Kirk Kelly

Kirk P. Kelly (born circa 1960) is a folk singer, songwriter and labor activist from New York City. In the mid-1980s Kelly and a group of like-minded musicians started calling themselves "anti-folk" and started a small but intense movement. Kelly's music has been infrequently recorded over the years. His work has often included topical songs. Some of Kelly's early songs dealt with the labor movement and were based upon his own work experience. A decade or so after starting his musical career Kelly was accepted to and attended an AFL-CIO organizer's training school and began working throughout the United States as a union organizer. In the same year that "Just Do It!" first appeared in commercials for Nike, Inc., "Go Man Go" seemed to be something of a slogan among anti-folk scenesters. The phrase is quoted in a couple of songs on Roger Manning's debut release in that same year. Nearly the entire album features Kelly performing solo with guitar and harmonica (producer Brian Ritchie plays acoustic bass guitar on one song). Kelly's sound clearly shows the influence of early Bob Dylan and Phil Ochs. The later is paid a tribute on "Heroes of Tomorrow" (both a call to action and a look at figures of the past including Joe Hill, Eugene Debs, and Ochs). One reviewer of Kelly's first album called the work "so derivative of Bob Dylan that maybe A.J. Weberman should consider rooting through Kelly's trash.

A number of Kelly's earliest songs dealt with labor issues (e.g. "Corporation Plow"). Kelly's own experience working as a fruit picker on Long Island's East End planted the seed for his song, "Working in the Vineyards". Over time Kelly began performing at union rallies and would get called to play at picket lines. Later, while working in an airline's reservation office Kelly worked as a "white collar member" of the machinist's union. Kelly put it out on his own, Mugsy Records, a label that grew to include a handful of artists in the early 2000s. The "Mugsy Records Manifesto" laid out the labels mission to "fight for social and economic justice" saying: "America belongs to those who build it, fix it, run it, clean it, protect it, feed it, care for it and educate it. In the work we do we forge a common identity and it is the work of its most progressive artists to give voice to that identity. America's popular culture must tell the real story of its people and reflect its true identity."

In 2003 Kelly's cover of "Downbound Train" was chosen for the Springsteen tribute album, Light of Day. Allmusic called his arrangement "radical" as Kelly stripped the song down to simply vocals and ukulele.

Discography

Solo albums Go Man Go (1988, SST) New City (1997, Mugsy Records) Quixotic (1984, Fast Folk Musical Magazine) – compilation included "I Pity the Poor British Soldier" Cross Country (1988, Fast Folk Musical Magazine) – compilation included "Dead Aid" Broome Closet Anti Folk Sessions (1989) – compilation that featured Kelly, Roger Manning, Billy Syndrome, Paleface, Susie Unger, John S. Hall, Cindy Lee Berryhill and others. Legacy: A Collection of New Folk Music (1989 Windham Hill) – compilation that includes "Go Man Go" Detours (1991, Fast Folk Musical Magazine) – includes "Stephen Foster" SST Acoustic (1991, SST) – includes "Go Man Go" Light of Day: A Tribute to Bruce Springsteen (2003, Schoolhouse Records) features Kelly performing "Downbound Train" A Century of Labor Songs (2004) – 100-year anniversary compilation by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters