Charlie Kelley is a four time Grammy nominated producer, musician and artist. A Maryland native, he attended Boston’s prestigious Berklee College of Music before moving to Nashville, Tennessee in 1990.
Upon his arrival on Music Row, he quickly established himself by landing the guitar position for Mercury recording artist Charley McClain, followed by tours with Epic recording artists Tom Wopat of the television series “The Dukes Of Hazzard” and Doug Stone.
In 1994, Charlie caught the ear of then Columbia Records president, Steve Buckingham, who signed him to Dolly Parton’s fledgling label Blue Eye Records. Two years later, he became a Rising Tide recording artist as part of the critically acclaimed band, The Buffalo Club. Their self titled album, produced by the legendary Barry Beckett, garnered Top 10 and Top 20 hits and the band toured extensively throughout 1996 and 1997. During this time, Charlie was also signed as a staff writer for Sony Tree and Famous Music publishing companies and his songs have been recorded in the U.S. as well as Greece, Holland, Norway and Spain.
From the late 90′s to 2002, Charlie performed as a guitarist for SheDaisy, Keith Urban, Rebecca Lynn Howard, Bryan White, Michael English, Jamie O’Neal, Laura Bell Bundy and Jameson Clark among others. He has performed on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Grand Ole Opry Live and Prime Time Country as well as other national programs in the U.S. and overseas while touring throughout Europe.
In 2002, Charlie formed Donelson Ranch Productions and has since produced 4 Grammy nominated recordings and has worked on recordings with Vince Gill, Dobie Gray, Hal Ketchum, Riders in the Sky, Air Supply and many others.
Starting in 2006, Charlie added music for television to his list of accomplishments, creating signature pieces for the Sky Angel Network and the Great American Country (GAC) Network. His work can be heard as theme songs for GAC’s Short Cuts and Heart of Country series. political campaign in New Jersey. In 2008, Charlie’s production of the Cab Calloway classic, ‘Happy Feet’ was used in the French film, J’irai dormir à Hollywood (Hollywood I’m Sleeping Over Tonight). The song was also included in the soundtrack of the film, a documentary about a Frenchman’s great adventure in the United States. C’est magnifique, no?