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For Press Reviews visit CrashKelly.ca - Sean Kelly
This month’s installment of Guitar Star of the Month features the Toronto, Ont based fret-board hero Sean Kelly. As the brainchild of the glam-rock band Crash Kelly, Sean has shown the world that he’s one of the most talented guitarists in rock today.
With Crash Kelly, Sean has opened for the likes of Alice Cooper, Gilby Clarke, LA Guns, Faster Pussy Cat, The London Quireboys and Pretty Boy Boy Floyd . Crash Kelly adds legions of fans after every kick-ass performance.
Crash Kelly’s two releases, “Penny Pills” and “Electric Satisfaction,” are loaded with extraordinary guitar work. Sean has a great talent for mixing melodic riffs with blistering fast leads. Take a listen to “Something Hollywood” from Penny Pills or “Hang out Where you Matter” from Electric Satisfaction and you’ll hear why Sean Kelly is a true Guitar Star.
For more on Sean check out :
www.crashkelly.ca
www.myspace.com/crashkelly
Q: How many guitars do you own.
A: I HAVE ABOUT 15...I USED TO HAVE MORE (SOME GORGEOUS VINTAGE GUITARS!), BUT I SOLD THEM ALL...I PLAY BC RICH GUITARS EXCLUSIVELY NOW, AND I COULDN'T BE HAPPIER WITH THEM
Q: What was your very first guitar.
IA: T WAS A NO NAME HOLLOWBODY ELECTRIC THAT MY PARENTS GOT ME FOR CHRISTMAS...THEY PAID $50 FOR IT, AND I LOVED THAT GUITAR MORE THAN ANYTHING...I STILL HAVE IT!
Q; What is your most favorite guitar that you have ever owned and what makes it so great?
A: MY EMOTIONAL FAVOURITE WILL ALWAYS BE MY FENDER ESPRIT, AS IT WAS THE FIRST PROFESSIONAL QUALITY GUITAR I EVER OWNED. HOWEVER, MY BC RICH CLASSIC GUITARS TOTALLY EMBODY MY ROCK PLAYING...THEY JUST SENT ME A KOA MOCKINGBIRD, AND THAT GUITAR PRACTICALLY PLAYS ITSELF!
Q: What kind of Pedals and effects do you use when playing live?
A: THE ONLY PEDAL I USE REGULARLY IS MY BOSS STAGE TUNER...FROM TIME TO TIME, I WILL USE A ZAKK WYLDE MXR DISTORTION PEDAL AS A LEAD BOOST. I HAVE A BOX OF PEDALS THAT I WILL EXPERIMENT WITH OR USE ON SESSIONS, BUT I PREFER TO KEEP MY RIG VERY SIMPLE.
Q: What kind of amp do you use?
A: I ENDORSE KUSTOM AMPS, AND I'M CURRENTLY USING THEIR '72 COUPE SERIES...I WAS JUST AT NAMM, AND THEIR HEAD ENGINEER TOKK ME FOR A TEST DRIVE WITH THEIR LATEST HEAD, AND I'LL BE TAKING HTAT OUT ON THE ROAD IN 2007
Q: At what age did you start playing guitar?
A: I STARTED PLAYING WHEN I WAS ABOUT 11, BUT DIDN'T GET SERIOUS UNTIL I WAS 13 (WHEN A KID AT SCHOOL SHOWED ME THE CHORDS TO "HEAVEN'S ON FIRE" BY KISS!
Q: What inspired you to start?
A: THE GLAM METAL OF THE DAY...TWISTED SISTER, MOTLEY CRUE, RATT ETC. FROM THERE, I GOT INTO THE 70'S GLAM STUFF THROUH MY SISTER'S RECORD COLLECTION.
Q: How long do you use to practice when you first started ?
A: IN HIGH SCHOOL, I'D PUT IN AROUND 4 HOURS A DAY OF PRACTICE TIME, BUT I WAS ALWAYS PLAYING.
Q: And what did you practice?
A: I WAS BIG INTO VAN HALEN AND YNGWIE, SO I WOULD WORK ON MY SCALES AND MODES, AND ALSO LEARN SONGS I DUG VIA GUITAR MAGAZINE TRANSCRIPTIONS. I HAD A GREAT TEACHER, WHO HIPPED ME TO COOL JAZZ CHORDS AND THEORY AS WELL.
Q: Do you still practice often, if so how often and what do you play when practicing?
A: I AM MOSTLY PRACTICING CLASSICAL GUITAR THESE DAYS, AS I AM CURRENTLY RECORDING A CLASSICAL GUITAR RECORD. I'M ALWAYS PICKING UP THE ELECTRIC AND PLAYING, WHETHER IT'S FOR A SESSION OR JUST FOR FUN...I'M ALWAYS TRYING TO PICK UP SOMETHING NEW THAT I CAN USE ON THE JOB!
Q: Who were some of your favorite guitarist ?
A: OH MAN...VAN HALEN, MALMSTEEN, RICHIE BLACKMORE, VIVIAN CAMPBELL, JOE PERRY, THOM SCHOLZ, ROY BUCHANNAN, GARY MOORE, ACE FREHLEY,WARREN DIMARTINI, MICK MARS, PAUL GIBLERT, SCOTT GORHAM AND BRIAN ROBERTSON, NEAL SCHON, RANDY RHOADS, TRACII GUNS, JOHN WILLIAMS, ANDRES SEGOVIA, SLASH, GILBY CLARKE, TIM WELCH, OZ FOX,RICK NEILSON, GEORGE LYNCH, STEVE LUKATHER, LARRY CARLTON...I REALLY COULD GO ON FOREVER!
Q: What gave you the greatest degree of difficultly when learning the guitar.
A: MY RIGHT HAND PICKING CO-ORDINATION
Q: Did you learn how to read music? If no, can you read music now?
A: YES, I BEGAN STUDYING CLASSICAL GUITAR IN HIGH SCHOOL, AND I HAD TO HAVE MY READING DEVELOPED FOR ENTRY INTO UNIVERSISTY...I'M VERY GLAD I DID LEARN TO READ, IT HAS BEEN A GREAT ASSET.
Q: At one point where you able to play by ear?
A: THE FIRST SOLO I PICKED OUT BY EAR WAS THE LEAD IN "WE'RE NOT GONNA TAKE IT"...ONCE I FIGURED THAT OUT, I KNEW I WAS I COULD FIGURE OUT ANYTHING WITH TIME AND PRACTICE.
Q: What advice would you give someone who is struggling playing by ear?
A: WITH MY STUDENTS, I ALWAYS SUGGEST LISTENING WITHOUT THE GUITAR IN YOUR HAND...IF YOU CAN INTERNALIZE THE MUSIC, YOU WILL BE BETTER ABLE TO RE-CREATE WHAT YOU CAN HEAR IN YOUR HEAD ON THE INSTRUMENT.
Q: How do you go about composing a solo for a song?
A: SOMETIMES I WILL BASE THE SOLO OFF OF MELODIC IDEAS THAT OCCUR IN THE SONG...MOST OF THE TIME I WILL JUST W - Glam-Metal.com
Discography
Sean Kelly - The # 1 Classical Guitar Album (Opening Day Entertainment / Universal Music). Produced by Trey Mills. Street date - mid-2007. Currently in the studio.
Crash Kelly - Electric Satisfaction (Liquor and Poker Music/Century Media). Produced by Gilby Clarke with Sean Kelly
Crash Kelly - Penny Pills (Liquor and Poker Music/Century Media). Co-produced with Ky Anto
Shannon Lee Briggs - Like A Country Rose. (Independent)
Revoler - Turbulence/I Want You To Want Me (single) - (Sextant/EMI)
Revolver - Turbulence (Drakkar/Sony/BMG)
The Show - Debt, Sweat, and Tears (EMI)
Rye - Wolves (Vibrahive/MapleMusic/Universal)
Chad Richardson - Legends of Brud (Aquarius/EMI)
Dale Martindale/69 Duster - Ride (Bhurr/RCD Music)
Dale Martindale/69 Duster - Mania! (Independant)
Chad Richardson - No.1 Fan (Independent)
Wild Strawberries - Quiver (Nettwerk/EMI)
Heater - EP (Independent)
Neil Leyton - Brighter Side Of Her Midnight Sun (Fading Ways Music)
Neil Leyton - My New Soul EP (Fading Ways Music)
Photos
Bio
Sean Kelly has the pleasure of making music on the guitar in a number of capacities; as teacher, performer, session guitarist, recording artist and producer.
Under the tutelage of masters Professor Eli Kassner from the University of Toronto, and Dr. Michael Strutt from the University of British Columbia, Sean earned his Honors Bachelor of Music Degree in Classical Guitar. In addition, Sean took a year to study at Nippissing University in order to earn his Bachelor of Education.
Sean puts both degrees to great use as a Music Teacher with the Toronto Catholic District School Board and as a private guitar teacher with Lippert Music Centre, where he instructs advanced players in Classical, Rock and Jazz styles and has recently his first "Rock Camp". Sean has also been a featured contributor on Music Education in Canadian Musician Magazine.
As a performer, Sean acquired a degree of notoriety within the Rock Guitar community with his selection as one of Guitar Player Magazine's GUITAR HERO 2005 - Top 10 finalists. This was quite an honour, as Sean was selected from thousands of entrants to perform at the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland on June 10th, 2005 in front of celebrity judges Joe Satriani and Steve Lukather amongst others. His performance was lauded for its showmanship, technical accomplishment and musical maturity.
Sean is an extremely versatile guitarist and over the past 10 years has worked with a number of Canada's top artists including Carole Pope, Chad Richardson (Broadway musical star of RENT), Dale Martindale (Images In Vogue), Jeff Pearce (Moist / David Usher), Maria Del Mar (National Velvet), Nick Walsh (Slik Toxik / Revolver), The Show, Wild Strawberries, Classic Albums Live performances, and many others.
All of Seans experiences culminated in the writing and recording of PENNY PILLS in 2003, which featured Sean as lead vocalist, lead guitarist and songwriter with the popular Toronto band CRASH KELLY. PENNY PILLS has been released in Canada, the US, UK and Japan to great acclaim. CRASH KELLY has toured Europe three times and completed a 5 week US tour during the summer of 2005 with Sweden's Backyard Babies.
CRASH KELLYs second album, ELECTRIC SATISFACTION, was recorded in Los Angeles with producer and Guns N Roses/ Rockstar Supernova guitarist GILBY CLARKE. ELECTRIC SATISFACTION was released in Canada on May 2, 2006 through Bhurr Records / Fontana North / Universal Music. CRASH KELLY completed a 14 date / 3 week Canadian Tour sponsored by BC Rich Guitars / Jägermeister that included 3 dates supporting Shock Rock Legend ALICE COOPER in May.
Electric Satisfaction was released in the US on July 25, 2006 and CRASH KELLY supported the US release with tour dates including the 68th Annual Sturgis Bike Rally with ALICE COOPER, and a week in Southern California with shows at The Cat Club with Gilby Clarke, The Vine Street Lounge with LA Guns, Stanton Summerfest as part of the International Pop Overthrow Festival and The Key Club with Metal Skool. CRASH KELLY followed this up with another 10 date tour with ALICE COOPER in October and a week of shows on the West Coast in January 2007.
Most recently, Sean signed a recording contract with OPENING DAY ENTERTAINMENT (www.openingday.com) to record an album of Classical Guitar Pieces that will be distributed through Universal Music as part of the #1 Classical Music Series. The project is currently underway with a release date scheduled for mid-2007.
Sean's guitar playing has earned him endorsements from such companies as HHI Music/BC Rich Guitars and Kustom Amplification, Aria Guitars, SIT strings, and In Tune Guitar Picks.
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