The Beautiful Musician Project

Celebrating the life and music of Elly Kelly, the beautiful musician.

[ellykellymusic-blog]

Kelly, Marie Elemonde “Elly" née Arsenault passed away peacefully after a heroic battle with breast cancer at Campbellford Memorial Hospital on Saturday May 24th, 2014 in her 62nd year.  Beloved wife of the late Joseph "Joe" Kelly and survived by her devoted partner Brian Cosbey.  Loving mother of Michael, Terry (partner Tracy Fenton) and Lisa (partner Jim McMillan). Proud mémère of Emma, Evan, Ava, Lexy and Logan. Elly is survived by her siblings Andréa, Émerise, Donalda, Alice, Alphée, Dollard, Alvin, and Ronald. She is pre-deceased by siblings Julliette, Bermand, Cécile, Léo, Eugère, and May.  She leaves behind not only a legacy of love for her family and friends, but also a soul-stirring passion for writing, playing, recording and performing music on her accordion.  Music was a life long gift she learned in the family kitchen in New Brunswick.  She shared her gift with hundreds of fans, family and friends.

[ellykellymusic-blog]

This youtube video features what is probably one of the best photos taken over the last while, as well as what may be the best song on the YOLO album - Partons la mer est belle. The photo was taken by one of Elly's cousins, while she was in New Brunswick, in November 2013, at a kitchen party. 

A message from Elly's cousins:

"Congratulations Elmonde!!  We are so very proud of you and glad you made your big dream come true!  We treasure the great night we had at Alphee & Margaret's, it was the best!! Thank you for that!  

  You bring Vive l'Acadie to life with your music and spirit!!! 

  Sending one big group hug and lots of love from your cousins.... Rheal, Edith, Julia, Rose, Eva and Kevin xoxoxo" 

[ellykellymusic-blog]

YOLO Album Released

Elly did it. 

She released her YOLO Album, her fifth CD recorded since she decided to become an entertainer, 8 years ago. Many of you are just getting your CDs in the mail now or will be receiving them shortly. 

The CD release party, held just over one week ago, was a great success. The venue was packed and we had to scramble to get more chairs set up to accommodate the massive crowd. 

Ken Tizzard, seen below, was a driving force behind the YOLO Album and he opened up the evening by playing a solo acoustic set of amazing new material. 

Shortly after Ken's set, Elly arrived and Lauren Nugent of Little Tree Photography, took this photo, which says it all:

Here are a few more beauty photos of Elly enjoying the moment, taken by Lauren.

After playing a set, Elly took a moment to sign CDs and it was amazing to see so many people line up to have a moment with Elly. 

After signing the CDs, we surprised Elly by showing her some music videos and messages of support from her family in New Brunswick.

After playing a set with her son Terry and Ken Tizzard, Elly finished off the show sharing the stage with her friend Aggie, who was armed with the best jokes people had heard in a very long time. Very funny!

Elly sold 85 CDs that night, which was "5 short of her record", she said. Apparently she sold 90 CDs in one night when she released her first album, Yesterday's Dream. 

Thank you for supporting her music, celebrating her life and for helping us  release this YOLO Album. 

Preview the YOLO Album on itunes. 

[ellykellymusic-blog]

Tonight we celebrate one of Elly’s greatest achievements; the release of her YOLO Album.

This has been made possible because of the donations and support received from fans, friends and family, as well as other musicians and creative types.

We have been working at mailing CDs out over the past few days to those that funded in advance of the release. We have a bit more work to do on that and have taken a break to focus on the the party tonight, at 8pm at the Campbellford Legion.

We are looking forward to seeing many of you there tonight!

[ellykellymusic-blog]

Visit Original Link

At this time, Elly would like to release the third sample from her YOLO Album. Elly would also like to share the thumbs up with Rob Baker of the Tragically Hip photo, taken earlier today. 

We encourage you to check out Elly's version of Fiddler's Green, from the Hip's Road Apples album. Her son Terry is on guitar and vocals. Ken Tizzard, of the Watchmen, is on bass and slide guitar. There is some cool intersecting of early nineties Canadian rock going on here.

Good work Elly - thank you for bringing it all together!

YOLO Album fund-raising update:

After a successful event at the BDT in Gatineau on the weekend, we are now at approximately $3000+ raised!!!!

The indiegogo YOLO online campaign: $1650!

BDT Gatineau show on weekend: $1100!!

Money mailed in to Elly: $350! 

Help Elly achieve her $5000 goal by visiting the indiegogo site (paypal enabled). A $25 donation gets you a copy of the CD. 

Thank you for your continued support and for sharing in Elly's journey. 

[ellykellymusic-blog]

Visit Original Link

Here is another sample from the YOLO Album. For your listening pleasure, we encourage you to check out Bonaparte's Retreat. Serious accordion and fiddle fire power going on here. Thank you for the continued support on the YOLO Album campaign. We are at $1890.00 now, in contributions received on the indiegogo site and vial mail. We are pleased to report we have sold all of the autographed CD perks (10) on the indiegogo site. A new perk was added this week: $80 gets you a CD and and Elly Kelly song recorded just for you, based on your requirements and specifications. Check it out on the site.  

[ellykellymusic-blog]

Visit Original Link

At this time, Elly wishes to release a sample from her YOLO Album. For your listening pleasure, we encourage you to check out Elly's version of the "Isle of Newfoundland".  This one is pure beauty and it was also the song her mom loved to hear Elly play the most. Thank you for the continued support on the YOLO Album campaign. We are at $1625.00 at the moment, in contributions received on the indiegogo site and via mail. 

[ellykellymusic-blog]

New Orleans Musicians Relief Fund and the Pawnshop Guitar

Some of you may recall from an earlier blog post how Elly, Terry & Brian picked up a $70 pawnshop guitar in Lafayette, Louisiana, while touring the countryside in October 2013. Here is Brian selecting the PS 70 in Lafayette. 

Some of you may also recall how we struggled with the fate of the guitar, wondering if and how we would transport it back to Canada. 

The struggle ended when we found the New Orleans Musician’s Relief Fund (www.nomrf.org) and contacted them the day before we left New Orleans so that we could donate the guitar to their cause. We were successful in making these arrangements and the guitar was picked up by Jeff from the NOMRF.

We stayed in touch with Jeff from NOMRF and he recently sent us a photo of the passing of the PS 70 to a street musician in New Orleans named Norbert. Those of you with keen eyes may notice the passing of the Elly Kelly Sticker too, which we had placed in the body of the guitar.

"The weather warmed up enough for Norbert to start playing again and here he is accepting the guitar. Let your mom know he’s very happy with it and we found a good case so it won’t get weatherbeaten."

Music is a beautiful thing. 

——————————————————————————————————————————————

Please send your messages of support directly to Elly at [email protected] or leave messages in her guestbook on her website www.ellykellymusic.com. Please send any images you may have of Elly Kelly performing to [email protected]

[ellykellymusic-blog]

Support Elly by participating in her indiegogo campaign!!

[ellykellymusic-blog]

Elly Kelly YOLO album

We are pleased to announce Elly finished the recording process of her 5th album today, in Ken Tizzard's studio. There are 19 tracks recorded featuring a wide variety of musicians. 

Elly has decided to name her fifth CD, the "YOLO Album". For those of you that don't know what that means, YOLO stands for You Only Live Once. The name of the album was inspired by a text message exchange with her granddaughter, Emma, while Elly was in New Orleans, Louisiana in October 2013.

The songs are currently being edited/mixed by John Whynot. John Whynot is a Canadian producer/engineer that has worked with a wide variety of artists, including; Bruce Cockburn, Blue Rodeo, Lucinda Williams, Kathleen Edwards, Colin James, Big Wreck, Loreena McKennit, Change of Heart and Jim Cuddy.

Once mastered, we will move forward with the manufacturing process. We do not yet have a release date and once this has been determined you will be the first to know. 

We are eternally grateful to Ken Tizzard for dedicating his time, effort, and resources to ensure everything was captured in the best ways possible.

Elly Kelly YOLO Album, features:

Elly Kelly - Accordion (Of course!!)

Brian Cosbey - Guitar & Vocals

Terry Kelly - Guitar & Vocals

Jimmy Ellis - Guitar & Vocals

Randy Morrison - Fiddle

Ken Tizzard - Bass & Steel Guitar

Michael Beauclerc - Percussion

[ellykellymusic-blog]

Elly wishes everyone a Merry Christmas and would like to present her video recording of Silent Night, captured upstairs at her original homestead, in November 2013. 

Some of you following this blog will recall from an earlier post that Elly learned to play accordion upstairs in her original homestead in St. Charles NB, when she was 13 years old. 

The first song she learned to play was Silent Night. 

[ellykellymusic-blog]

Chit Chat with Elly in Napanee

Elly performed at the Chit Chat Cafe in Napanee on Friday and Saturday. 

This unique venue hosted a buffet dinner followed by a set of music from Elly and friends, dessert, and concluded with one more set. 

Both shows were sold out and, on Friday, when we were there, we witnessed Elly and friends put on an amazing action packed show. Elly always has an amazing smile, an abundance of energy, a sense of humour and friendly connection with the audience - not to mention, an incredible ability to just pick up and play along with songs she has never played before. 

Elly at the Chit Chat Cafe, Napanee, ON, Friday November 29, 2013. Photo taken by Terry Kelly

[ellykellymusic-blog]

Elly Kelly recording session

Elly has been in Ken Tizzard's studio in Campbellford over the past few days recording more tunes! 

At this point, we are not announcing a new album. 

Elly and Jimmy Ellis at K. Tizzard's, Wednesday Nov 27, 2013 - photos by Ken Tizzard

We wish to thank Ken Tizzard for approaching us to offer his time and energy to enable Elly to record new material. 

We will keep you posted on these recordings in the coming weeks. 

For those of you that may not know, Ken Tizzard is a seasoned musician with a long history of dabbling in all sorts of projects. 

From his website (www.kentizzard.com):

"Ken Tizzard, the unique low-to-the-ground bass player for gold-and-platinum selling Canadian rock bands Thornley and The Watchmen, continues his thriving and ever-exploratory solo career with his fourth album, The Goodness Of Bad Intent." 

Ken just recently returned from touring with Ron Hynes in his homeland of Newfoundland.

Ken has a long and meaningful history with Elly and her family. Ken co-produced her son Terry's album (Gibbus - self titled 2002) and was also a good friend of Elly's late husband, Joe Kelly. Ken has an unwavering commitment to the music & musicians in the Campbellford area and is known to rally support for them during times of crisis. 

Ken is loved and respected in the community and we have been moved by his kindness, generosity and sincererity as we continue to move forward with Elly on her journey. 

Photos of Ken Tizzard, from Campbellford, Ontario.

[ellykellymusic-blog]

Visit Original Link

Emma Arsenault performing "Over the Rainbow" at Elly's celebration in New Brunswick two weeks ago. We don't need to say anything else, just listen. 

[ellykellymusic-blog]

Elly is loved in New Brunswick

Just over a week ago,  Elly enjoyed a whirlwind weekend in New Brunswick where she ate great food, administered kitchen parties, visited family and much more!

Original Homestead Visit

Leading up to the New Brunswick trip, we were able to connect with the current owners (Eva Comeau) of Elly's original homestead and made arrangements with them for Elly to spend a few nights there. This was an amazing gift and we are extremely grateful for their generosity. Elly's kids visited the homestead as well and were taken back many years, to a time when they travelled here most summers to see their grandparents, Emma and Richard Arsenault. 

Elly on the front porch of her original homestead, Nov 4, 2013.  

Elly with daughter Lisa and grandchildren Emma, Ava & Logan, Nov 2, 2013. Ava looking good doing her best Titanic!

Food

Elly's favorite down east food is poutine râpée (pronounced rawpay). This traditional Acadian dish consists of a boiled potato dumpling with a pork filling. It is usually prepared with a mixture of grated and mashed potato.  Her brother, Alphée Arsenault, picked up a bunch of this goodness and we feasted on it over the weekend - pictured below.

What do we have below here now? Well this is a boiled dinner - another amazing east coast dish served up in Alphée and Maragaret's kitchen on the weekend. 

Dig in everyone!

Music

If you've been following this blog you will recall from an earlier post that Elly and her siblings grew up in an incredibly fertile musical environment. 

On Sunday November 3rd, three generations of these musicians came together in a community centre in St. Charles, just up the road from Elly's homestead, where all of this amazing music began. It was a full house where extra chairs were summoned to accommodate the many people that arrived to celebrate Elly Kelly! 

Full house for Elly - Sunday November 3. 

Elly's brother, Alphée Arsenault.

Rachel Vautour and Maurice Daigle

Nancy Blanchard with her son, Denis - killer version of James Taylor's "fire and rain" going on here. 

Stella Richard

Classic Rina Daigle here - "Coal Miner's Daughter" - great job Rina!

Emma Arsenault - 5 years old - performed a solo version of "over the rainbow" that blew everyone away. 

Dollard Arsenault and Tony Vautour

Mario and Denis Blanchard (brothers)

Louise Vautour

Bernadette and Nancy Blanchard (mother/daughter). 

Kevin Arsenault and Nancy Blanchard (siblings)

Elly Kelly and Brian Cosbey - closing out the show - standing ovations - emotional times - loud cheers and lots of love for Elly. 

It was an incredibly moving experience to feel all of the love and support for Elly on this Sunday afternoon. This event was essentially planned over a few text/facebook messages betweens cousins that hadn't seen each other in a really long time.

We would like to issue a special thank you to Maurice Daigle and Nancy Blanchard for organizing this event. We would also like to thank all of the amazing musicians for sharing their talents and time to celebrate with Elly.

Elly's parents, Emma and Richard Arsenault, laid to rest just up the hill from the community centre, must have been warmed by the music, love and friendship. 

Let's picture-salute Emma & Richard and recognize what they created and how this was shared by everyone on this special afternoon!

Emma and Richard Arsenault

We are very grateful for the donations received in support of Elly on Sunday November 3rd. We would also like to thank everyone that signed the guitar for Elly and are pleased to inform it has made it back to Ontario. This guitar was picked up at a pawn shop by Elly's son for weekend jamming. We decided to obtain signatures on this guitar as a souvenir for Elly, instead of taking it back for resell!

In the coming weeks and months we will revisit this event by posting audio and video files on this blog site. We are also expecting video and photo to come in from other sources and we will be looking to incorporate these things in future posts as well. 

——————————————————————————————————————————————

Please send your messages of support directly to Elly at [email protected] or leave messages in her guestbook on her website www.ellykellymusic.com. Please send any images you may have of Elly Kelly performing to [email protected]

[ellykellymusic-blog]

Elly noodles around the song, "Whiter Shade of Pale". Recorded tonight, in her brother Alphée's kitchen, Kent County NB.

[ellykellymusic-blog]

Elly is in New Brunswick visiting family and friends! She is gearing up for a big gathering in St. Charles tomorrow. Stay tuned for pics and updates