Kelly Willis
| Kelly Willis | |
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Kelly Willis at the Austin City Limits Music Festival, 2007.
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| Background information | |
| Born | October 2, 1968 |
| Origin | Annandale, Virginia, United States |
| Genres | Country, Alternative Country, Americana |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
| Years active | 1990–present |
| Labels |
MCA A&M Rykodisc Premium Records |
| Associated acts | Bruce Robison |
| Website | Kelly Willis |
Kelly Willis (born October 2, 1968) is an American country music singer-songwriter, whose music has been described as alternative country and new traditionalist.
Born in Lawton, Oklahoma, United States, Willis was the youngest of three children. While her father was a U.S. Army colonel, Willis’s mother had a strong interest in music and sang and acted in amateur musicals. Willis began singing when she was nine as a way to comfort herself after her parents divorced. After the divorce, Willis and her siblings lived with her father and moved around the country to accommodate her father’s military job. She spent her middle school years in North Carolina and her high school years in Annandale, Virginia.
Heavily influenced by her mother, who used to sing in local musicals, Kelly became interested in music. One day during a high school visit to the beach, she entered a nearby pay recording booth and sang her own version of Elvis Presley's "Teddy Bear." With the demo in hand, Willis impressed her then boyfriend, drummer Mas Palermo, and joined his rockabilly band at the age of 16. The band took her on as the lead vocalist and soon rechristened the band Kelly Willis & the Fireballs. After Willis’s high school graduation, the band decided to move to Austin, Texas, to participate in the vibrant Austin music scene. After a few months in Austin, however, the band broke up. Willis and Palermo, married in 1989, formed a new band called Radio Ranch. In Austin, Willis attracted the notice of several influential Texas singer-songwriters including Nanci Griffith and Lyle Lovett. Griffith introduced MCA producer Tony Brown to Willis. Brown was very impressed with Willis’s vocal abilities and signed her to the MCA label in 1989.
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