Back To The Roots

Kelly Joe Phelps is an innovator. Never one to sit comfortably on the laurels he's created for himself over a career spanning almost twenty years, he's continuously striving, searching, exploring and experimenting with his music, breaking new boundaries with every record he creates.

In 2009, he released his ninth record, Western Bell, which saw him step even further off the beaten path, but one which perhaps didn't bring him the acclaim afforded many of his previous works. It was an instrumental album (not a terrifying prospect given his virtuosic use of the slide guitar), but it seemed to polarise fans – “They either loved it or hated it,” he smiles – and so would have set him on a creative knife edge. Or so you'd think.

“It wasn't surprising to me, that was a decision I had to make before I put it out, that this was going to be embraced by some people and shunned by others,” Phelps relates. “But it was important for me to make that record because it definitely represents a part of me as a human and a part of me as a musician. In the scope of my catalogue, that record needed to be [done] in order for me to feel like I was completing a work.

“I didn't expect anything other than what happened, so it didn't mean anything to me in terms of failure or success. When people say, 'I want my money back', it doesn't have any effect on me creatively. I certainly wasn't going, 'Cool',” he laughs, “more like, 'What a drag', because of course I want people to embrace what's happening, but there's something more important to me than that, and that is that I have to be honest to the impulse of creativity.”

Like any artist, Phelps wants his work to be understood, but the fact many didn't grasp Western Bell certainly didn't stymy his creative flow, something which is evidenced by his new record, Brother Sinner And The Whale. Coming three years after Western Bell, it sees the man return to more familiar ground, while still breaking some – such is his penchant for continuous exploration.

“Once I recorded Western Bell and put it out, it was definitely time for me to stop pushing for a while,” he smiles. Phelps decided to try something different, stepping out with a friend who played, “entirely different music”, playing more of a backing role, not looking in the mirror, as he puts it. It was while doing this that Brother Sinner… began to take shape.

“Yeah, that informed me, musically, a lot,” he muses. “It feels like I [now] have more direct contact with making more accurate choices in what I want to do, say, in the moment of improvisation. That was a big part, and the other big part [that informed this album] is that it's thematically biblical and gospel, which represents entirely what I've been doing as a human.”

It was through a “re-examination of my Christian roots” that brought about the inspiration for Brother Sinner And The Whale and while it's not a Christian record (or even a gospel record, sonically), this theme runs deep, informing songs like I've Been Converted, Talking To Jehovah and The Holy Spirit Flood. The result is a record which brings the attention back to the song itself, stories told in the style that Phelps has such a deep connection with.

“Well, it's a good question because it remains a question,” he smiles when asked where this record sees him today. “I never know what's coming… but that's how it works. It's a part of the adventure, absolutely, that's what keeps me excited.”

Kelly Joe Phelps will be playing the following shows:

Wednesday 7 November - Brisbane Powerhouse, Brisbane QLD
Thursday 8 November - Solbar, Sunshine Coast QLD