking the world.   I can't tell you how stoked we are for the summer with good friends and festivals and getting generally rad. 

Speaking of festivals, we have been just added to the Starbelly Jam line up. 

Say whaaaaaaaaaat?

Check out the details here:

http://www.starbellyjam.org

Buzzard Mountain Awesome!

I GOT A NEW BANJO!!!

Nuff said.

Except that Buzzard Mountain Instruments is an amazing company that makes amazing custom banjos just the way you want them in Marietta, Georgia, USA.   Thank you Neil Turner for making this great sounding instrument for me.  Now if you excuse me I am going to be on the couch playing this for the next rest of my life.

Check out the website!  http://www.buzzardmountain.com

Check out me playing it!