About That Song: Kelley Smith
About That Song #4
In our special series, singer-songwriter Sarah Morris interviews artists about the songs that shaped them.
Hi! I’m Sarah Morris. I’m wildly in love with songs and the people who write them. There have been a few songs in my life that have been total gamechangers—songs that made me want to be a songwriter and songs I’ve written that made me feel like I am a songwriter. About That Song is a space where I can learn more about those pivotal songs in other writers’ lives.
I spent the weekend at the 2nd Annual Lutsong Music Festival. The whole experience was lovely in every way, and I highly recommend making the drive up to Lutsen, MN next summer for the 2024 installment. While I was there, I got the chance to talk to Kelley Smith. It’s my first “on the street” interview for this series, so just pretend you can hear the music and festival goodness going on behind this conversation!
Kelley Smith. Photo credit: Trevor Tobin.
Sarah: Hi Kelley Smith!! It’s good to get to see you! Thank you for sitting down with me in the middle of this festival to talk about a few of the songs that shaped your journey as a songwriter. Do you remember the song that you heard that made you want to be a songwriter? Tell us about that song.
Kelley: This isn’t a band I normally talk about in interviews, but “Murder in the City” by the Avett Brothers. I wouldn’t say it was the only song, but for some reason, that’s what stands out right now—the way it made me feel and, when they played it at a concert, seeing how it affected the crowd. Everybody just singing along and feeling it too…that would be a good example. It’s so simple, but it makes you feel something. I live in my feelings.
Sarah: Yeah, living in the feelings, I know that place well. In my experience, I wrote songs before I considered myself a songwriter. Then I remember writing a song that gave me this “a HA! I’m a songwriter” feeling. Do you have a song that gave you that moment? Can you tell us about that song?
Kelley: That would have to be “Dust.” Until I wrote that song, I’d been experimenting with songwriting and never finishing anything. For me, it’s hard to finish something if it doesn’t inspire me, and I wasn’t inspiring myself yet. It was an experiment I was dabbling in but not really feeling. I never had a song during that phase where I was like “you need to hear this, I’m so proud of this.”
When I decided to write “Dust,” COVID lockdowns had just happened, and there were two mothers in my world who were about to pass on: my aunt and a friend’s mother. I remember being holed up in our living room, and my spouse received a text from the son of one of those women that she had passed in the night. I was struck with this deep empathy for him as the child of this wonderful woman who had just passed on. Something switched in me, and I set an intention to write a song that created space for that person to feel conflicted feelings.
I really sat with that one a while; it was a contemplative process. The first verse, as it always is, was just there, the chorus was just there, and then after that I had to dig into the emotions to get the rest of it out. When I got that song out finally, it was ready, and I knew it was done. I practiced it a few times and then made a quick video of it, so I wouldn’t forget it. That became my process.
Kelley Smith. Photo credit: Jamie Prax.
Sarah: Ah! That’s my process, too! Last question, Kelley: I know you post your songs to the internet as soon as you complete them. I’m curious about the last song you shared.
Kelley: The last complete song I posted is based on an old Tennyson poem that my spouse read to me on our 15th anniversary. When I heard it, I thought “This is ‘Moon Child’ (the title song off my recent EP) from 200-plus years ago!” One character is whimsical, off in her imagination, kind of living in her head, and the other character is grounded and practical, and he’s begging her to come down from this mountain. He’s luring her in with all this warmth of home and stability.
I took the scenery from that poem and reworded it. It came out with this Carter Family old-timey feel to it, and it’ll probably go on the next record. I really enjoyed playing and singing it, and that’s a good sign. I think I’m naming it “Come Down O Maid.”
Sarah: Where can people see you sing that song (or any songs) sometime soon?
Kelley: Muskie Days in Nevis, MN is coming right up. Charlie Parr will be there. And Lakeside Guitar Festival on August 12th—that’ll be a good one!
Listen to Moon Child
Credits for Moon Child
Released November 14, 2022
All songs written by Kelley Smith
Produced and mixed by Joel Schwartz
Mastered by Justin Gray
Vocals and acoustic guitar by Kelley Smith
Harmonica, bells, and violins by Kelley Smith
Resonator guitar, electric guitar, bass guitar, tenor banjo, mandolin, and keyboard by Joel Schwartz
Upright bass by Christopher Merrill
Percussion on “Marriage” by Lyle Molzan and Kelley Smith
Recorded in MN, USA and Toronto, CA
A portion of this project was funded by the Five Wings Arts Council of MN
Sarah Morris. Photo credit: Tom Smouse.
Sarah Morris is a superfan of songs and the people who write them, and a believer that certain songs can change your life. A singer-songwriter / mama / bread maker / coffee drinker who recently released her fifth album of original material, she’s been known to joyfully sing with people in her Big Green Bathroom.
