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Acoustic & Acoustic Rock Music artist from New York, NY. New songs free to stream or download. Add to your playlist now.

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Kirk Kelly

...somewhere between Shane McGowen and Bob Dylan. The voice is gravelly and the politics very definitely radical. IRISH VOICE ...folk-punk with working clas

3 songs
147 plays
Picture for song 'Corporation Plow' by artist 'Kirk Kelly'

Corporation Plow Corporation Plow

"This song was recorded live with Brian Ritchie on acoustic bass and me twiddlin' my thumbs with a harmonica rack on my neck for a straight harp sound. I wanted a stark arrangement that would stand out from the already minimal sound of the CD.

Acoustic Rock

Picture for song 'lisa jane' by artist 'Kirk Kelly'

lisa jane lisa jane

my heart still takes me to the day I kissed you in the rain. That day will live forever Lisa Jane

Acoustic Rock

Picture for song 'Hooray! We Won the War' by artist 'Kirk Kelly'

Hooray! We Won the War Hooray! We Won the War

Somewhere the paths of glory got crossed. I'd hate to see where we'd be if we lost. The ones who claim victory won't bear the cost. But they're the ones that you'll hear the most, saying, "Hooray, we won the war."

Acoustic Rock

...personal and political songs with an up-to-date street-tough sense... BOSTON GLOBE ...New York's answer to English folk-punk troubador Billy Bragg... L.A. TIMES Labor's Punk Songman...A Modern Day Son of Joe Hill... VILLAGE VOICE
Band/artist history
Although he has only recorded sporadically, folk-rocker Kirk Kelly has been a fixture on Manhattan's Lower East Side since the 1980s. The Greenwich Village resident first received a taste of national exposure in 1988, when he recorded his debut solo album, Go Man Go, for SST. At the time, some people were surprised to see a Bob Dylan-influenced folk-rocker recording for a label that was best known for punk and alternative rock. But when you really think about it, Kelly's brief association with SST makes perfect sense. Kelly (who plays acoustic guitar and harmonica) writes a lot of angry political songs; that's something he has in common with Dylan, but it's also something he has in common with agitators like the Clash, the Sex Pistols, and the Dead Kennedys. Further, Kelly has been part of an East Coast movement known as anti-folk essentially, anti-folk is folk-rock with a punk attitude. New York singer/songwriter Lach is considered the king of anti-folk, and Kelly has been among his Lower East Side allies. In fact, Lach and Kelly recorded together as the Folk Brothers in 1985, providing a cassette-only release titled All Folked-Up With Nowhere to Go. But it wasn't until 1988's Go Man Go that Kelly recorded an album as a solo artist. Go Man Go turned out to be Kelly's only SST release; the singer/songwriter didn't record another solo album until 1997, when the very sociopolitical New City came out on Mugsy Records. The early 2000s found Kelly continuing to perform regularly in New York. Alex Henderson - ALL MUSIC GUIDE
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