Today we’d like to introduce you to Kelly Bellerose.
Hi Kelly, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I first learned to play guitar I guess when I was about 8. I taught myself the Beatles song “Blackbird” by ear. Anything arts related has always been what has come easiest for me. As a kid, I’d create music and dance performances with my friends and invite the entire neighborhood to the shows. My parents were supportive of my creativity and I took to dance mostly when I was young.
I got a performing arts scholarship to the University of Nevada Reno out of high school but ironically didn’t study the arts when I attended. That was the end of my true focus on the arts for a while, until after I got married and my husband at the time commented once while I was singing to the radio that he thought I had a great voice and I should start performing. I joined my first band in Las Vegas and spent the next several years performing quite a bit at various hotels including Ceasar’s Palace and Harrahs hotels.
This was when the music bug hit me. Our family eventually moved to Nashville, where I lived for 2 years, learning to write songs and getting an education in the music industry. During my stay there I was blessed enough to be able to play at a few artist showcases at the famous BlueBird Cafe. I eventually moved to the Salt Lake Valley where I spent several years in a few country bands, and making a mark in the local music scene. During my music career, I have performed around the world and opened for such major artists as Bryan White, Leanne Rimes, Yankee Gray, Chad Brock, Ty Herndon, Doug Supernaw, and Darin Norwood.
I’ve played venues from small Canadian taverns to the main stage at Country Jam USA and the Dee Events Center in Northern Utah playing to 9,000 + fans. In 2004, my band and I won the Utah South by Southwest showdown to Austin, out-performing 40 bands, awarding me an invitation to showcase at the 2004 South by Southwest Conference and Music Festival in Austin Texas. In recent years, I’ve taken a more subdued approach to my music, focusing on songwriting and recording – honing on my art.
Some of my most rewarding moments have been to write and co-write songs for and with others as a means of offering comfort, or to help them express their feelings to loved ones. Music has been a great source of medicine for me and writing has been very healing to me. I love every song I’ve written and feel like it’s my purpose to share my music with even one person, even if it’s just for myself.
The most recent love of my life is my first grandchild, Cohen Dane whom I adore. I just wrote a song for him for his 1st Birthday called “Cohen Dane”. My music is the legacy I leave for my family for generations to come.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
My music journey has been peppered with all the highs and lows of my life, and for that, I’m very grateful because, without those experiences, I wonder if I’d have anything to write about. I’ve always had success in my art relative to the amount of time and effort I’ve put into it at any given time. When I focus on my music, I’m successful. I’ve had several opportunities over the years to “go all in” for the “big time” if you will.
But my journey has been one of balance: I felt like staying local and doing my art on my terms was a way to have it all: a good-paying job that helps fund my recording efforts, a family, beautiful children; the lifestyle I wish to live. I decided that my art was too special to me to hang all the weight of the world on it by trying to make it my job, because once it becomes drudgery, then it no longer feels like art to me.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
When I’m not doing music, I enjoy a very successful career as a marketing Vice President for 4Life Research, based here in Utah. This career has allowed me to be creative, engage with the public which I love, travel the world, and even write and produce music. This great company has allowed me to bring my love for the arts into my professional setting. How lovely is that? I’m very blessed with health, a beautiful family, and a fantastic professional career that supports my music addiction.
Life is very good. I am so grateful for this amazing adventure called life. I think my friends and peers would say that I am a true multi-faceted person who has worn so many hats that feel comfortable. I love people and truly love my life and I think that shows authentically in the way I show up for my life each day. I’ve had a wild ride and I wouldn’t change a thing!
Risk-taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
This is a great question. I think I am a regular risk-taker. I have uprooted my life to travel to Nashville to take my chances there. Every time I play an original song out in the community there is a risk. Ha, I have my stocks in a moderate to high-risk space right now and in light of the current financial environment, that’s big risk-taking! There have been many times in my life when it might have taken me a while to do the scary thing I know I have to do, but eventually, I follow my mantra of “be afraid and do it anyway”.
Yes, I’d consider myself a risk-taker. I believe that most things that are worth having, take hard work and a chance. Sometimes that means jumping off that proverbial cliff. I truly believe there is not that much in life so catastrophic that by taking that leap of faith, you wouldn’t land safely on your feet. As for my music, I like to call it a crossroad of west coast blues and dust bowl twang, with the blues in between. I love every one of my songs. The are etched from a well-lived life.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://bellerosemusic.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bellerose_music/?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA%3D%3D
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/bellerosemusic
Image Credits
Mike Kemp Images
