It’s nuts the Calumet River south of Chicago doesn’t get more musical nods. Sure it’s no Mississippi or Hudson but surely this body of water sneaking below one of our country’s greatest musical cities would get a big chorus in some Creedence type chugger. Enter Kiely Connell and her righteously soulful charismatic vocal who has something to say about this area on her debut album Calumet Queen.
“The whole album is a collection of intimate stories about my life and the people close to me. It’s a look at the everyday trauma that almost everyone will go through at some point in their life,” says Connell.
With the biting folksy twang vocals of Brandi Carlile mixed with the overpowering soul of Ann Wilson, Connell covers vast musical terrain with her expressionist approach to music. Glide is premiering the title track to her new album, a riveting narrative-themed track that is expressively explosive.
“Calumet Queen” is all about how turbulent life can be at times and how important it is to make it through to the other side of it stronger and wiser than ever before. I thought it’d be interesting to start off my album with a song about overcoming turbulence before the rest of the album dives into the specifics of what you’ve overcome. I ultimately named it after the Calumet River because that’s the name of the river I grew up around. It’s a river in an industrial area that no matter how hard the city tries, they can’t seem to keep it confined, which I thought was a great metaphor for myself and my life,” describes Connell.
Hailing from Hammond, Indiana and currently based in Nashville, Tennessee, Americana artist Kiely Connell blends working-class Rust Belt grit with Southern charm, defying regional classification and painting a detailed portrait of a life in modern America. On her debut LP, Calumet Queen, Connell pays tribute to her hometown near the Calumet River that shaped her personality while reflecting on the struggles one must endure to thrive in a harsh and often isolating world. “A lot of the songs on this album are about overcoming my struggles with depression and anxiety,” says Connell. “But it’s also a collection of stories about self-medicating with alcohol, and things I’d been observing in people close to me.”
Throughout Calumet Queen’s ten tracks, Connell plumbs the depths of Americana influence, combining breezy indie-folk with heavy swamp rock & roadhouse country twang. All of the tracks are supported by her dynamic vocals and poetic lyricism in a style that has been described as “Western Gothic.” Song to song, Connell’s sound is beautifully restrained, never overproduced or bombastic in its presentation, a product of Connell’s steadfast vision and confidence in her songwriting.
To record Calumet Queen, Connell teamed up with her longtime collaborator & guitarist Drew Kohl as well as producer Don Bates, recording live out of Bates’ home studio to preserve the spirit in which the songs were written. To round out the sessions, Connell brought in drummer Taylor Jones, bassists Jess Perkins and Cameron Carrus, steel guitarist John McNally, cellist Chris Perdue, and fiddle player Lauren Saks. “We recorded everything live in Don’s house, mostly with me and Drew in the same room, and then we’d only dub in things like cello or steel guitar,” says Connell. “I wanted the record to sound how I sound at my shows. I feel like because a lot of my songs are very personal, it’s something that I don’t feel like I can capture emotionally if I hadn’t been just playing it all with my guitar and my friends.”
