The Soulful, Spirit-Driven Affection of Kelley Mickwee
By Brian D’Ambrosio
Though her home is Austin, Kelley Mickwee’s heart is tied to her roots in Memphis. The singer-songwriter acknowledges this attachment in her second solo album, Everything Beautiful, a pulsating, irrepressibly good recording with a heavy emphasis on all aspects soulful, each song an object of spirit-driven affection.
“Stylistically, I’ve always wanted to make a bit of a soul record and on this recording I stepped away from the country,” said Mickwee. “I’m a Memphis girl and I grew up listening to this type of music, and wanted to make it into a full album. There is no acoustic guitar. And the background is vocal heavy, soulful. This ended being exactly what I envisioned and wanted.”
The role and influence of Memphis in shaping the character of the larger American cultural ethos cannot be overemphasized – Sun Studio, Stax Records, W.C. Handy, Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin, Memphis Slim, the threads are mighty tight – and Mickwee long ago first absorbed them. But now she has finally pressed all of these influences into her own special package.
“Memphis is the home of the blues and rock and roll and I always was aware of where I lived,” said Mickwee. “I was always aware of what Memphis meant to American music as the birthplace of all these things.”
As a young girl Mickwee consumed her mother’s records – The Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, and Bonnie Raitt were central figures in the collection – and after she entered her teens she experienced the profusion of live, local, original Memphis music, at places such as the Poplar Lounge.
“I was too young to even be in there,” said Mickwee. “There were so many local musicians that maybe you never heard of or don’t know, and they all soaked up the energy and those flavors that Memphis has. I heard so many great Memphis artists throughout high school and college at the University of Memphis (she graduated from UofM in 2001)…The locals were the building blocks for me as a singer, and they were inspirational for me to get a band together and start playing music as a living.”
Kelley left Memphis at about age 22, with the intention of playing and performing music solely and fully, and for more than 20 years she has been investing her time, energy, and heart to make it happen. She’s done so in a plethora of incarnations and formations, from solo artist to duettist, as one third of a trio, and as a supporting or harmony singer.
“I have found all different roles in music,” said Mickwee. “I’ve found those special places that open their doors, allow you to plug in an acoustic guitar, and to talk and to sing songs for 90 minutes.”
In 2014, Mickwee released her first solo record, You Used to Live Here, and the pride and joy track, “River Girl,” is a reflective, fretful love song that also draws from her upbringing in Memphis, but hints at the less glamorous side of life there. The album was recorded in the former home of writer and historian Shelby Foote (1916-2005), an English style residence on East Parkway turned into a music studio.
“The house is like a castle,” said Mickwee. “It was the first record made in that space. It’s a spooky place, in a cool way. You could picture authors and poets there drinking and smoking and talking.”
Ten years later, Everything Beautiful represents the growth and change and widening confidence of a creative, inquisitive artist. The album is a force of nature – it roars with boundless energy and precious aspiration – and also a force of nurture, winking mischievously at the city that has given so many great musical gifts to her, and to us all.
Songwriting is a painstaking process for Mickwee. At times, it feels weathered and ugly. Rarely, a song emerges quickly, mysteriously. But, by and large, it’s a complicatedly stubborn game.
“This record is a monumental act for me,” said Mickwee. “I am proud of every song and proud of completing it. There are no fillers.”
Mickwee conceived the album as a method of pushing the boundaries of her vocals, and she and producer David Boyle started the project with this and other shared artistic visions, including having Mickwee’s voice as the foremost factor carrying the production, as well as cutting all of the tracks “live” at Austin’s Church House Studios. Both agreed that Mickwee needed to have a commanding singing group behind her, and because of this the record is vocally plentiful and plush, from start to finish.
“We were in agreement on the choices of songs and sonically on the same page as far as how it sounded…every song has at least a two part or four part harmony, big choirs, with the vocals being out front.”
The title of the first song on Everything Beautiful is “Joyful,” and it formidably sets the tempo of the entire collection, emanating the force of an artist immersed in the sheer bliss of the presentation. Indeed, you can hear the expressive joy that must have pervaded the room and feel the desire of Mickwee to make a cohesive and provocative piece of art.
“Singing is what I do the best and enjoy the most,” said Mickwee. “To sing with the band live, in two or three takes, and then move on to the next song, that was incredible. You are hearing the very experience that we all had in this big room together…like in the Sun Studio days, when you’d sing it once or twice, and then it would be on the radio next week. What it sounded like in that moment is what people are going to here.”
Mickwee, who has called Austin home since 2008, is enjoying the opportunity to be able to wholly embrace the ecstasy of singing, setting the guitar down and letting these new songs buzz.
“It’s amazing to sing and perform hands free, and just sing. Singing is my first and biggest love.”
Here is her video for the making of “Verge of Tears,” premiering here along with our interview:
Musicians on this recording are the band: JJ Johnson on drums; Scott Davis on bass; David Jimenez on electric guitar; David Boyle on B3 Organ; John Chipman on percussion; and Will Sexton on additional electric guitar.Background vocal choir is Alice Spencer, Courtney Patton, Bruce Hughes, and Tony Kamel.
Find more details and information here on her website: http://www.kelleymickwee.com
A lover and teller of troubadour truths, Brian D’Ambrosio may be reached at dambrosiobrian@hotmail.com. He is at work on a book anthology of singer-songwriter interviews titled Troubadour Truths and is always looking for new subjects.