Kelly Pettit

Biography Kelly Pettit Living Life Through A Windshield by Shannon Ambrose www.indieislands.com Remember that 1957 movie, Have Gun Will Travel? Remember how the movies made the life of a gun slinger so cool and exciting? All they needed was a well balanced gun, a good horse and dead eye aim and the world was theirs for the taking. Just like those wanderers of the old west, Kelly Pettit is a guitar slinging, self proclaimed musical nomad. Canadian born, holding duel citizenships with Canada and Australia, traveling to locales such as Korea, Fiji, Hawaii and Australia. For a time, calling Seattle and New Zealand home, not to mention his native Canada, Kelly is currently settled in Japan. After researching overseas gigs, Kelly sent a video to an agency in Tokyo. Then came an audition for Kelly and his band, and the next thing they knew they were sitting on a plane, bound for the Land Of The Rising Sun, with a very handsome contract. Kelly attributes his teen years, busking in Australia and the coastal Canadian city of Vancouver for helping define his skills as a musician and his personality. He started busking in Australia as a means of income. "I soon discovered that it was a brilliant way to make money, work my own hours, and pretty much take the skill with me anywhere. When I came back to Canada and was studying, busking was a great part time job. I was one third of a very cool band. An upright bass player, fiddle / guitar player/ and myself on guitar, harmonica and mandolin". Kelly describes his genre of music as pop/alternative country/rock. Imagine taking Neil Finn (front man for the Australian band, Crowded House), American rock icon, Counting Crows and American rockabilly band, The Jayhawks, tossing them into a blender and you might come out with something that sounds like a Kelly Pettit song. Fast forward to January, 2007. With three Cd's of original music under his belt - Life Through A Wind Shield (1997), Tuned In (2000) and J-Walking The World (2004), Kelly releases his 4th studio album titled Fuel. Fuel gives the listener a marvelous mix of pop to country to rock. Such an eclectic blend of influences and sounds can also be attributed to Kellys willingness to co-write with a host of equally talented musicians and lyricists. Song writing obviously being a family affair, he has written with his father and brother as well - "My brother and I often have fun writing lyrics when we can get together, also my father did a brilliant job writing lyrics to a song on my FUEL CD called Stone After Stone. A recent collaboration with the very talented Mark Clay saw the creation on the tune Christmas Everyday which is featured as the first track on a compilation CD called A Very Vancouver Christmas. Kelly has recently won the Ultimate Band contest on UBL , the ultimate online destination for independent and unsigned bands. First place receives over $200,000 worth of prizes. It took well over a year and started off with over 2000 bands from around the world. Kelly can now add writing movie scores to his resume. Wong Fu Productions, an emerging independent film company, recruited Kelly to work on the score for their full length movie called, "A Moment With You". They also chose the song "She's Just Like Summer" from FUEL to close out the movie during the credits, and they are currently selling the soundtrack and DVD. Kelly comments on performing in front of people. "It doesn't cost anything for me to see my own show and I get to hang out with the band back stage (laughs)! Other than that, there's something therapeutic about playing live. The connection with the audience is what it's really all about. When the crowd leave satisfied then so do I". The personal side of Kelly Pettit is as varied as his music. Of course living in Japan requires one should speak the language, and Kelly's ability to speak a second language has altered the way he views the world, which is reflected in his lyrics. When he's not making music, you can usually find him pursuing pleasures of a physical nature. Like any good Canadian he enjoys winter sports such as ice hockey and snow boarding, or hops on his mountain bike when the ground isn't covered with snow. Whether he has his feet firmly planted on the ground or on the move to the next exotic location, so long as he has his guitar slung on his back and easy riding ahead, this nomad is always eager for where a life of globe trotting will take him next. www.myspace.com/kellypettit JAPANESE SITE: http://www.myspace.com/kellypettitfanclub