Irene Kelley

A Pennsylvania coal miner’s granddaughter, IRENE KELLEY went from singing lead with the Bluegrass band Redwing to Nashville and a pair of major label singles. Several albums and chart-topping singles later, Irene continues to release music of import featuring her signature mix of Bluegrass, Country and Americana. Irene’s songwriting has drawn much deserved attention and her pure and lonesome vocal prowess has tugged at the heartstrings of music lovers for years, making her one of traditional music’s most beloved musical story-tellers. Her most recent full-length album — “Benny’s TV Repair” — garnered five #1 songs on the Bluegrass Today charts and continues to receive coast-to-cast 24/7 airplay on Sirius/XM.

On February 22, 2022, Irene Kelley will release her NEW SINGLE “LONELY” (IRK Records) to radio stations worldwide. The new single will be available for sale on all digital platforms and via IreneKelley.com on March 4, 2022.

“‘Lonely’ came with the title and melody line during the pandemic,” Irene Kelley recalls. “I was feeling alone and isolated and picked up the guitar and starting singing the word over the descending line. My long time friend and co- writer Mark Irwin came by to write on the back porch soon after, and I showed it to him. He immediately said, ‘let’s keep what you’ve got and lean into it even.” Mark and I have a pretty good track record after writing, “A Little Bluer Than That” and having Alan Jackson record a few years back. So I trusted his direction and the process. Ronnie Bowman was the perfect voice for the harmony parts, and I love it when he steps out on a few lines. Just magic. Rob Ickes dobro was certainly the icing on the cake.”

​Irene Kelley’s summer 2021 single, “Wild Mountain Stream,” ended up on top of the Bluegrass Today chart for the entire year. Then “Carolina Special” soared to #2 on the weekly Bluegrass Today chart. The bluegrass singer- songwriter returns with “Carolina Special,” a song that captures a time and place in American history.

“Without giving away too much of what’s in store,” Kelley says of this follow up to “Benny’s TV Repair” :  “I have the title track written for the album but have not yet recorded it. I can say that Justyna Kelley and I wrote it, and it has a winter theme. This ought to make for a frosty album cover. Stay tuned. This next album will have a lot of sentiment.”

Irene Kelley is a graduate of the Leadership Bluegrass Class Of 2017. She has been seen and heard at the IBMA, SPBGMA, Grand Ole Opry, the CMA Music Festival, Folk Alliance International, the Americana Music Festival, COUNTRYfestival (Belgium), Disneyland Paris, the Equi Blues Music Fest (France), Avila Beach Music Fest (CA), BayFest (AL) and many other venues. Syndicated on-air appearances include Sirius/XM, Acoustic Café, NPR’s Live at Mountain Stage, CMT, and GAC as well as airplay on Country, Bluegrass, Folk and Americana radio stations worldwide. Her songs have been recorded by Alan Jackson, Trisha Yearwood, Loretta Lynn, Little Big Town, Rhonda Vincent, Claire Lynch, Darrell Scott, The Whites, the Osborne Brothers, and Bill Anderson.

https://www.irenekelley.com