Meet Kelly Garner

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kelly Garner.

Hi Kelly, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
I moved to Nashville in 1990 after graduating from Auburn in Math Education to pursue my true passion with a second Bachelor’s degree from Belmont University in Commercial Music. I started background vocal work as soon as I hit town, singing on the Marie Osmond and Ray Stevens TV show for TBN, singing for print music publications, and demo singing for publishers to pitch songs to artists like Wynnona, Faith Hill, etc. I finally sang an original song in church and had two producers approach me separately that day.

One was Bob McKenzie, who discovered The Oak Ridge Boys, and the other was David T. Clydesdale, who produced Sandi Patty, Larnelle Harris, and Steve Green. The following day, I received a phone call from Diadem Records label president George King, and that’s where I began my career in 1992. I released an album with Diadem in 1995 and toured as an artist for several years. However, I came off the road and moved back to Alabama after experiencing the family tragedy of losing my grandparents in a house fire. When I moved back to town in 1998, I began writing as an exclusive staff writer for Niles Borop at Centergy Music Group.

While staff-writing, I co-wrote the #1 hit by Legacy Five, “I Stand Redeemed,” as well as other songs that were top ten hits for artists, such as “God Will Provide,” recorded by Gold City and “Stand and Testify” recorded by Vestal Goodman and The Martins. I wrote many other songs that were on the charts during my time at Centergy until 2003 when Niles retired and sold his catalog to BMG. I then started my own publishing catalog, Yellow Tree Music Group, and Garner House Music, and continued to get cuts by many of the most successful gospel artists.

However, during that time, Belmont University called and wanted to know if I would be interested in teaching Commercial Voice. I accepted the position while also pursuing my Master in Jazz Studies at MTSU immediately. I taught at Belmont for 5 years, then left to build a studio and produce again, but not to produce my own music as a recording artist. I was writing and producing for other people. After missing the students, I was told I needed a doctorate to teach again, so I acquired that degree, a DMA in Jazz Performance, from the University of Miami in 2014. I taught at Belmont again from 2014-2019 and then built a program for Union University from 2019-2021.

After my time came to an end at Union, I was asked the question, “Kelly, why are YOU not singing?” I replied, “I don’t know.” The one who asked me, Kris Crunk, would then become my producer for the new album. I had hired him as a music technology teacher while at Union. We began to kick ideas around and finally realized that it was time to record. As we began to walk through the recording process, we began to realize that it was exceeding our expectations, and I was headed straight back into being a recording artist and songwriter – something I hadn’t done as a full-blown career since at least 2001.

In 2003, I released an album of recorded songs that other artists had (I Stand Redeemed), but used their tracks and just replaced the vocals.

The album that we just recorded and released, It’s Not Over, has been a long-time coming. Many of the songs were written in the past year, some in the past 10 years, and some 20 years ago. It is a “coming full-circle” experience for me and one that I would have never imagined. I thought I was into a career in education for good. Little did I know that at the age of 55, there was another plan ahead of me. The funny thing about it, is I feel like I’m singing better than I’ve ever sung before in my life and couldn’t have delivered songs with these stories and lyrics as maturely back then, as I can now…at the age of 55. Life tends to teach us how to “tell the story.” So, surprisingly to me, my life as a recording artist and songwriter could be summed up rather simply as…” It’s Not Over.”

As a 55-year-old, I truly feel my best music is yet to be made.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Struggles along the route I have taken have varied from personal to professional. Just as I was about to release my first album, my record label sold to a much bigger company. That was a difficult experience because the new label basically did not really even know I was an artist.

To lose my grandparents in a house fire was difficult, and recently, I lost my mother after a battle with AFib, congestive heart failure, kidney failure, and finally succumbing to sepsis from a compromised dialysis port.

I personally have right temporal lobe epilepsy and have had two car wrecks from loss of awareness seizures. But, for some reason, I survived those wrecks without a scratch on me and am a highly functioning epileptic, controlled with medication.

I have not let those circumstances define me, but I have decided that as long as I am still on this earth, I will make music that is my attempt at making the world a better place. There is a lot of hopelessness in the world, and people need to know there is always hope.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am probably most known for belting out big ballads, gospel arranging, and sweeping musical vocal lines at the beginning of songs.

For the first time in my life, at 55, I feel like I am making the best music of my life. There is something to be said for having lived and understand what people are searching for. I’ve discovered that I think the best quality in the new album has been my ability to “tell the story.” I mean, I love to sing and I feel like it is one of my strongest gifts. I feel like I can write music and lyrics that are succinct and emotional, but deliver those songs in a way that connects with people on a completely different level. It is the “heart” connection that I think is sometimes overlooked by recording artists/songwriters.

My greatest hope as a recording artist/writer is that one of my songs will make a connection with the listener, changing them forever in a positive way. I want to make a difference in this world.

Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
Being a risk-taker is something that doesn’t scare me. I’m right smack in the midst of it.

I’m 55 and I am rekindling a recording artist career that began 28 years ago. I am not a young artist, but now, I am a seasoned artist. Because I have been here before, I know what to expect.

I took a risk starting a publishing company in 2003 when my first publisher retired, but it has now allowed me to own my catalog and control what happens to my songs. I recently took a leap of faith in going back into the creative side of music full-time as a Recording Artist/Songwriter/Content Creator/Author, but it feels right and good.

The music industry as a whole is a risk, but so are many other investments. The one thing about music, though, is that most people long for something to help them express emotionally what they are feeling inside, and often, very often, they find that in a song.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.kellygarner.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kellygarnermusic
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kellygarnermusic
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2vrgTCdRCb5t1Ul0d6z2Qk