Kirk P. Kelly (born circa 1960) is a

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

singer, songwriter and

labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

activist from New York City. In the mid-1980s Kelly and a group of like-minded musicians started calling themselves "

anti-folk Anti-folk (sometimes referred to as unfolk) is a music genre that emerged in the 1980s in response to the remnants of the 1960s folk music scene. Anti-folk music was made to mock the perceived seriousness of the time's mainstream music scene, a ...

" and started a small but intense movement.Robbins, Tom
"Citystate: Labor's Punk Songman"
''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...

'', 49:10, March 10–16, 2004, p.22 Kelly's music has been infrequently recorded over the years.Henderson, Alex, "Kirk Kelly Biography"

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 ...

His work has often included

topical songs A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetition ...

. Some of Kelly's early songs dealt with the

labor movement The labour movement or labor movement consists of two main wings: the trade union movement (British English) or labor union movement (American English) on the one hand, and the political labour movement on the other. * The trade union movement ...

and were based upon his own work experience. A decade or so after starting his musical career Kelly was accepted to and attended an AFL-CIO organizer's training school and began working throughout the United States as a

union organizer A union organizer (or union organiser in Commonwealth spelling) is a specific type of trade union member (often elected) or an appointed union official. A majority of unions appoint rather than elect their organizers. In some unions, the orga ...

Biography

Kelly was born on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

circa 1960 and grew up listening to (among other things)

Irish musicians Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

such as the

Clancy Brothers The Clancy Brothers were an influential Irish folk music group that developed initially as a part of the American folk music revival. Most popular during the 1960s, they were famed for their Aran jumper sweaters and are widely credited with pop ...

. In the early 1980s he began performing music that was influenced by both the

folk revival The American folk music revival began during the 1940s and peaked in popularity in the mid-1960s. Its roots went earlier, and performers like Josh White, Burl Ives, Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, Big Bill Broonzy, Billie Holiday, Richard Dyer-Benn ...

artists and

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

bands such as

the Ramones The Ramones were an American punk rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first true punk rock group. Despite achieving a limited commercial appeal in the United ...

and

the Clash The Clash were an English rock band formed in London in 1976 who were key players in the original wave of British punk rock. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they also contributed to the and new wave movements that emerged in the wa ...

. In the mid-80s Kelly found that the old guard of the

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

folk scene were unwilling accept this combination as legitimate folk music. One night Kelly was banned from the

open mic An open mic or open mike (shortened from "open microphone") is a live show at a venue such as a coffeehouse, nightclub, comedy club, strip club, or pub, usually taking place at night, in which audience members may perform on stage whether the ...

s at

Gerde's Folk City Gerdes Folk City, sometimes spelled Gerde's Folk City, was a music venue in the West Village, part of Greenwich Village, Manhattan, in New York City. Initially opened by owner Mike Porco as a restaurant called Gerdes, it eventually began to presen ...

for handing out flyers for a performance at an East Village venue. As a result, Kelly banded together with like-minded musicians, Lach,

Cindy Lee Berryhill Cindy Lee Berryhill (born June 12, 1965) is an American singer-songwriter, co-founder of the New York Antifolk movement, who recorded multiple albums, hit singles, and compilations over the years. Biography Berryhill was born in Silver Lake, ...

, and

Roger Manning Roger Manning is a New York City based singer-songwriter who plays an aggressive acoustic style of music. Manning, along with a small handful of other artists, composed the original New York City anti-folk scene. On February 6, 1985, Manning w ...

to form the roots of what became known as the "

movement." Kelly's first recording was in a duo with Lach (regarded by many as the father of anti-folk) as "The Folk Brothers" in 1985 on their cassette-only release called, ''All Folked up with Nowhere to Go''. Kelly's first solo release, ''Go Man Go'', appeared in 1988 on the punk label, SST ( Black Flag, etc.). ''

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 ...

'' calls the title song "hard driving and great, typical of Kelly." In the same year that "Just Do It!" first appeared in commercials for

Nike, Inc. Nike, Inc. ( or ) is an American multinational corporation that is engaged in the design, development, manufacturing, and worldwide marketing and sales of footwear, apparel, equipment, accessories, and services. The company is headquartered ne ...

, "Go Man Go" seemed to be something of a slogan among anti-folk scenesters. The phrase is quoted in a couple of songs on

's debut release in that same year. Nearly the entire album features Kelly performing solo with guitar and harmonica (producer

Brian Ritchie Brian Ritchie (born November 21, 1960) is the bass guitarist for the alternative rock band Violent Femmes. Ritchie was born and raised in the United States and is currently a dual citizen of the U.S. and Australia, with his full-time residence i ...

plays

acoustic bass guitar The acoustic bass guitar (sometimes shortened to acoustic bass or initialized ABG) is a bass instrument with a hollow wooden body similar to, though usually larger than a steel-string acoustic guitar. Like the traditional electric bass guitar a ...

on one song). Kelly's sound clearly shows the influence of early

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

and

Phil Ochs Philip David Ochs (; December 19, 1940 – April 9, 1976) was an American songwriter and protest singer (or, as he preferred, a topical singer). Ochs was known for his sharp wit, sardonic humor, political activism, often alliterative lyrics, and ...

. The later is paid a tribute on "Heroes of Tomorrow" (both a call to action and a look at figures of the past including Joe Hill,

Eugene Debs Eugene may refer to: People and fictional characters * Eugene (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Eugene (actress) (born 1981), Kim Yoo-jin, South Korean actress and former member of the sin ...

, and Ochs). One reviewer of Kelly's first album called the work "so derivative of Bob Dylan that maybe

A.J. Weberman Alan Jules Weberman (born May 26, 1945) is an American writer, political activist, gadfly, and inventor of the terms "garbology" and "Dylanology". He is best known for his controversial opinions on, and personal interactions with, the musician ...

should consider rooting through Kelly's trash. A number of Kelly's earliest songs dealt with labor issues (e.g. "Corporation Plow"). Kelly's own experience working as a fruit picker on Long Island's East End planted the seed for his song, "Working in the Vineyards". Over time Kelly began performing at

union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

rallies and would get called to play at picket lines. Later, while working in an airline's reservation office Kelly worked as a " white collar member" of the machinist's union. After several years on the job Kelly applied to an organizer's training school with the AFL-CIO. Soon he was helping to organize campaigns all around the United States, such as a

Teamsters The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), also known as the Teamsters Union, is a labor union in the United States and Canada. Formed in 1903 by the merger of The Team Drivers International Union and The Teamsters National Union, the u ...

local on the waterfront in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, Washington. Kelly's

socio-political Political sociology is an interdisciplinary field of study concerned with exploring how governance and society interact and influence one another at the micro to macro levels of analysis. Interested in the social causes and consequences of how ...

second album, ''New City'' (1997) was released nearly a decade after his first.Hendrson, Alex, "Review: ''New City'' – Kirk Kelly" AllMusic Kelly put it out on his own, Mugsy Records, a label that grew to include a handful of artists in the early 2000s. The "Mugsy Records Manifesto" laid out the labels mission to "fight for social and economic justice" saying:

"America belongs to those who build it, fix it, run it, clean it, protect it, feed it, care for it and educate it. In the work we do we forge a common identity and it is the work of its most progressive artists to give voice to that identity. America's popular culture must tell the real story of its people and reflect its true identity."Mugsy Records Manifesto
via. the
Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...
of mugsyrecords.com

In 2003 Kelly's cover of "

Downbound Train "Downbound Train" is a song that appears on the 1984 Bruce Springsteen album ''Born in the U.S.A.'' The song is a lament to a lost spouse, and takes on a melancholy tone. Author Christopher Sandford described the song as beginning "like a Keith ...

" was chosen for the

Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originato ...

tribute album, ''Light of Day''. ''Allmusic'' called his arrangement "radical" as Kelly stripped the song down to simply vocals and

ukulele The ukulele ( ; from haw, ukulele , approximately ), also called Uke, is a member of the lute family of instruments of Portuguese origin and popularized in Hawaii. It generally employs four nylon strings. The tone and volume of the instrumen ...

. Although a 2004 interview quotes Kelly discussing songs to appear on his "next album" (including a song about patriot

Nathan Hale Nathan Hale (June 6, 1755 – September 22, 1776) was an American Patriot, soldier and spy for the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He volunteered for an intelligence-gathering mission in New York City but was captured b ...

) as of 2008 no recording appears to have materialized. Kelly continues, however, to make appearances where he both sings and speaks out for workers rights.

Discography

Solo albums

* ''Go Man Go'' (1988, SST) * ''New City'' (1997, Mugsy Records)

References

External links

Paddy on the Railway
at MySpace
Mugsy Records
label founded by Kelly {{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Kirk 1960 births American folk singers American male singer-songwriters Living people Fast Folk artists People from Long Island Singers from New York City Year of birth uncertain Singer-songwriters from New York (state)

Biography

Discography

Solo albums

See also

References

External links