Kelly's Lot

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"Come To This", produced by Kelly's Lot own rhythm guitar player/writer, Perry Robertson, it is a tightly arranged, superbly performed album of original songs that burn with white, hot blues intensity and sensual energy. Perry manages to fully capture the band: brass, vocals, guitars and percussion, in a balanced and complete format. The recording is full, clear, rich and strong. If you have ever heard a poorly recorded blues-rock, or jazz CD, such as the thin sounding debut CD by the Cherry Poppin' Daddies, for example (where you can hear the band just dying to crawl through the tinny production) you will appreciate what Perry has done with Kelly's Lot. Poor production of a great band is always a tragedy, but there is no tragedy here.Kelly's Lot is known for their superior musicianship. Kelly Z, the vocalist, sings in a rich style and delivers her performance as if it is the last time she will ever sing. She especially shines on the third cut, "Woman's Love". She is a strong singer and personality and brings a beautiful balance to the band, between blues, jazz and rock. Perry Robertson (also the producer, don't forget) is an exceptional rhythm guitarist. Together with the bassist Mark Drews and drummer Bryan Celano, they form one of the best rhythm sections you will ever hear. They play well together and provide the foundation for lead guitarist, Rob Zucca and sax man, Bill Johnston to roast their solos with complete confidence. The solos by both gentlemen are especially noteworthy on "Happy Girl", the fourth cut on the CD. There are 7 (seven) songs on the CD: "Train", "Come To This", "Woman's Love", "Happy Girl", "Only Human", "Take This Heart", and "Today". Mostly written by Kelly Z and Perry Robertson, these songs are well crafted and expertly arranged. The fact that several of these songs blast over the 6 (six) minute mark, to accommodate the intricate arrangements and extended solos, is refreshing. It brings the recording to another level, beyond the normal "three minute human jukebox" mode in which so many CDs seem to be entrenched.   SCOTT DETWEILER  WWW.NOHOARTSDISTRICT.COM - NoHoArtsDistrict.com

 "Kelly’s Lot burned an incredible show before a packed house on Saturday night, December 13th, at Hallenbeck’s General Store (on Cahuenga) in NoHo. Most of the songs performed during the set were selected from their latest release, “Come To This”, which is available at their website, www.kellyslot.com. Kelly’s Lot is a five piece blues rock band made up of Kelly Z, on vocals; Perry Robertson, on rhythm guitar; Rob Zucca, lead guitar; Bill Johnston, on saxophone; Mark Drews, on bass; and Bryan Celano on drums. However, for this special Hallenbeck’s show, they went all acoustic and without the bassist and drummer. If you have never been to Hallenbeck’s then you need to go there to experience the unrivaled intimacy with the musicians that it delivers to the audience. There are clubs in NoHo and in the Los Angeles area that are of comparable size, but the positioning of the stage and the sound system make it a truly original and unique music venue. (The food is good, too!) They opened the set with “Train”, which is from the new album. “Train” is a rock blues song that starts out with a hot solo by Rob Zucca. It is a song about getting away from a lame duck relationship. Nice. And yeah, the rhythm of the song has “TRAIN” slapped all over it, with Robertson’s rhythm guitar stoking the furnace, Kelly Z’s vocals as the conductor and Zucca and Johnston riding along in First Class. “The Green Toads” was played next and it is a great song about love. (By the way, this song is from their album simply entitled, “Trio”, which is a CD of a great live Kelly’s Lot Hallenbeck’s performance. On this album only three of the members are present: Kelly Z, Perry Robertson and Rob Zucca. It is an amazing testimony to the power of vocals and two guitars.) Next, they played a new song called “Nobody Here But Me”, which was really strong. Often times when bands perform new songs or songs that have yet to be recorded on one of their albums, the arrangement can be muddy or vague, but this was not the case here. This song is great and Zucca fired up a killer solo that was all over it. “Come To This”, the title song from their latest CD, is a really cool song about a chick that comes to the realization that her life is nothing but boring and tedious. Instead of holding her in his arms, her man holds the remote for the TV set in his hands (there is no mention of a beer but there probably is one somewhere in this story). She also is tired of doing housework. The song ends with a last verse lesson that advises: if we are not careful, we all get what we wish for. Nice. Kelly and Perry wrote this. The song has a strut groove and has really cool chord changes. Bill Johnston took the first solo. Man, can he play the sax. Rob Zucca followed and, once again, amazed the audience with his juicy guitar playing. “Woman’s Love” is about, well, the love of a woman. What is really great about the crafting of this song is the fact that even if the listener never understood a word of English, OR, if the song were released in an instrumental version, the music sounds like, well, the love of a woman. The key change, dropping chromatically, to accommodate the sultry and erotic sax solo by Johnston (which was probably his best of the evening…Bill Johnston blows the sax with his mouth but it sounds like the air comes from his heart and his soul), is brilliant. This key change brings the ear of the listener by the hand into a new and different colored tonal room. “Drive” was next. It is a cool boogie-woogie blues penned by Kelly and Perry. If you have read this article all the way, clear down to this point, it is a safe bet to assume that you possess the creative and deductive abilities to imagine what this was like. Kelly’s Lot closed with “Happy Girl”. Damn if this isn’t one of their best songs. It is a straight ahead, four on the floor, pumping, take no prisoners, def-con four, red alert, blues rock masterpiece. It is a tightly arranged classic, sprinkled with accents, chokes and fills that are masterly placed. Everyone was ON IT. - Scott Detwieler

"Kelly Zirbes is a powerful singer and songwriter. Hand this woman a microphone, place her in front of an audience and what you get is a toe-tapping magical moment. Fortunately, for all of us, this latest release captures that magic perfectly, delivering soulful, bittersweet lyrics laced with a full range of emotions and experiences related to love, life, pleasure and pain. The songs are top-notch, well arranged and complimented by excellent musicianship. DEBORAH KEITH - GOGIRLSMUSIC.COM - GoGirlsMusic.com