Kelly's Lot - Another Sky  (click on image to watch video)

 21 November 2020

Based out of Los Angeles, Kelly’s Lot was  founded by singer-songwriter Kelly Zirbes in 1994. Over the last 26 years the band has had a fluid membership that has allowed it to expand and contract from a two-piece to an eight-piece and back again. Served up a potent combo-platter of Blues, Folk, Americana, Roots Rock and Country. Over the last 15 albums they have nurtured a passionate fan base. Now they’ve returned with “Another Sky.”

The first three tracks off this new effort, deftly leapfrogs from one genre to the next. “Butterfly” echoes the embroidered Country comfort of Dolly Parton’s earliest music. “I Will Find You Again” is a buoyant  Celtic Rocker. Meanwhile, “Foolish Try” is the kind of courtly  corrido that Linda Ronstadt would be proud to call  her own. And on it goes, over the next nine tracks. Highlights include the  haunting dirge of “Freedom,” the mid-century Cha-Cha-Cha of “Lock Me Up” and  the Tango-fied “Simple Man.” 

It gets both deep and real on a pair of  duets, “Tangled” and “Sleep On It Tonight.” On the former, Kelly shares the spotlight with legendary musician Doug Pettibone and the pair explore the  knotty emotions that accompany love. The latter features Nashville cat, Rick Monroe. Their voices intertwine like honey and woodsmoke as they offer differing views of a rekindled romance. The record wraps up with the full-force gale of “Hurricane.”

Over 12 tracks, Kelly’s voice shapeshifts from raw to intimate, over sharp melodies and nuanced instrumentation. “Another Sky” offers a respite from these fractious times.

Eleni P. Austin - I was born into a large, loud Greek family and spent my formative years in the Los Angeles enclaves of Laurel Canyon and Los Feliz. My mother moved us to the Palm Springs area just in time for puberty and Disco.  I have spent over 40 years working in record stores, starting back in High School.

I wrote music reviews for the Desert Sun from 1983 to 1988. I began doing the same for the Coachella Valley Weekly in 2012.

I live in Palm Springs with my wife and our amazing dog, Denver. 

To Read All of Eleni P.'s Reviews, Click Here

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