blues and reds by Kelly Goodlad

Years of listening to Olivia Newton-John as a child no doubt influenced Kelly's angelic vocal style and the unabashed optimism found in her writing. As she likens the funeral of an uncle to a 'colour-coordinated family reunion', it is clear that Kelly can write about pain and hardship while keeping her sense of humor fully intact. In fact, she finds it very difficult to write anything 'one-sided'. Her music has been described as "bittersweet" for a reason. "There's longing and searching in a lot of my songs, but it's never just: 'I'm sad - the end'...there's always some hope or wisdom or sarcasm or even some constructive anger in there", she muses. Kelly is also apt to exaggerate for drama; when she sings: "I'm a passion junkie, I get my fix where I can, turn the whole thing upside-down and damn the best-laid plans", it's with tongue planted firmly in cheek.

Kelly studied broadcasting in University, but could not ignore her true love: music. After graduation, she beelined to Boston where she attended the Berklee College of Music's Summer Performance Program. It was there that she started to pursue music seriously, and when she returned to Toronto, she began performing her original songs in local venues (the legendary C'est What?, The Free Times Café, Holy Joe's, Clinton's, and others). She has leant vocals to albums by local artists Rich Hamelin, Howard James, Mike Lerner, The Dirj Experiment, Talladega, Silent Seymour, and others. Currently, Kelly promotes "Blues and Reds" via touring (mostly the Southern Ontario area) and the internet. Having already written much of what will become her next record, she is eager to return to the studio, but only after she's given her new material a 'road test'. "This record ("Blues & Reds") is quite mellow...café music, really, and I've been having fun reinventing my songs for the club scene. Songs take on new life the more you play them, and it's cool when you're able to let go of control and see what happens."

Featuring:

Kelly Goodlad - vocals, piano, rhodes

Rich Hamelin - electric & acoustic guitar, bass

David Celia - electric guitar, bass

Marshall Bureau - drums

Adam Warner - drums

Mark Camilleri - additional piano

Jacob King - additional acoustic guitar

Andrew Canning - double bass

Charlene Yeh - viola, violin

Catherine Cosbey - violin

Peter Cosbey - cello

Dan McCarthy - vibraphone

Joss Grossman - trumpet

Jeremy Edwardes - clarinet

Dan Turcotte - programming, synth, theremin

String arrangements by Jeff Vidov

Produced by Dan Turcotte

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