Matthew Kelly, also known as Matt Kelly, is an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He plays

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

and

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

. Kelly is best known for being the leader of the rock band Kingfish, and for his association with

Bob Weir Robert Hall Weir ( ; né Parber, born October 16, 1947) is an American musician and songwriter best known as a founding member of the Grateful Dead. After the group disbanded in 1995, Weir performed with The Other Ones, later known as The Dead ...

and the

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, Folk music, folk, country music, country, jazz, bluegrass music, bluegrass, ...

Career

Matthew Kelly began his musical career in the late 1960s, playing harmonica with some well-known

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

artists, including Mel Brown,

Champion Jack Dupree William Thomas "Champion Jack" Dupree (July 23, 1909 or July 4, 1910 – January 21, 1992) was an American blues and boogie-woogie pianist and singer. His nickname was derived from his early career as a boxer. Biography Dupree was a New Orleans ...

, Johnny Lee Hooker, and

T-Bone Walker Aaron Thibeaux "T-Bone" Walker (May 28, 1910 – March 16, 1975) was an American blues musician, composer, songwriter and bandleader, who was a pioneer and innovator of the jump blues, West Coast blues, and electric blues sounds. In 2018 ''Roll ...

. During this period, Kelly was also involved in the burgeoning

rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States an ...

scene in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

. He played electric guitar and harmonica in several different

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...

bands, along with fellow South Bay musicians

Dave Torbert David Edwin Torbert (June 7, 1948 – December 7, 1982) was a Bay Area musician, best known for his associations with the Grateful Dead and the New Riders of the Purple Sage. He played bass for the latter group, replacing Phil Lesh during the se ...

and Chris Herold. Subsequently, Kelly lived in England for a number of months, and was a member of the rock band Gospel Oak. Upon his return to California, he renewed his association with Dave Torbert, who was then playing bass in the

New Riders of the Purple Sage New Riders of the Purple Sage is an American country rock band. The group emerged from the psychedelic rock scene in San Francisco in 1969 and its original lineup included several members of the Grateful Dead. The band is sometimes referred ...

. Kelly would also sometimes hang out with a boyhood friend of his, Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead. During this period Kelly occasionally performed as a guest musician with the New Riders or the Dead. He appeared on one track of the 1973 Dead album ''

Wake of the Flood ''Wake of the Flood'' is the sixth studio album (tenth overall) by rock band the Grateful Dead. Released October 15, 1973, it was the first album on the band's own Grateful Dead Records label. Their first studio album in nearly three years, it ...

''. In 1973, Torbert left the New Riders of the Purple Sage, and he and Kelly formed the band Kingfish, along with Chris Herold, Robbie Hoddinott, and Mick Ward. In 1974, the Grateful Dead went on hiatus, and Weir became a full-time member of Kingfish, recording and performing with the band extensively. In 1976, the Dead started touring again, and Weir left Kingfish. Kingfish continued playing many live dates, occasionally with Weir in the lineup, and released several more albums. In 1978, Kelly played on a few tracks of the Grateful Dead album ''

Shakedown Street ''Shakedown Street'' is the tenth studio album by rock band the Grateful Dead, released November 15, 1978, on Arista Records. The album came just over a year after previous studio album ''Terrapin Station''. It was the final album for Keith and ...

''. He also played on several songs at the December 31, 1978 Dead show that was later released on CD and DVD as ''

The Closing of Winterland ''The Closing of Winterland'' is a four-CD live album by the Grateful Dead. It contains the complete concert performed on December 31, 1978. The concert was also released as a two-disc DVD. The title derives from the fact that it was the last c ...

''. Kingfish disbanded, for a time, in 1980. In 1981, Kelly became one of the original members of Bob Weir's band Bobby and the Midnites, and appeared on the band's self-titled first album, along with

Brent Mydland Brent Mydland (October 21, 1952 – July 26, 1990) was an American keyboardist and singer. He was a member of the rock band The Grateful Dead from 1979 to 1990, a longer tenure than any other keyboardist in the band. Growing up in Concord, ...

Billy Cobham William Emanuel Cobham Jr. (born May 16, 1944) is a Panamanian Americans, Panamanian–American jazz drummer who came to prominence in the late 1960s and early 1970s with trumpeter Miles Davis and then with the Mahavishnu Orchestra. He was indu ...

Alphonso Johnson Alphonso Johnson (born February 2, 1951) is an American jazz bassist active since the early 1970s. Johnson was a member of the jazz fusion group Weather Report from 1973 to 1975, and has performed and recorded with numerous high-profile rock and ...

, and

Bobby Cochran Bobby Cochran (born 1950) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He has worked with many bands, including Steppenwolf, the Flying Burrito Brothers, Leon Russell, and Bob Weir's band Bobby and the Midnites. He was in ...

. In 1983, Dave Torbert died. The following year, Matt Kelly reformed Kingfish. From that time on, Kelly led a gradually evolving lineup of musicians, as Kingfish intermittently toured and released live albums. In 1987, Kelly also released a solo album, ''A Wing and a Prayer''. In 1995, Bob Weir formed a new band,

Ratdog RatDog is an American rock band. The group began in 1995 as a side project for Grateful Dead guitarist and singer Bob Weir. After the Dead disbanded later that year, RatDog became Weir's primary band. They performed some Grateful Dead songs, a mix ...

. Kelly was an original member of that band, along with

Rob Wasserman Rob Wasserman (April 1, 1952 – June 29, 2016) was an American composer and bass player. A Grammy Award and NEA grant winner, he played and recorded with a wide variety of musicians including Bob Weir, Bruce Cockburn, Elvis Costello, Ani di F ...

and

Jay Lane Jay Lane (born December 5, 1964) is an American drummer. He is a founding member of Bob Weir's RatDog, with Weir and Rob Wasserman, Wolf Bros, Furthur, Golden Gate Wingmen and Alphabet Soup. He was the 7th drummer to play in Primus, playing ...

. Kelly played guitar and harmonica in Ratdog until 1998. The intermittent existence of Kingfish, led by Matthew Kelly, continues to the present time. In 1999, the band released a studio album, ''

Sundown on the Forest ''Sundown on the Forest'' is an album by the rock group Kingfish. It was recorded over a period of several years with different combinations of musicians, and released in 1999. It was the first studio album by Kingfish since ''Trident'' in 19 ...

''. They have also released a number of live albums of older material.

Selected discography

* ''

I'd Rather Suck My Thumb ''I'd Rather Suck My Thumb'' is the fourth album by American blues guitarist Mel Brown recorded in 1969 for the Impulse! label.

'' – Mel Brown (1969) * ''Horses'' – Horses (1969) * ''Gospel Oak'' – Gospel Oak (1970) * ''

'' –

(1973) * '' Kingfish'' – Kingfish (1976) * '' Come to Me'' –

Juice Newton Judith Kay "Juice" Newton (born February 18, 1952) is an American pop and country singer, songwriter, and musician. Newton has received five Grammy Award nominations in the Pop and Country Best Female Vocalist categorieswinning once in 1983as well ...

(1977) * '' Live 'n' Kickin''' – Kingfish (1977) * ''

Trident A trident is a three- pronged spear. It is used for spear fishing and historically as a polearm. The trident is the weapon of Poseidon, or Neptune, the God of the Sea in classical mythology. The trident may occasionally be held by other marine ...

'' – Kingfish (1978) * ''

'' – Grateful Dead (1978) * '' Bobby and the Midnites'' – Bobby and the Midnites (1981) * '' Kingfish'' – Kingfish (1985) * ''

Alive in Eighty Five ''Alive in Eighty Five'' — also known as ''Alive in '85'' — is an album by the rock band Kingfish. It was recorded at Sweetwater in Mill Valley, California in 1985, and released by Relix Records as a vinyl LP later that year. It was re ...

'' – Kingfish (1985) * ''A Wing and a Prayer'' – Matthew Kelly (1987) * '' Kingfish in Concert: King Biscuit Flower Hour'' – Kingfish (1996) * ''Relix's Best of Kingfish'' – Kingfish (1997) * ''

'' – Kingfish (1999) * ''

Evening Moods ''Evening Moods'' is the only studio album by the band RatDog, featuring former Grateful Dead guitarist and singer Bob Weir. Released on 26 September 2000, it consists of a number of new songs introduced by RatDog during the previous year and a Gr ...

'' –

(2000) * ''

'' – Grateful Dead (2003)

References

Knight, Brian L. "Kingfishing for Blues: An Interview with Matthew Kelly" ''The Vermont Review''

Sweetwater Saloon artist information for Kingfish
* Matt Kelly on Allmusic* Kingfish on Allmusic* Scott, John W; Dolgushkin, Mike; Nixon, Stu. ''DeadBase XI: The Complete Guide to Grateful Dead Song Lists'', 1999, DeadBase, . {{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Matthew American rock guitarists American male guitarists American blues harmonica players Living people Guitarists from California Rock harmonica players Place of birth missing (living people) Kingfish (band) members RatDog members Bobby and the Midnites members Year of birth missing (living people)