KIMBERLY KELLY

                                                                "Black Rose" 

                                                                Show Dog Nashville/Thirty Tigers

With an incredible amount of buzz already surrounding her upcoming label debut album, I’ll Tell You What’s Gonna Happen (out 7/8/2022), Kimberly Kelly has proven that a 90’s country feel is truly a breath of fresh air in today’s modern pop infused era.

Teaming up with Steve Wariner for “Blue Jean Country Queen,” and making the nostalgic dripping “Summers Like That” the official lead single with its music video recently releasing, Kelly has now given us another layer of what we can expect all-around from the album with her version of “Black Rose.”

Honoring Texas music icon, and her close friend Billy Joe Shaver, Kelly covers his song with a bluesy grit to her vocal tone and a rhythm that keeps you swaying along with the verses as she sings you through the coming-of-age story, taking liberties to change certain phrasing such as “The first time Billy felt lightning,” rather than “the first time I felt lighting,” etc. to give this a third person point of view rather than first as was originally done.

The story styled lyrics riskily weaves us through the conquests of “Billy” with members of the opposite sex, as Kelly punches the chorus home to deliver the guilty, can’t stop doing this even though I know it’s wrong feeling that inevitably follows that first time, even leading to him begging and pleading:

“He said the devil made me do it the first

The second time I done it on my own

Lord put a handle on this simple headed man

Help me leave that black rose along”

With prominent steel guitar gliding through the bridge of the song, that classic country flare that Kelly has made a staple within her music leaps to the forefront and tickles the fancy of the traditionalists.

With a strong buzz already created, Kelly now continues to peel back different layers of her arsenal with “Black Rose.” We haven’t really heard this bluesy driven country side from her until now. However, she’s now very wisely previewed her forthcoming album with three songs, which while vastly different from one another, all pack her signature flavors together into a clear throwback sound, Texas country roots, and a stellar voice that knows all the right ways to tuck itself into each line she is singing to pull out all the necessary emotions to boldly showcase her versatility and range.

(Review Written By: Jeffrey Kurtis)

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