by Danny Colman originally published on Rock On! This Week’s Sound Bites…4/25/25
“I would say Blues-Rock is where I kind of hang in,” states Kelli Baker.“We definitely do a lot of Blues stuff but I like the Americana and the Rock that goes with it too. So, Blues-Rock is usually a pretty good space for me to hang out in.”
“May 9 has Kelli and her fantastic band making their debut performance at Tuckerton’s Lizzie Rose Music Room to which Kelli says with an enthusiastic giggle, “I have not ever performed there, this will be our first time.”
Baker says she has, “Always been a musician” but her journey and the evolution of the band has had its share of twists and turns which began in the heat of Phoenix, AZ.
“People ask where I’m from,” she began. “I’ve been in New York for 12 years but I’m from Arizona and that’s where I usually say that I’m From. So, Arizona girl here who sold everything I had, came to New York and went professionally into music after taking a long time off; during Covid is when I quit my job officially. I jumped back into music in 2018 pretty seriously and did well enough where I could quit working at the restaurant and take a full-swing at it. I was a general manager at a restaurant, I worked in the restaurant business for a long time; I ran venues and nightclubs in Arizona and then I kind of swayed more toward restaurants when I moved to New York because the area that I moved to wasn’t really nightclub centric. So, that’s what I ended up doing, I did that most of my life which is actually very similar to the music industry because the venues and a lot of the places are the same kind of people, same kind of energy, so it was a good transition or the same kind of energy, however you want to look at it.”
“I’ve always been a musician,” she continued, “I had let go of that part of myself for a while due to self-doubt and different reasons and it was 2018 when I started going back to open mics again. I walked into an open mic, I was never really much of a guitar player, I did it to accompany myself and I was terrible; I got up and I did it, my friend’s dad made me do it and I played and the guy who hosted it said, “You were good, you should come back.” I was not good (Laughs) in my mind I was terrible but that was kind of all I needed, just somebody to say, you’re not terrible, maybe you should do this again. Years prior to that, I had a bad similar experience where I bombed and I bombed so badly that I swore to myself I’d never perform in front of people again and I didn’t for almost 10 years. So, it’s interesting what a person in a room and a little bit of encouragement can do and how sensitive people can be and once I had that, I started going back every week and then I was unstoppable. I’d be working 12 or 13 hour days and then go to any place I could find that was doing live music or jams and be there every night until the wee hours. I was always a singer and I could always do that and during that time when I had downtime, I would play in my living room and make YouTube videos but I never performed in front of people so it was always kind of there even though I threw myself into work and different things. So, it was just a spark; you know? So much of it is not necessarily ability because that comes with time and maturity just as you develop your body for anything else; it was the faith in my own-self that I could do it and re-igniting that spark. So, it was basically just like catching fire with my own-self and then I thought, well God, I don’t want to be 90 years old and what if this is what I’m supposed to do? I always felt like I was never aligned with what I was supposed to be doing and that’s not just with music but how I’ve also handled my own marketing and promotion. I’ve never felt aligned and I thought; what if I just really make a go of this and just see what happens? I never want to say that I never really, really tried and so, that’s what I did. I was at a jam every night and then I’d wake up early and be at the gym and listen to a podcast and learn about the music business and that aspect of it and then I’d be sneaking my way into music conventions that I wasn’t supposed to be allowed into and meeting people there and now I’m talking to you (Laughs). I’ve been very fortunate and It has been a lot of hard work and truly, once I fully committed myself; I felt at the time and I continue to feel more aligned in my life than I ever have.”
So much of the artistic or creative realm is timing and a twist of fate. Once Kelli got herself on track, it was another’s absence that allowed a door to open, a door she walked right through.
“PJ the bass player; PJ is also my fiance`and I was playing with a different band and he had his own band; you know how it goes, everybody does their own thing and has a million projects going on at once. I was coming off the road, I had a five week run and PJ had come in to help me with some of the dates and I was playing with some other players and picking up bands from Blues Societies to make the run work. He had been watching Noe, he had his eye on him for a while because Noe had a blues jam going on and he kept saying, “I’ve got to go to this guys jam and meet with him” and he did and it went well. He had a friend coming into town that he was trying to put together an allstar band to support her at The Bitter End in New York and he did and Noe was going to be a part of that band and at the last minute, she had a family obligation and couldn’t commit to the date. He had already arranged everybody and I was just coming off of the road, I think it was on that day and I ended up stepping in. They ended up doing some of my tunes and that’s how I met Noe for the first time and we just got along really well. I think that was the end of September of ’23 and he joined February of ’24 and he’s been on the road with me ever since. I’m a very wild performer and so is he and there’s something about us together, especially when we come together as writing partners that works very well. My weakness is; I can play the guitar but I’m never gonna be what he is on my wildest day (Laughs) but when he’s writing, he knows where I wanna go and it’s a great compliment. So, that’s been really successful with him and then we had a drummer who moved to Jamaica so we were looking for suggestions and through our friends at The Bitter End, which is our home away from home, Tom Curiano was recommended to us. He joined in June of last year and I’ve been playing with PJ basically full-time since Noe was, say September of ’23’ that’s when the pieces all came into play. PJ the bass player is kind of a visionary in seeing the way things should work and kind of putting things on a trajectory. That’s kind of a gift he definitely has that’s not my strongest point either and that’s why he’s another great compliment. So, I’ve been very fortunate to play with these tremendous players and we actually genuinely like each other and like hanging out and spending time with each other so, I’ve been very fortunate.”
From that beginning, the band has grown as well as Baker’s reach and touring; something she loves.
“We tour with Mike Zito quite a bit,” she began excitedly. “We did a run with him in Florida in December and again at the end of January and we’ll be going out with him again for a week in Texas. My guitar player is pretty well-known in his own right for the work that he’s done. He’s an amazing guitar and harmonica player and his name is Noe Socha. He played with Vanessa Collier and Paula Cole for a while and he put out an incredible self-titled instrumental album last year with a myriad of people on it. My band is really top-notch, my drummer played with Garland Jeffreys and Popa Chubby, my bass player is PJ LaMariana who played with Oteil Burbridge; I’ve got a pretty nice lineup. We were down in Florida for almost a month, I feel like I live in a van, which I actually kind of like. I never thought I would say that; I actually don’t live in a van but it feels like it (Laughs) but if I did, it wouldn’t be that bad I guess (Laughs). I never thought I would like it as much as I do but I really, really do. I’ve never had so much fun just going all over the country; I’ve been touring pretty much consistently on a national scale for the last few years and it’s beginning to ramp up more and more. Our next tour date is May 1 in Atlanta and then we have to go down and open for Mike again in Tampa, then back up to the Carolinas and then we make our way up to New Jersey for May 9 at The Lizzie Rose.”
Evoking emotions and a “Wild” show are two hallmarks of a Kelli Baker Band event and one song in particular, a cover tune called “Dr. Feelgood (Love is a Serious Business)” has become a staple in their sets.
“That’s actually an Aretha (Franklin) song and when she died; I think it was kind of around the same year 2018 and Questlove of The Roots had put up this post and it was this old video of her singing that song and I thought, oh my God, this is such a powerful piece of music and it really hit me and has always stuck with me since then. I think that is what kind of led me to that song and to this day is one of the most impactful parts of our set when we do that; I think it’s pretty straightforward and as literal as you can take it (Laughs).”
According to Baker, 2025 holds a lot of promise with a lot of big things coming for her and the band but first is the May 9 7:30 p.m. show at The Lizzie Rose.
“It’s a wild show, really, the magic is in our live performance and we have some crazy recorded music. Noe and I, he’s my co-writer these days, our new single should be coming out fairly soon. We have some big announcements that I can’t announce yet because I’m waiting on some things to be finalized but it’s gonna be a really big year. We went to Paxico Blues Festival and we played right before Danielle Nicole last year; I think everybody at this festival was almost surrounding Noe. Noe is blind and a lot of times, I’ll take him out to interact with the audience. I’ll walk him through the audience and we’ll sing out in the middle of the crowd, they even put it on the cover of the paper there; it’s really emotional for people. It’s emotional and it’s guttural, it’s a really wild show and where my band really flourishes is in their improvisation. So, every time you come see us, you’re gonna hear our songs but there is always a different twist on them and they go somewhere else and the musicians I play with are of such a high caliber that where it can go is (laughs); like you are dealing with NASA scientists but on a musical scale and they are just taking us someplace. So, yeah, it’s a hell of a show.:”
To discover more about the Kelli Baker Band or see their upcoming tour schedule, please visit https://www.kellibaker.com/