9.18.1
THE BLUE BANNER
Local bands rocki
Rory Kelly’s Triple Threat plays for fans, frier
Emily Honeycutt
ehoneycu@unca.edu - A&F Editor
Far from being shy or starstruck, the crowd at The
Social in Asheville last Friday welcomed Rory Kel
ly and his bandmates like old friends, only because
they are.
“We call it grassroots like everybody else. We
build it from the ground up. I make it a point to talk
to my friends and remember people’s names and
be kind to people who are kind to you,” said Kelly,
lead vocalist and guitarist for the band Rory Kelly.
The band, tagged as dirt southern rock, has only
three members. Kelly on lead vocals and guitar,
Billy Miller on bass and Mike Kelly, Rory’s father,
on drums. The family dynamic, according to Kelly,
is the key to the band’s success.
“It’s really cool. Musically, it’s over the top. We
are right and locked in with each other all of the
time. From the financial end of my mom doing the
managing to the playing on stage. Even Billy’s like
family,” Kelly said.
Even though the band’s music is on point, Kelly
said there are still obstacles to overcome in the fam
ily business.
“When you’re with family when you’re not in
game mode, there is fighting that happens, just like
with any other band. We’ve kind of set a rule down
that when we’re in this van and at a club, no matter
what, it’s band business.”
Growing up 30 minutes down the mountain in
Marion, Kelly said Asheville is more of a home to
the band than his hometown.
“I consider Asheville more of our home turf be
cause we play more here and we have a lot more
friends here,” Kelly said. “My dad grew up in Jer
sey and then just moved here 25 years ago with us.
Billy, he lived in Marion his whole life.”
Of the three in the band, Kelly said Miller was the
first to make his big break.
“Billy was the first one from our Marion group of
people that went out touring with bigger bands on
the road all the time and stuff. That was one of the
reasons I wanted him, because not only was he a
good bass player, but because I knew he knew how
to be on the road,” Kelly said.
Kelly said he wanted Miller in the band for a long
time, and he patiently waited for his chance to re
place the band’s first bass player.
“We played together, me and Pops and the other
guy, for about a year, and then it was just a perfect
opportunity to get rid of him and to get Billy. You
got to make the decisions and make the moves in
that growing process, so I called Billy up and he
jy Emily Honeycut
Top: Rory Kelly played lead guitar for the band
last Friday.
Right: Billy Miller, Rory Kelly and Mike Kelly
joke with the crowd at The Social.
was off tour with his other bands, and it just didn’t
seem like he was going back out with them at that
time so I snatched him up,” Kelly said.
Miller joining the Kelly’s, along with the release
of a new album and an increase of touring, were
all keys to the band’s success thus far, according to
Kelly.
“Billy joined up, and we released the Family Tree
record, which got us national and international rec
ognition, and we started getting magazine write-ups
and articles and radio stuff,” Kelly said.
Another key to the band’s growth was the release
of their first video to the song “(Don’t Shake My)
Family Tree,” which also revealed Kelly’s connec
tion to his community.
“We did it ourselves. I called up a bunch of my
friends and put it on Facebook and said, ‘Show up
at my buddy’s backyard.’ My mom, she did the vid
eocamera work. I edited it, mixed it down and did
all that. It was the first time I really ever tried to
See KELLY page 11