Emmett Kelly | |
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![]() Performing with Bonnie "Prince" Billy at The Granada Theater, June 6, 2009 | |
Background information | |
Origin | Van Nuys, California |
Genres | Folk, Rock, Experimental |
Years active | 2005–present |
Labels | Narnack Records, Disneyland Reform Party, Polyvinyl Record Co., Empty Cellar, Drag City, Tin Angel, The Blackest Rainbow, GOD?, Burger Records, In the Red Records |
Emmett Kelly is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is the primary songwriter and recording artist of The Cairo Gang, one half of The Double alongside drummer Jim White, one third of The CIA and a founding member of Clinamen. He has contributed vocal and instrumental work to a variety of international musical projects, appearing on recordings by the likes of Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Ty Segall, Angel Olsen, Azita, Joan of Arc, Edith Frost, [1] Women and Children, John Webster Johns, Jeff Harms, Chicago poet/singer Marvin Tate, [2] Matteah Baim, Japanese musician Takuma Watanabe, Earth Girl Helen Brown, Joshua Abrams and Rob Mazurek. Kelly has toured in several of the aforementioned acts in addition to with Baby Dee, CFM, Mikal Cronin, Sonny Smith, Beth Orton, and Terry Reid; and in other instances, performed live with Chan Marshall, Scott Tuma, Joan of Arc, and Pillars and Tongues. He is also one half of the band The Surf, The Sundried, and a founding member of Chicago's Psychojail.
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Emmett Kelly is from Van Nuys, California.
Emmett’s primary focus is his band, The Cairo Gang, which released its self-titled debut album on Narnack Records in 2006. [3] The Disneyland Reform Party, a label started by Kelly and New York artist, Stasiu Tokarski, released 2008’s Twyxt Wyrd, which was subsequently released as a limited edition LP by Sheffield, UK’s The Blackest Rainbow. Following Twyxt Wyrd, Kelly released the home recorded Holy Clover EP on San Francisco’s Empty Cellar Records and Coventry, UK’s Tin Angel. Empty Cellar subsequently released 2012's The Corner Man, and 2013's Tiny Rebels, which marked a significant shift in approach.
Since 2013 he has been based in Los Angeles and has released albums for The Cairo Gang on Ty Segall's Drag City imprint, God? Records. The first, 2015's Goes Missing, was recorded largely in transit and even at times in his van. It includes performances by live Cairo Gang drummer Marc Riordan. 2016 saw the release of a collaboration of post apocalyptic neo folk songs with composer Rob Mazurek entitled Alien Flower Sutra on International Anthem. In 2017, The Cairo Gang released their first "studio" album, Untouchable. Untouchable was recorded by Ty Segall, who also plays the drums. Bassist Shayde Sartin also contributes. 2017 also saw the release of Dawn Of The Double on In the Red Records. Kelly founded improvisational ensemble, Clinamen, in 2018 with perennial collaborators Marc Riordan and Ben Boye. 2018 also saw the introduction of The C.I.A. (In the Red Records), an experimental punk trio fronted by Denée Segall and featuring Kelly and Ty Segall on electric bass guitars. In 2021, he began to release music as Emmett Kelly.
In 2016, Kelly was a member of garage rock musician Ty Segall's backing band The Muggers, formed following the release of the studio album, Emotional Mugger . Continuing to work with Segall, Kelly contributed to the recording of his ninth studio album, Ty Segall (2017), and is currently a member of his backing band, The Freedom Band.
In 2021, Kelly founded label haha along with the other members of Clinamen, primarily to release physical media of theirs and others in their fringe musical community. haha's main objective is to disassociate from digital media platforms and to exist entirely in physical form, including hardcopy newsletters.
The Cairo Gang has toured with notable acts such as The Fall, [4] OCS, Baby Dee, and Pillars and Tongues.
Kelly has been a frequent collaborator of Will Oldham (A.K.A. Bonnie “Prince” Billy), [5] [6] and has lent his vocals and guitar to his recordings and performances since Oldham’s 2006 album, The Letting Go. In 2010 Drag City released the critically acclaimed album, The Wonder Show of the World, [7] [8] [9] which featured compositional work by Kelly as The Cairo Gang, along with the single, Midday/You Win, and the 10’’, Island Brothers/New Wonder. [10]
In 2024, Kelly started the band Hard Quartet. [11]
Joseph Will Oldham is an American singer-songwriter and actor. From 1993 to 1997, he performed and recorded in collaboration with dozens of other musicians under variations of Palace. After briefly publishing music under his own name, in 1998 he adopted Bonnie "Prince" Billy as the name for most of his work.
This is a list of recordings by Will Oldham.
The Letting Go is a 2006 studio album by Bonnie "Prince" Billy. It was released on Drag City.
Beware is a studio album by Will Oldham. It was released under the moniker Bonnie "Prince" Billy on Drag City in 2009.
Drag City is an American independent record label based in Chicago, Illinois. Established in the city in 1990 by Dan Koretzky and Dan Osborn, its first release was a Royal Trux single. It specializes in indie rock, noise rock, psychedelic folk, alternative country, and experimental music. The label has featured numerous critically acclaimed artists, including Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Bill Callahan, Joanna Newsom, and Silver Jews.
The Wonder Show of the World is a collaborative studio album by Bonnie "Prince" Billy & The Cairo Gang. It was released on Drag City in 2010.
Ty Garrett Segall is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter and record producer. He is best known for his solo career, during which he has released fifteen studio albums alongside various EPs, singles, and collaborative albums. Segall is also a member of the bands Fuzz, Broken Bat, the CIA, GØGGS, and Wasted Shirt. He is a former member of the Traditional Fools, Epsilons, Party Fowl, Sic Alps, and the Perverts.
Wolfroy Goes to Town is a studio album by Will Oldham. It was released under the name Bonnie "Prince" Billy on Drag City in 2011.
Michael "Mikal" Patrick Cronin is an American musician and songwriter. He has released four solo albums and several singles. Cronin was a member of the bands Okie Dokie, Epsilons, Party Fowl and Moonhearts, and is a regular and longtime member of Ty Segall's live band, contributing bass guitar, backing vocals and saxophone; he has also released an album and a single in collaboration with Segall. Cronin earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts in music from California Institute of the Arts.
Kyle Thomas, known professionally as King Tuff is an American musician recording on Sub Pop Records. King Tuff and his band have released several music videos and have continually toured across the United States, Australia and Europe since 2012. He is also the lead guitarist and singer of stoner rock band Witch, and was a member of garage rock musician Ty Segall's backing band The Muggers, formed following the release of Segall's studio album, Emotional Mugger.
Tim Presley is an American musician, singer and songwriter. Presley began his career playing with the hardcore punk bands Model American and The Nerve Agents. In 2004, Presley founded the psychedelic rock band Darker My Love. In 2006 he joined The Fall, playing on the LP Reformation Post TLC, and was an occasional guest musician on the band's later albums. Since 2010, Presley has released music under the name White Fence. As of January 2019, he has released seven studio albums, two live albums, and two collaborative albums with Ty Segall under that name, as well as two albums with Cate Le Bon under the name DRINKS, an experimental solo album under the name W-X, and a solo album, THE WiNK, under his own name.
Wand is an American psychedelic rock band from Los Angeles, California, United States, formed in 2013. The band consists of Cory Hanson, Robert Cody (guitar), Evan Backer (bass) and Evan Burrows (drums).
American garage rock musician Ty Segall has released fifteen studio albums, two live albums, four compilation albums, three extended plays (EPs), nineteen singles, and sixteen music videos. He has also recorded as a member of various other bands.
Charles Frances Moothart is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter. He is best known for his collaborations with the garage rock musicians Ty Segall and Mikal Cronin. Moothart is the drummer for Segall's current backing band, The Freedom Band. He was previously the guitarist for Segall's backing band, the Ty Segall Band, and is the guitarist and vocalist in the pair's hard rock project, Fuzz. Additionally, he is a member of Segall's collaborative project with Ex-Cult's Chris Shaw, GØGGS.
Emotional Mugger is the eighth studio album by American garage rock musician Ty Segall, released on January 22, 2016 on Drag City Records. The album was produced by both Segall and F. Bermudez.
Ty Segall is the ninth studio album by American garage rock musician Ty Segall, released on January 27, 2017, on Drag City Records. Recorded with engineer Steve Albini, it is Segall's second self-titled studio album, following the release of his debut in 2008.
Joshua Abrams is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist who plays the double bass and guimbri.
Freedom's Goblin is the tenth studio album by the American garage rock musician Ty Segall, released on January 26, 2018, on Drag City. The album is Segall's second to be recorded with his backing band The Freedom Band, formed during the recording of his previous album, Ty Segall.
Harmonizer is the thirteenth studio album by the American garage rock musician Ty Segall, released on August 3, 2021, on Drag City Records. Co-produced by Segall and Cooper Crain, the album's initial digital release was a surprise, with physical copies following in October 2021.
Three Bells is the fifteenth studio album by the American garage rock musician Ty Segall, released on January 26, 2024, on Drag City Records. It was produced by Segall and Cooper Crain, and received acclaim from critics.