Performance in Crouse Park, 6 to 8pm, free and open to the public. Sparta, North Carolina.
The feeling that hits you when you first hear the singing voice of NC native Kelley Breiding is akin to the sensation of seeing a ghost. There might be shivers up the spine, hair standing up on the back of your neck, and soon the realization that you might be encountering a spirit from another era. Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Wanda Jackson, Dinah Washington, and Memphis Minnie come to mind. A sense of deja vu may wash over you– you think you’ve heard this voice before but you can’t put your finger on it. Maybe it’s just that there aren’t many out there making real country music anymore, and certainly not in the tradition of great country female artists of days gone by.
Having also been steeped in the music of Appalachia for over twenty years, she is no stranger to the roots of country music. Kelley is an accomplished, award winning claw-hammer banjo player, a fiddler, guitar player, and bassist and stays busy as a member of the award winning Old-Time stringband, The Crooked Road Ramblers. Kelley has helped pass these traditions on by teaching Old Time fiddle and flat-picking guitar in the Ashe County Junior Appalachian Musicians program since 2017.
Kelley is recognized as a traditional artist by Blue Ridge National Heritage Area and The NC Arts Council Folklife program. She has also performed alongside legendary artists Jimmy C. Newman, Dr. Ralph Stanley, The Marshall Tucker Band, Peter Rowan, Jim Lauderdale, Dale Watson, Rose Sinclair, and Donna the Buffalo. She has also performed at prestigious venues such as The National Folk Festival, The Kennedy Center, The Festival of American Fiddle tunes, The Richmond Folk Festival, Bristol Rhythm and Roots Festival, Nimble Fingers Festival, The Northern Lights Festival, The Grassroots festival of music and dance, The Blue Heron Festival, Shakori Hills Festival, The Moniaive Bluegrass Festival, The Linlithgow Folk Festival, Bele Chere, and more.