04-16-09
The Stars Go Blue concert was a great success last month! With the help of Charlie's friends, Vince Gill, Hal Ketchum, Amy Grant, Jamie O'Neal and Peter Cooper, they raised $18,000 for the Colon Cancer Alliance and MusiCares. It was a great night full of not only music, but lots of humor as well. All the artists were able to turn what is usually a somewhat taboo type of cancer to talk about into humorous moments as they discussed some of their own screening stories. There were many former and current colon cancer patients at the show that were very grateful to have a light shone on their type of disease. You can help the fight by becoming a member of the Colon Cancer Alliance by visiting www.ccalliance.org and by getting screened. It only takes a short procedure to possibly save your life! Many thanks go to James Stevens and Steve Angus for capturing the night on tape with a crew of the best of the best of Nashville's audio and video professionals. All of whom donated their time, talents and gear! The video will be released sometime this year for purchase with 100% of the proceeds going directly to benefit the cause. Also a huge thank you to Jensen Sussman of Sweet Talk Publicity for her above and beyond commitment. Jensen, a breast cancer survivor herself really made the event happen and we owe a great debt to her. She has her own foundation called 'Women Rock For The Cure' that benefits breast cancer. Check out their show in October for more great entertainment.

Recently Charlie laid down guitar parts at Donelson Ranch for a new show opening this summer at Sea World, San Antonio. If the show turns out anything like the music, it'll be packed with excitement and energy! It's a full on water skiing extravaganza set on a lake at the park with a 200 foot stage! So, if you make it there this summer, listen for some serious guitar antics blasting across the lake.

A large amount of those tracks were recorded with Charlie's new Hahn model 228. Chihoe Hahn out of New York is building some really fine instruments and made a beautiful, vintage white 228 that arrived just before Charlie's surgery in December. It was a good reason to recoup faster because it was sitting in the studio waiting to be played! Check out the photo page to see the guitar in action with Jamie O'Neal and go to www.hahnguitars.com to see more of Chihoe's instruments. You won't find a better guitar out there than a Hahn, nor will you talk to a nicer guy, thanks Chihoe!

In February, Charlie and Lynn went to LA for the Grammys for the 4th time! Although they didn't bring home the gold, to be in the top five in any category is an honor. Nan was able to attend as well which was their first 'get away' since both finished treatments. She has been involved with the Leukemia/Lymphoma Society since she was diagnosed and both she and Charlie are passionate about continuing to share their story of 2008 to help raise awareness and funding for all cancer research and those who need financial assistance with the high cost of cancer treatments.

Since last July, as mentioned above, Charlie has been lending his guitar playing and vocal skills to 4 time Grammy nominated country artist Jamie O'Neal. Jamie launched her career with back-to-back #1's- "There Is No Arizona" and "When I Think About Angels”—and followed with hits like “Shiver“, "Trying To Find Atlantis” and the #3 tribute to moms everywhere, "Somebody's Hero". Along the way, she has earned four Grammy nominations and a host of other awards and critical accolades. Currently Jamie is on the 1720 record label out of Atlanta and is about to release her second single for them as a follow up to first, 'Like A Woman', of which the video for was a big hit on the GAC network, staying in the top ten for 8 weeks! If you've not had a chance to see Jamie live and would like to hear one of the best and most powerful voices in country music today, come on out to a performance, you won't be disappointed.

LynnMarie and Charlie continue to work on a new recording over the next few months and are putting more emphasis on writing this year in order to finish up the last few tracks for the new project. Lynn played at the Stars Go Blue benefit as well and due to her always energetic performance, Vince Gill has invited her to be a guest on his Vince Gill and Friends show at the Ryman on April 27th! If you're in Nashville that week, you should check it out, it'll be a great show.

Colon Cancer Awareness Concert
The Stars Go Blue For Colon Cancer benefit concert, which was inspired and conceived by Charlie Kelley, will take place on March 24, 2009 in Nashville, TN.
Press Release pdf
Flyer pdf

 

Grammy-nominated artist Charlie Kelley and his wife Nan, television host
for the GAC Network, share their story of cancer, survival and success.

SPEECHLESS - GRAMMY NOMINATED
Nashville recording artists LynnMarie and Charlie Kelley have been nominated for a GRAMMY in the category of Best Polka Album for their album Speechless.  The nominations were revealed last night on grammy.com after a special television presentation of the Grammy Nominations Countdown on CBS. The duo heard the news while at Centennial Hospital, where Charlie is recovering from surgery for Colon Cancer. This marks LynnMarie's fifth GRAMMY nomination in this category, and the first as the duo The Boxhounds.
(Full Press Release)

11/26/2008

Happy Holidays to all our friends, new and old! As we head into the
season of positive thoughts and new beginnings, I wanted to share a
recent diagnosis with you in hopes that I can inspire any and all to
think positively about taking advantage of preventative tests in the medical field!

Three weeks ago, I had a routine colonoscopy that resulted in the removal
of a cancerous polyp. Because of the way that the polyp was growing, I will have to undergo a colon re-section operation on December 1st in which the surgeon will cut out a section of the large intestine where the cancer is and re-attach the rest. If all goes well, I'll be up and moving by the first of the year and will not need further treatment.

I was not having any problems that lead me to a colonoscopy in the first place, but had one since my mother had polyps removed in the past. I'm sure you've heard it before, but early detection is truly the key to treating most everything, but certainly cancer. At 40, they tell me I'm young to have this particular type of cancer, which usually shows up in people 20
years my senior, but there have been cases of it striking people younger than me as well. Bottom line is that if you can have a colonoscopy done, please do! You will get over the embarrassment quickly and it may save your life. Had I waited until the recommended age of 50 to have this test, I would have had a much bigger case of cancer to deal with and a more
extensive treatment plan as well. As it is, a week in the hospital is bad enough!

My only objective in sharing this diagnosis with you is that all who read this will consider having a colonoscopy or if you've been putting it off, that you will use me as a clear reason to stop putting it off! Especially those of you out there who are 50 and up. Check the family history and if there's anything there, it could be worth your time to get this done as early as 30
maybe!

I wish everyone a very happy holiday season all around and hope that you will all take advantage of my upcoming experience! Since I won't be able to eat too much post operation, everybody eat a Christmas cookie for me this year!

Thanks for taking a second to read this and for all the personal and musical support past, present and future, it means a great deal to me!

Charlie

In May, Charlie's wife, Nan, was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma. Fortunately, it's one of the easier types of cancer to treat and they expect full recovery and complete remission after a few months of treatments. She is doing well and her spirits are good even though it's a tough process. Thanks to so many people who have called, emailed and sent cards, both Nan and Charlie greatly appreciate it. In lieu of her usual performance with LynnMarie and the Boxhounds at the Schauer Center in Wisconsin, they taped a special performance of The Tennessee Waltz at the GAC studios which will be posted! (The laundry room floor thing is a bit of an inside joke from a couple years ago.) Yu'd never know Nan was fighting cancer and that's pretty much the way she's handling the whole situation, with strength and her usual positive and gracious attitude! As always though, you can still see her on GAC's Top Twenty Countdown and on Opry Live.

So, Charlie will be home a little more than usual this summer in order to help Nan through the treatments, but the recording continues. Currently an instrumental project with LynnMarie is being mixed for an August release. There will be a couple of old tracks that have been favorites, but most of it will be new material that recently written in the last few months. Some will be traditional, but they'll be pushing the creative boundaries again with what can be done utilizing accordion and guitar.

Hal Ketchum has recorded "Million Dollar Baby", a song written by Hal, Lynn and Charlie. He did a great gypsy jazz version of the song for an album to be released on Curb records sometime in September. Keep your eyes peeled for that one, because the whole project is fantastic and is one you won't want to miss.

The infamous "Mayor of Broadway" aka. Redd Volkaert flew in from Austin Texas to help out on a song called the Strip Polka. Redd added guitar and his distinctive vocal to the track that is sure to be a crowd pleaser. If you're not familiar with Redd, check him out at www.reddvolkaert.net He's a master of the Telecaster and plays western swing and country, but he grew up in Canada, so he knows accordion music well!

Charlie and LynnMarie's version of Happy Feet from the Party Dress cd has been used in the French film titled "Hollywood, I'm Sleeping Over Tonight". Happy Feet is used in the body of the movie as well as the closing credits. The film is scheduled for international release in late November.

2008 is starting off busier than ever. I’ve been working on two songs for LynnMarie
specifically for the Dutch market. One song will be more traditional and the other a mix of European dance music. These songs will be sent to Holland via cd where they will then be sent to Belgium to be turned into a vinyl 45! That’s what they like and I can’t say that I blame them. I’ve been transferring some of my own vinyl recordings lately and they sure do sound good!

In December I finished another television project for Rink Entertainment and the Sky Angel network which should be airing soon. I also recorded some great song demos for Bobby Tomberlin of Curb publishing and Mark Narmore of Noble VisionMusic Group. Both of these guys are good friends and co-writers of mine and their songs include Diamond Rio’s One More Day and Craig Morgan’s That’s What I Love About Sunday. Check out their My Space sites to hear more from them.

That’s the news for now, more soon........

Rockin' In Interlaken

Charlie has recently returned from a 15 day European tour of Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia with LynnMarie and the Boxhounds in support of their 2007 Grammy nominated release, "Party Dress". It was a very successful trip as they covered about 11 cities and played diverse venues each night. From the American Embassy in Slovenia to 1,000 year old castles, to Rock Otocec, the largest rock festival in Slovenia, they spread their modern version of traditional music to enthusiastic audiences each night. They played the Lent festival in Maribor one cold and rainy night in the perfect venue......a round brick structure built in 1200 that was once used to hold witch trials! They had a great crowd and everyone made it out without any hexes or curses placed on them....at least none that they know of yet! Currently Charlie and Lynn are writing and recording demos for their next project due for release in June of 2008.

In June Charlie was in the studio with two legendary artists, Dobie Gray and Hal Ketchum. Having written songs for upcoming projects with both Hal and Dobie, they were in tracking the new material and turning the songs into records. Hal, being a part of the country music boom of the early 90's was one of Charlie's early influences with songs such as "Stay Forever", "Small Town Saturday Night" and "Sure Love" and Dobie.....well it's Dobie Gray! Having recorded one of the most popular songs of the 60's, "The In Crowd" and later one of the most widely recognized songs of the 70's, "Drift Away", Dobie is certainly a living legend. "It was a great experience to write and record with both Hal and Dobie. As a producer, it really doesn't get much better than working with artists that you truly respect and admire", said Charlie. Future co-writes are on the books, so keep your ears open for these new songs.

In May Charlie composed new music for the Heart Of Country. Produced by Rink Entertainment, the series features country music artists discussing causes they believe in from music in schools to battling cancer. The first two artists to complete spots for the series are Josh Turner and Craig Morgan. You can also hear Charlie's music on the GAC Shortcuts series which feature a "day in the life" with different country stars. Artists in the Short Cuts series include Phil Vassar, Taylor Swift and Rushlowe Harris. Watch for both of these short features on the GAC network.