Kelly Willis has been a fashion model in Vogue - appeared in the film "Bob Roberts" - been in the television series "P S I Love You" - can be heard on the soundtracks of "Thelma And Louise" and "Boys" - made appearances in videos of Dwight Yoakam and Vince Gill and is a wife and mother.
Often described as "The Voice Of Austin", Kelly has remained true to her music despite her early albums for MCA not making the commercial impact necessary for Nashville. She has many fans, not least CMF who had the pleasure of talking with this gentle spoken and thoroughly nice person.
For more information about Kelly and her music check out her website

CMF:- Belated congratulations on becoming a mother. How are you finding motherhood? Exciting tiring?
KELLY:- It's the most wonderful thing that's ever happened to me, and the most difficult pain I've ever gone through. Really, exhausting. The hardest work I've ever done.

CMF:- Much harder than being on stage?
KELLY:- Much harder!. It's a very complicated little bundle but it's rewarding also.

CMF:- Are there any signs of your and Bruce's musical talents rubbing off on Deral?
KELLY:- I do think so. He really likes music. Whenever we put music on, he responds to it. He had music surrounding him probably even before he was born as I performed right up to a month before I delivered.

CMF:- Did you find it hard performing that close to giving birth?
KELLY:- I did. He was born in January and I was performing into December -Working very hard because I couldn't reach certain notes anymore and he was so big at that point. So it was a little exhausting and difficult.

CMF:- Was your love of music family inherited/influenced or other sources?
KELLY:- It was. They weren't musical in the sense of playing instruments but they loved music. My mother pursued a career in musical plays so she was probably more of an influence than my father but they both had a part to play. We'd get in the car to go somewhere and listen to music.

CMF:- So apart from your parents who were your early influences? Was it country or pop? Who were you listening to?
KELLY:- It was probably whatever was playing - my mother had strange musical tastes people like Barry Manilow (both laugh), the Carpenters and stuff like that. It wasn't that cool but that's what we heard around the house. When I found my own music it was people like Buddy Holly, Beatles and Elvis Costello.

CMF:- This was in High school was it?
KELLY:- Hm Hm This was at High School.

CMF:- I understand while you were at High School you made a recording of Teddy Bear?
KELLY:- Yeah - that was my very first recording.

CMF:- Have you still got it?
KELLY:- I still have it. It's in bad shape It's on cassettes tape I need to put it onto disc.

CMF:- Can we expect it on one of your future albums ?
KELLY:- NO No No No

CMF:- It's not that good then?
KELLY:- It's not very good - No!

CMF:- How old were you when you made it?
KELLY:- I was 16.

CMF:- Was that when you were with the Fireballs?
KELLY:- It was just before - it was a recording to play for the guys so to let them know how I sounded.

CMF:- You were quite successful around Washington DC with your group "Kelly & The Fireballs". So what was the reason that brought about your move to Austin?
KELLY:- We were doing OK in the DC area. We were successful in terms of we could get a couple of gigs a month but back then there weren't really that number of places to play there so we moved to the Austin area for more opportunity to play.

CMF:- The move proved to be good for you as following being seen by Nanci Griffith at an Austin club, you got a contract with MCA?
KELLY:- Well sort of. One night Nanci caught the end of one of my sets and mentioned it to Tony Brown of MCA. Next time I played he came to see me.

CMF:- It was a good recommendation?
KELLY:- Oh very very good, very fortunate.

CMF:- So how long was it after Nanci saw you to the album "Well Travelled Love" being made?
KELLY:- Hmm Wow , probably about a year I would say - it takes time.

CMF:- It was quite unusual wasn't it as a new artist in particular using your own band on a debut album - "WELL TRAVELED LOVE"?
KELLY:- YES, that was very unusual and I remember Tony telling me he was letting us do that to get the record out of the way (laughs) and maybe have less trouble with me if he let me do that the first time around.

CMF:- Did you use your own bands on the next two albums or were you using session musicians?
KELLY:- Well it was a mix. The band sort of self-destructed from the pressure so, some of the guys out of the band were on the record and some of the tracks were with session musicians.


CMF:- Despite your next 2 albums "KELLY WILLIS" & "BANG BANG" getting good reviews .....
KELLY:- Yeah

CMF:- ...... and also exposure on CMT, they didn't get the airplay necessary to boost sales. I think it's all about money these days.
KELLY:- Sure is. I'm not the kind of person who went out and put on a big show like Reba McEntire or somebody I think my records got good reviews because making a record nobody's looking at you and it isn't about what you look like.

CMF:- But your videos were being played even over in Europe on the defunct CMT Europe.
KELLY:- Yeah. Videos are different too because you can do several takes until you are comfortable. My videos did all right but I still wasn't getting regular airplay. I really wasn't the right personality type. I remember visiting radio stations and they go on and on about how funny and charming Trisha Yearwood was and I was terribly shy and I could hardly talk at all. So I thought there never going to respect me.

CMF:- You had a limited distribution of the EP "FADING FAST" but nothing really until "WHAT I DESERVE". Did you approach the deal with Rykodisc with any apprehension in view of your previous experience with MCA and how did you occupy the intervening period? Performing? Writing?
KELLY:- I performed the whole time and was writing - I spent several years on A & M and spent time on pre production for the next record (What I Deserve) but before I had a chance to release it the label self destructed. I ended up making it myself and selling it to Rykodisc.

CMF:- Didn't an Englishman produce it? Geoff Travis?
KELLY:- That's right Geoff saved the day - he was my knight in shining armour He offered to underwrite it and helped me shop it. He was really very helpful

CMF:- Do you enjoy writing?
KELLY:- I do but sometimes you know when you finish a song there's nothing better. When you're in the process of writing a song it can be really frustrating and depressing. Makes you feel like you've no idea why you are a musician at all! It's so challenging but whenever you finish writing a song there's no better feeling in the world.

CMF:- Prefer to write alone or collaborate?
KELLY:- These days I prefer writing alone.

CMF:- Does Bruce Know that?
KELLY:- (laughs) We've only written maybe two songs together. We kinda like it that way - working separately so our careers are separate from our marriage and we can do our own thing without the added pressure. So we write separately and it's working out well. I've got material for the next record ready to go.

CMF:- Where do you get your ideas/inspiration from?
KELLY:- Mostly from personal experience, although occasionally something will come to me in a dream and I'll wake up and write that down. Try to get the melody or whatever down but usually it's personal experience.

CMF:- Has becoming a mother given you a fresh outlook or, new ideas for songs?
KELLY:- I think so. I mean it's given me a new angle on the love songs but mostly the way motherhood has affected me is that I'm not able to do that much. Not enough hours in the day and I'm too tired.

CMF:- You've co-written a song on Bruce's current album?
KELLY:- We did Bruce and I wrote a song together called "Friendless Marriage" and I'm telling you it's one of the two songs we've written and it scares me that that's the name of it!

CMF:- I hope that's not a personal experience.
KELLY:- No that's one of those songs that was a dream. I woke up with the chorus melody and the 'Friendless Marriage" line then Bruce wrote the song around it. Even though we wrote it together we kinda wrote our parts separately

CMF:- You appear a very gentle and shy person but have described yourself on stage as being a "WILD WOMAN". (she laughs) are these descriptions accurate?
KELLY:- No that's not true. It's only in comparison to the way I am off stage (laughs) It would probably make a lot of people laugh seeing me perform. I've always felt the material should stand alone. I enjoy performing and playing but it's not like I'm putting on a show with ropes and pulleys. I think everyone has a certain stage presence that's all their own but it doesn't have to be jumping through rings of fire to entertain people.

CMF:- Have you've been in the studio recently recording your next album?
KELLY:- I've been meaning to but I've had to keep putting it off. It looks like December when I'll be able to get in there and record. We have a studio here in my backyard - we converted our garage so we can do pre-production - I've been wanting to get the record made but haven't been able to - I've been doing Bruce's record - that's been taking all of our time.

CMF:- He's released it himself hasn't he on his own label?
KELLY:- Yes he's putting it out himself which means so much more work for us.

CMF:- Will your album be on the label?
KELLY:- No I'm still with Ryko. I'm looking forward to this because they've been through period of change - they got purchased by another company, merged with them and now they're finally unmerging and going back to being the company they were before which I really love.

CMF:- I think you find when companies merge, there are inevitably some casualties.
KELLY:- There were a lot. People left of their own freewill. Some got fired. Music kinda got swept under the rug. I feel lucky it just happened when I was on a downtime of my own.

CMF:- So what does the future hold for you? Are we going to see you in any films? You were in 'Bob Roberts' ......
KELLY:- Yes 'Bob Roberts'

CMF:- ........ and some videos - Dwight & Vince.
KELLY:- That's right Yeh. Very briefly if you blinked you would have missed me. I was under the bridge. It was fun to be there anyway. I've no plans yet for any of that stuff. Occasionally people send things? But mostly I'm doing music.

CMF:- Can we expect to see the Robisons and Dixie Chicks get together then?
KELLY:- Well you know one year we did some Christmas Shows with the family - around Texas - You never know when we may get to do that again. It all depends on everyone's schedules but someday I imagine we'll end up making a record.

CMF:- Thank you Kelly for taking the time out to talk with us and we look forward to your next album.

©2001 CountryMusicFile