Kelly Joe Phelps

Over a career that spanned four decades, Kelly Joe Phelps expanded the parameters of modern blues through his strong commitment to literary songs and his expressive yet simple guitar stylings. His roots as a jazz bassist in Seattle and Portland informed the idiosyncratic style of his guitar work, and he went on to launch a successful solo career as a singer/songwriter in the mid-1990s. Known for his lap-style slide guitar work, Phelps' stripped-down amalgam of classic Delta blues, folk, and country with echoes of jazz won him critical acclaim, and he spent the next decade tour...