Introducing L.A. – Robert Kelly
Posted on April 11, 2012 by Hannah Wang
The thing about Los Angeles is that it is scattered with people that have come from around the globe, wide eyed with big dreams. Some succeed, some leave, some whither and die here. The great thing about it though is that the people you meet here will definitely not be boring! It’s a crazy city here and it’s the people that make it so. Let me introduce you to some of these people.
This week, meet singer/songwriter, Robert Kelly.
So let me start by saying that this dude is probably about the happiest you’ll meet! Just full to the brim stoked on life, Robert Kelly speaks as poetically as he writes. This sunny outlook isn’t just due to a mid-west upbringing or his christian values, but also a collection of experiences that he’s taken from all around the world.
Let me take you to the middle east, where Robert Kelly finds himself sitting on a rug in the middle of a bare, concrete room, cuppa’ tea in front of him. Jordanian women and children are peaking around corners and running away speaking in Arabic. Feeling nervous and intimidated because no one around him spoke any English, he whips out his guitar and starts to play and sing. Pretty soon this concrete room was flooded with people all speaking the universal language of music. Parents started encouraging kids to take a closer look, photos were being taken and eventually they were leading him by hand through the town, showing off their new found friend. “It was amazing how fast I went, simply because of music, from being a stranger in their house to a friend and someone they were proud to know.”
This is a perfect example of what drives this 24 year old to make music. It’s so he can “connect with people and know I’m not alone in the feelings I feel.” Hailing from Nashville, Tennessee, it’s only natural (but not cool) that he was a total LeAnn Rimes fan. If fact, when he started making music it was LeAnn Rimes that he was trying to imitate. Thankfully, it didn’t quite work out that way. Instead the result was some soulful acoustic tunes and a lingering pop-folk voice.
After realising his passion and talent for music, Robert went about chasing this dream in a clever way. He found a program at Belmont University and learnt the business side of the music industry. After graduating in 2009, Robert saved up money by working at a super fancy cocktail bar where his job was to make little balls of ice to decorate the super fancy cocktails with. That was until he realised that the “stress in my life was equivalent to whether I was producing ice balls effectively or not.” Well that was the end of that! So then he researched and tracked down a producer, made his album “We Are Poetry,” and things have been taking off from there. Robert has toured all around the US and Britain, and has also been playing SXSW (South by South West) festival for three years now.
Definitely some one to check out, download and listen to while you watch a sunset. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention, he LOVES koalas! I don’t think I’ve ever seen a grown man as happy as when I gave him the little koala that he’s wearing in the photos!
Hannah Wang is an Australian photographer and super fly human now residing in the warm embrace of Los Angeles. You can find more of Hannah’s steeze on her website hannahwangphotography.com, or blog iliveinLAandstuff.com.
