Music
Press
Excerpts from Citypages Magazine, June 2005:
'This Texas girl with a round about way lives her life directed by moments and spirit. She is not the formal education type or a brilliant young novice. What she is, is beautiful, passionate, and one of the most real people I have had the pleasure of meeting. Talking with her conjured the question in me, how can one body hold so much soul? Then of course the answer followed, her music is part of her that is too much to keep inside. It is a soul set free if you will. Her indirect path that has shaped her into a young woman who is not afraid of the road less traveled.'
'As much as talking with her moved my spirit, hearing her music moved my soul. I suppose now I understand better how music can be defined as soul. Her voice is full and strong, full of power and life.' - City Pages Magazine
GBMOJO performed at the famous Eddie's Attic open mic competition last night, Feb 2nd 2009, in front of a packed house and won! The competition, which has received national attention due to its long standing contribution to the Atlanta music scene, has a two month waiting list and has served as a spring board to many successful songwriter's careers.
"We heard about the competition from our friend and fellow songwriter Eric Nasseau in Colombus, Ohio. He told us if we were ever in Atlanta to check it out. So we did. We signed up months ago and were very excited."
Atlanta public radio WABE 90.1 was there doing a story on the event. As soon as it is available a link to the broadcast which will feature interviews with Bekah and Ginger and excerpts from the show, will be made available to GBMOJO fans. Also within the next 24 hours, live MP3's of the winning performances will be made available for download on www.GBMOJO.com - so keep checking the site.
"We were surprised and honored to win. We will be back at Eddie's on the first Saturday in June competing in their bi-annual, grand prize "Open Mic Shoot Out" with all the other winners."
Bekah and Ginger now continue with the last couple of weeks of their Traveling Fates tour, which adds the incomparable talents of SJ Tucker to their mix . Soon after they will be going home to prepare for their long awaited Double CD release in March.
**JUST ADDED** Link to the official Atlanta Public Radio story:
http://publicbroadcasting.net/wabe/arts.artsmain?action=viewArticle&id=1477438&sid=4
- Will be part of feature story on Atlanta NPR station - WABE 90.1
"Bekah is a great songwriter and guitarist, and absolutely beautiful, but the reason you will come back again is to hear her sing."
Posted 12-11-08 on Austin Chronicle Music Website - Austin Chronicle
The following story was the featured cover on MI2N.com for the date 3/39/09:
Austin Singer Songwriters Are All Up In Each Other's Music Business!
In a time when the world is buzzing with financial woes, Austin singer/songwriters Ginger Doss and Bekah Kelso are finding creative ways to share the costs and benefits of their indie music careers. From web hosting to promotion, from merchandising to marketing, from booking tours to live performance and now a double CD release campaign, these two are complimenting each other’s efforts on and off stage. They’re working non-stop in a song-swapping collaboration called GBmojo. And to a growing many people, this collaboration sounds very sweet.
“It was a lucky thing we found each other when we did” says Doss, who two years ago was starting her solo career after playing exclusively in bands. “In my different band projects, there were more members which meant more people to help when it came to all the music business and promotion. When you’re going solo for the first time, you’re on your own and there’s so much to do – it takes a lot of drive and time, and money too. That’s when I met Bekah.” The two found in each other a rare musical chemistry in which both artists added lush harmonies and instrumentation to the other’s music. They also discovered they were like- minded peers when it came to creative business innovations and goals involving their music careers. Though they wanted to cultivate this connection, Doss and Kelso wanted to focus on their solo careers. It was then they began working with the idea that they could compliment each other’s music on stage and combine business efforts off stage. Kelso!
explains, “We realized how much we could help each other. We are both trying to get so many balls rolling and by joining our efforts, both our careers benefit doubly. It doesn’t hurt that we absolutely love what we’re doing together and the music we’re making. And our fans really like it too.”
The formula is definitely working. GBmojo has spent the last 2 years working in this “co-op” format gaining momentum and an ever-widening fan base. Listeners love how Doss, with her smoky alto voice and Tori Amos piano style; and Kelso, with her jazzy folk approach and powerful sultry tone, take turns leading the show while the other seamlessly floats to a supporting role. Both artists are now poised to release their respective new albums - Bekah Kelso's "Mud Blossom" and Ginger Doss' "This Cocoon". And just like their live shows, both new records successfully showcase the individual artist’s style as well as delivering that signature harmony sound that has worked so well for them. The two-for-one style, Double CD Release takes place March 27th, 2009 at Austin's legendary underground club Ego's, with Doss music leading the show at 7pm and Kelso taking the reigns at 8:30. More info and special preview clips of the new music available at www.gbmojo.com.
- MI2N.com
Discography
"Bekah Kelso" - Demo - June 2005
"A Prelude to Mud" - EP - November 2007
"Mud Blossom"- March 27 2009
Photos
Bio
Bekah Kelso began her musical adventure with a headfirst trip down the rabbit hole… literally.
At 4 years old, Bekah would spend hours on stage during the frequent and long rehearsals of “Alice”, a psychedelic rock opera based on Alice in Wonderland, co-written and produced by her father Wink Kelso. The cast would belt each note and never miss a single rockin’ beat as Bekah weaved through them with wide and starry eyes. Her mother Carolyn, sometimes called ‘The Queen of Hearts’ was a backstage staple for the cast and crew, seeing to everything from costumes to ticket sales to feeding the large family of performers. During one particularly grueling rehearsal, Carolyn decided to break the mood and lighten things up. She put a live mic in Bekah’s hand, a giant curly wig on her head and sent the 4-year-old out to “show em how it’s done”. Never one to miss a cue, Bekah surprised them all as she strutted out to center stage and began singing her heart out, much to the side splitting delight of the cast who was floored at the confidence emanating from this little girl. “That was the beginning”, Bekah says. “I do actually remember that rehearsal, believe it or not. Singing right next to my beloved Mock Turtle and Humpty Dumpty, I remember feeling like I was part of the show now. Like I had arrived. I completely loved it.”
After her Wonderland beginnings, Bekah would branch out to pursue many forms of performance including dancing and acting, though singing would always remain her most passionate pursuit. Her powerful voice attracted audience acclaim in her hometown of San Antonio TX as she sang with a passion that seemed beyond her years. She explains, “Music has always been such an emotional thing for me. It’s deeper than I can explain. I remember even when I was so tiny, like really young, and listening to Simply Red’s version of “If You Don’t Know Me by Now”. I was singing along and just crying my eyes out! To some people it would seem inexplicable for a 4 year old to react that way to a song about an adult relationship. But I understood the sadness and it was very real to me. I’ve always been such a sensitive thing.” In many ways, it is this deep sensitivity that has made Bekah’s music so personal and gripping for audiences today.
In addition to (and perhaps even complimentary to) the emotional quality of her music, Bekah’s spiritual path has also played a significant role in her songwriting. A practitioner of what she calls “New Thought/Ancient Wisdom”, Bekah has written many songs that reflect the wisdom of the Universal principles that mean so much to her. Songs like “Upon Finding Myself”, for example, which strive to point out that we are responsible for our own resolutions in life - “Upon finding myself at the bottom of the deep end, I saw suddenly it was stones I was holding. So I let go. Found I was really pretty buoyant after all.” Many of her songs follow a highly introspective and self-examining lyrical style which has been praised as “common sense with uncommon soul”. People often ask, "What kind of music do you play?" Such a broad question, she thinks. Or maybe it’s the answer that seems too wide to articulate, especially in an industry that demands you tell us who you are and what you do in 10 words or less. Ok... try on "a jazzy, soulful, folk-hop feast with fierce emotional flavor".
In 2007 Bekah released her first EP ‘Prelude to Mud’, an eclectic mix of her jazzy, alternative folk style and a taste of things to come. She also began touring with fellow singer/songwriter Ginger Doss. These two women met and connected instantly in 2002 when Bekah began touring as a background singer for Ginger’s then band Dreamtrybe. “I found in Ginger a passionate songwriter and whose spiritual connection was as deeply embedded in her life and music as it was in mine. You just don’t find that every day.” In 2007, with years of love and harmony already behind them and open highways ahead of them, Bekah and Ginger formed the duo “GBMOJO” in which the two artists share the stage and trade songs, backing each other up with mesmerizing harmonies. GBMOJO is now touring the country on a full time basis, drawing exciting attention to Bekah and Ginger both as solo artists and as a rare and passionate musical pair. With their careers gaining well-earned momentum, both women are pleased to announce the release of their long awaited solo albums out now – Bekah Kelso’s “Mud Blossom” and Ginger Doss’s “This Cocoon”.
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