Michael Kelsey

Michael Kelsey (b. Lafayette, mid-1960s - ) – Guitarist, singer and songwriter. Lafayette native Michael Kelsey got his start playing guitar in a series of local cover bands including Styff Kitten with friend Shannon Hoon. After Hoon went on to become a rock star as the front man with Blind Melon, Kelsey stayed behind and ran his own recording studio named Kelsey’s Playground for around five years; however, Kelsey was not entirely left out of Hoon’s success. In addition to playing on Blind Melon’s “Secret Song” from the band’s second album Soup (Capitol, 1995), he also opened for them on the tragic Soup tour. Working primarily as a solo artist in the Midwest for the past several years, Kelsey is a critically-acclaimed guitarist, songwriter, and innovative solo performer. A finalist in Guitar Player Magazine’s national competition on electric, he has more recently distinguished himself as a virtuoso acoustic player. In 2004, Kelsey won the “Guitarmageddon” competition hosted Guitar Center out of 3,000 applicants. As the culminating step in a three-month process, the final round was held on June 5, 2004, on the Guitar Center Village main stage as part of the Eric Clapton Crossroads Festival. On the next day, he earned a sport on the big stage in the 50,000 seat Cotton Bowl Stadium, where he followed Steve Vai. Other performers at the festival included B.B. King, Buddy Guy, ZZ Top, and Santana. Known for his percussive, rhythmic drive and his ability to spontaneously interact with the audience through improvisatory episodes, he has opened for many national acts such as the Bodeans, Cowboy Junkies, John Wesley Harding, Adrian Legg, and David Wilcox. With nine solo CDs to his credit since 1996, Kelsey is a favorite among audiences scattered throughout coffee houses, bars, and festival stages in the Midwest. Currently, he sometimes pairs up on stage with another virtuoso guitarist Edgar Cruz.