Matt Kelly is an American musician from Leominster, Massachusetts. He has been the drummer for the Boston

Celtic punk Celtic punk is punk rock mixed with traditional Celtic music. Celtic punk bands often play traditional Irish, Welsh or Scottish folk and political songs, as well as original compositions.P. Buckley, ''The Rough Guide to Rock'' (London: Rough Gu ...

group

Dropkick Murphys Dropkick Murphys are an American Celtic punk band formed in Quincy, Massachusetts in 1996. Singer and bassist Ken Casey has been the band's only constant member. Other current members include drummer Matt Kelly (1997– ), singer Al Barr (199 ...

since May 1997. Kelly also sings background vocals for the band and has not missed playing a show with the band for 22 years as of 2019.

Gear

Matt's Kelly's drum kit consists of an 8x12 rack, a 14x14, 16x16 floors, and a 20x22 kick. He mostly uses a 6.5x14 snare. His kit is emerald green acrylic, with custom wood badges with Celtic symbols on "claw style wood hoops". Kelly calls these drums "my green precious emeralds." He uses a DW 5000 kick pedal, and

Zildjian :''Zildjian leads here. For people with the surname, see Zildjian (disambiguation)'' The Avedis Zildjian Company, simply known as Zildjian (), is a musical instrument manufacturer specializing in cymbals and other percussion instruments. Founded ...

cymbals. Kelly has been influenced by rock drummers such as

John Bonham John Henry Bonham (31 May 1948 – 25 September 1980) was an English musician, best known as the drummer for the rock band Led Zeppelin. Esteemed for his speed, power, fast single-footed kick drumming, distinctive sound, and feel for groove,J ...

Phil Rudd Phillip Hugh Norman Rudd (born Phillip Hugh Norman Witschke Rudzevecius, 19 May 1954) is an Australian drummer, best known as the drummer of AC/DC across three stints. On the 1977 departure of bass guitarist Mark Evans from AC/DC, Rudd became ...

, and

Ian Paice Ian Anderson Paice (born 29 June 1948) is an English musician, best known as the drummer and last remaining original member of the rock band Deep Purple. He is often cited as one of the greatest drummers of all-time. He remains the only member ...

, and also jazz musicians like

Art Blakey Arthur Blakey (October 11, 1919 – October 16, 1990) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. He was also known as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina after he converted to Islam for a short time in the late 1940s. Blakey made a name for himself in the 1 ...

Joe Morello Joseph Albert Morello (July 17, 1928 – March 12, 2011) was an American jazz drummer best known for serving as the drummer for pianist Dave Brubeck, as part of the Dave Brubeck Quartet, from 1957 to 1972, including during the quartet's "classic ...

Max Roach Maxwell Lemuel Roach (January 10, 1924 – August 16, 2007) was an American jazz Jazz drumming, drummer and composer. A pioneer of bebop, he worked in many other styles of music, and is generally considered one of the most important drummers in h ...

, and

Philly Joe Jones Joseph Rudolph "Philly Joe" Jones (July 15, 1923 – August 30, 1985) was an American jazz drummer. Biography Early career As a child, Jones appeared as a featured tap dancer on ''The Kiddie Show'' on the Philadelphia radio station WIP. He was ...

Personal life

Kelly was born in

Leominster, Massachusetts Leominster ( ) is a city in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the second-largest city in Worcester County, with a population of 43,782 at the 2020 census. Leominster is located north of Worcester and northwest of Boston. Both ...

, one of three children. His father, Ed, was also a drummer and played for the Psych/Garage band Pugsley Munion. Kelly took six years of drumming lessons starting when he was eight years old, with Don Kirby at the Music Box in

Fitchburg, Massachusetts Fitchburg is a city in northern Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The third-largest city in the county, its population was 41,946 at the 2020 census. Fitchburg is home to Fitchburg State University as well as 17 public and private e ...

. He has been married to his wife Liz since 2007.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lynch, James Living people American people of Irish descent American male drummers American punk rock musicians Dropkick Murphys members Year of birth missing (living people)