Emmett Kelly is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is the primary songwriter and recording artist of The Cairo Gang, one half of The Double alongside drummer
Jim White, one third of The CIA and a founding member of Clinamen. He has contributed vocal and instrumental work to a variety of international musical projects, appearing on recordings by the likes of
Bonnie "Prince" Billy
Joseph Will Oldham (born January 15, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter and actor. From 1993 to 1997, he performed and recorded in collaboration with dozens of other musicians under variations of Palace (Palace, Palace Flophouse, Palace Br ...
,
Ty Segall
Ty (stylized as ty) is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. It was founded by Ty Warner in 1986. It designs, develops and sells products, most notably Beanie Babies, exclusively to speci ...
,
Angel Olsen
Angel Olsen (born Angelina Maria Carroll; January 22, 1987) is an American singer-songwriter and musician from St. Louis, Missouri who lives in Asheville, North Carolina.
To date, Olsen has released six studio albums: ''Half Way Home'' (2012), ...
,
Azita,
Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc (french: link=yes, Jeanne d'Arc, translit= an daʁk} ; 1412 – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronati ...
,
Edith Frost
Edith Frost (born August 18, 1964) is an American singer-songwriter who describes her music as "pensive countrified psychedelia".
Born in San Antonio, Texas, Frost moved to Brooklyn in 1990 where she played in the country bands ''The Holler Sis ...
, Women and Children, John Webster Johns,
Jeff Harms
Jeff Harms is an American musician and actor from Arlington Heights, Illinois. In the music world he is known for his song-writing and solo performances, occasionally accompanied by the likes of Leroy Bach, Emmett Kelly, Sam Wagster, Dan Mohr, Gil ...
, Chicago poet/singer Marvin Tate, Matteah Baim, Japanese musician Takuma Watanabe, Earth Girl Helen Brown,
Joshua Abrams and
Rob Mazurek
Rob Mazurek (born 1965) is an American composer, cornetist, improviser and visual artist living in Chicago, Illinois.
Biography
Rob Mazurek is an American electro-acoustic composer, cornetist, improviser and visual artist living in Chicago, Illi ...
. Kelly has toured in several of the aforementioned acts in addition to with
Baby Dee
Baby Dee (born 1953) is an American performance artist, multi-instrumentalist, and singer-songwriter from Cleveland, Ohio.
Early career
In the 1970s, Baby Dee began her musical career as a street performer, but soon decided to take work as an ...
, CFM,
Mikal Cronin
Michael "Mikal" Patrick Cronin (born 1985) is an American musician and songwriter. He has released four solo albums and several singles. Cronin was a member of the bands Okie Dokie, Epsilons, Party Fowl and Moonhearts, and is a regular and long ...
,
Sonny Smith,
Beth Orton
Elizabeth Caroline Orton (born 14 December 1970) is an English musician, known for her "folktronica" sound, which mixes elements of folk and electronica. She was initially recognised for her collaborations with William Orbit, Andrew Weatherall, ...
, and
Terry Reid
Terrance James Reid (born 13 November 1949) is an English rock vocalist and guitarist. He has performed with high-profile musicians, as a supporting act, session musician, and sideman.
Biography
Reid was born in Paxton Park Maternity Home, L ...
; and in other instances, performed live with
Chan Marshall
Charlyn Marie "Chan" Marshall ( ; born January 21, 1972), better known by her stage name Cat Power, is an American singer-songwriter, musician and model. Cat Power was originally the name of her first band, but has become her stage name as a ...
,
Scott Tuma Scott Tuma is a musician from Chicago who is best known for his live performances and also for having played guitar in the pioneering alt-country band Souled American. Since his departure from Souled American in the late 1990s Tuma has released nume ...
,
Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc (french: link=yes, Jeanne d'Arc, translit= an daʁk} ; 1412 – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronati ...
, and Pillars and Tongues. He is also one half of the band The Surf, The Sundried, and a founding member of Chicago's Psychojail.
Early life, family and education
Emmett Kelly is from
Van Nuys, California
Van Nuys () is a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Home to Van Nuys Airport and the Valley Municipal Building, it is the most populous neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley.
History
In 1909, ...
.
Music
Emmett’s primary focus is his band, The Cairo Gang, which released its self-titled debut album on Narnack Records in 2006. The Disneyland Reform Party, a label started by Kelly and New York artist, Stasiu Tokarski, released 2008’s Twyxt Wyrd, which was subsequently released as a limited edition LP by Sheffield, UK’s The Blackest Rainbow. Following Twyxt Wyrd, Kelly released the home recorded Holy Clover EP on San Francisco’s Empty Cellar Records and Coventry, UK’s Tin Angel. Empty Cellar subsequently released 2012's The Corner Man, and 2013's Tiny Rebels, which marked a significant shift in approach.
Since 2013 he has been based in Los Angeles and has released albums for The Cairo Gang on
Ty Segall's Drag City imprint, God? Records. The first, 2015's Goes Missing, was recorded largely in transit and even at times in his van. It includes performances by live Cairo Gang drummer Marc Riordan. 2016 saw the release of a collaboration of post apocalyptic neo folk songs with composer
Rob Mazurek
Rob Mazurek (born 1965) is an American composer, cornetist, improviser and visual artist living in Chicago, Illinois.
Biography
Rob Mazurek is an American electro-acoustic composer, cornetist, improviser and visual artist living in Chicago, Illi ...
entitled Alien Flower Sutra on International Anthem. In 2017, The Cairo Gang released their first "studio" album, Untouchable. Untouchable was recorded by
Ty Segall
Ty (stylized as ty) is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. It was founded by Ty Warner in 1986. It designs, develops and sells products, most notably Beanie Babies, exclusively to speci ...
, who also plays the drums. Bassist Shayde Sartin also contributes. 2017 also saw the release of Dawn Of The Double on
In the Red Records. Kelly founded improvisational ensemble, Clinamen, in 2018 with perennial collaborators Marc Riordan and Ben Boye. 2018 also saw the introduction of The C.I.A. (
In the Red Records), an experimental punk trio fronted by Denée Segall and featuring Kelly and
Ty Segall
Ty (stylized as ty) is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. It was founded by Ty Warner in 1986. It designs, develops and sells products, most notably Beanie Babies, exclusively to speci ...
on electric bass guitars. In 2021, he began to release music as Emmett Kelly.
In 2016, Kelly was a member of
garage rock
Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock and roll that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The sty ...
musician
Ty Segall
Ty (stylized as ty) is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. It was founded by Ty Warner in 1986. It designs, develops and sells products, most notably Beanie Babies, exclusively to speci ...
's backing band The Muggers, formed following the release of the studio album, ''
Emotional Mugger
''Emotional Mugger'' is the eighth studio album by American garage rock musician Ty Segall, released on January 22, 2016 on Drag City Records. The album was produced by both Segall and F. Bermudez.
To tour in support of ''Emotional Mugger'', Sega ...
''. Continuing to work with Segall, Kelly contributed to the recording of his ninth studio album, ''
Ty Segall
Ty (stylized as ty) is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. It was founded by Ty Warner in 1986. It designs, develops and sells products, most notably Beanie Babies, exclusively to speci ...
'' (2017), and is currently a member of his backing band, The Freedom Band.
In 2021, Kelly founded label haha along with the other members of Clinamen, primarily to release physical media of theirs and others in their fringe musical community. haha's main objective is to disassociate from digital media platforms and to exist entirely in physical form, including hardcopy newsletters.
The Cairo Gang has toured with notable acts such as
The Fall,
OCS,
Baby Dee
Baby Dee (born 1953) is an American performance artist, multi-instrumentalist, and singer-songwriter from Cleveland, Ohio.
Early career
In the 1970s, Baby Dee began her musical career as a street performer, but soon decided to take work as an ...
, and Pillars and Tongues.
Kelly has been a frequent collaborator of
Will Oldham (A.K.A. Bonnie “Prince” Billy), and has lent his vocals and guitar to his recordings and performances since Oldham’s 2006 album, The Letting Go. In 2010
Drag City released the critically acclaimed album,
The Wonder Show of the World
''The Wonder Show of the World'' is a collaborative studio album by Bonnie "Prince" Billy & The Cairo Gang. It was released on Drag City in 2010.
Production
Will Oldham wrote the lyrics for the album, while Emmett Kelly wrote the music.
Critic ...
, which featured compositional work by Kelly as The Cairo Gang, along with the single, Midday/You Win, and the 10’’, Island Brothers/New Wonder.
Discography
The Cairo Gang
* ''The Cairo Gang'' (
Narnack Records
Narnack Records is an independent record label founded in 2000. The label developed in New York City's underground music scene and quickly became known for its ability for developing new artists Coachwhips, OCS, Langhorne Slim, Thee Oh sees, AC ...
, 2006)
* ''Twyxt Wyrd'' (The Disneyland Reform Party, 2008/The Blackest Rainbow, 2010)
* ''Holy Clover EP'' (Empty Cellar/Tin Angel, 2010)
* ''The Corner Man'' (Empty Cellar, 2012)
* ''Mixtape No. 1'' (Teen River, 2013)
* ''Tiny Rebels'' (Empty Cellar / Burger Records, 2013)
* ''Live at The Owl'' (Parliament Tapes, 2013)
* ''Live at Burger Records Vol. 3'' (Burger Records, 2014)
* ''Goes Missing'' (God? / Burger Records, 2015)
* ''Untouchable'' (God?, 2017)
Emmett Kelly
* ''The Feast of Brass Snakes'' (haha, 2021)
The Double
* ''Dawn of The Double'' - The Double (
In the Red Records, 2017)
Clinamen
* ''Clinamen'' - Clinamen (JMY, 2018)
The C.I.A.
* ''The C.I.A.'' - The C.I.A. (
In the Red Records, 2018)
Ty Segall
* ''
Emotional Mugger
''Emotional Mugger'' is the eighth studio album by American garage rock musician Ty Segall, released on January 22, 2016 on Drag City Records. The album was produced by both Segall and F. Bermudez.
To tour in support of ''Emotional Mugger'', Sega ...
'' (2016)
* ''
Ty Segall
Ty (stylized as ty) is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. It was founded by Ty Warner in 1986. It designs, develops and sells products, most notably Beanie Babies, exclusively to speci ...
'' (2017)
* ''
Freedom's Goblin'' (2018)
* ''
Harmonizer
Pitch shifting is a sound recording technique in which the original pitch of a sound is raised or lowered. Effects units that raise or lower pitch by a pre-designated musical interval ( transposition) are called pitch shifters.
Pitch and ti ...
'' (2021)
Collaborations
* ''
The Wonder Show of the World
''The Wonder Show of the World'' is a collaborative studio album by Bonnie "Prince" Billy & The Cairo Gang. It was released on Drag City in 2010.
Production
Will Oldham wrote the lyrics for the album, while Emmett Kelly wrote the music.
Critic ...
'' - Bonnie "Prince" Billy & The Cairo Gang (
Drag City, 2010)
* ''Midday/You Win 7"'' - Bonnie "Prince" Billy & The Cairo Gang (
Drag City, 2010)
* ''Island Brothers/New Wonder 10"'' - Bonnie "Prince" Billy & The Cairo Gang (
Drag City, 2011)
* ''We Love Our Hole/I'll Be Alright 7"'' - Bonnie "Prince" Billy & The Cairo Gang (Empty Cellar, 2014)
* ''Alien Flower Sutra'' -
Rob Mazurek
Rob Mazurek (born 1965) is an American composer, cornetist, improviser and visual artist living in Chicago, Illinois.
Biography
Rob Mazurek is an American electro-acoustic composer, cornetist, improviser and visual artist living in Chicago, Illi ...
& Emmett Kelly (International Anthem, 2016)
Compilations
* ''2005 Tour CD'' (Not On Label, 2005)
* ''Presence Under The Tree'' (Attack Nine, 2006)
* ''13 Weeks of Summer'' (Attack 9, 2007)
* ''Joan of Arc Presents: Don't Mind Control'' (
Polyvinyl Record Co.
Polyvinyl Record Co. is an American independent record label headquartered in Champaign, Illinois. The label also has satellite offices in New York, Austin, and the Bay Area. Polyvinyl has put out over 400 releases to date.
The Polyvinyl roster ...
, 2010)
* ''Green Leaves (Nick Drake Covered)'' (
Mojo Magazine, 2018)
References
External links
Official website for The Cairo GangEmmett Kellyat
Discogs
Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...
Emmett Kellyat
Allmusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
The Cairo Gangat Empty Cellar Records
The Cairo Gangat Drag City Records
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Emmett
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
Musicians from California
Drag City (record label) artists
Songwriters from California