With a voice you instantly recognize after its brushed against your ears for the first time, Kiely Connell‘s music takes the best attributes of a Tom Petty and Lucinda Williams spinning it into her own sound. Her music is Americana through and through. Her voice is soft when needed, and a growling rock at all the right times. Connell’s latest album is called My Own Company. Here’s our interview with Kiely Connell, an artist you should know.

Where did you grow up and where do you call home now?

I was born in Hammond Indiana, four houses from the Illinois state line. Later we moved to Crown Point Indiana and I graduated from Crown Point High School. I would go on to get my BFA in Theater from Stephens College in Columbia MO. I now live in Nashville, TN where I’ve been for the last 11 and a half years.

How have the life experiences of where you lived affected your songwriting or the songs you choose to record?

Where I come from I’ve observed a lot of incredibly resilient people who seem to push on and persevere no matter the circumstance, and I think that has inspired how I’ve navigated my career in music. I’ve seen a lot of people working so hard for a system that has abandoned them and I think that encouraged me to look below the surface and write songs about the overall human experience. Mental health is something I feel is very important to be discussing openly. I’ve lost so many people already in my life because either they felt completely hopeless or they were struggling with substance abuse. When we can speak freely about mental illnesses we take away the stigma. Most people will struggle mentally or emotionally at some point in their life and I feel it is vital that they know they are not alone.

What artists/songwriters have impacted or influenced your work the most?

Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Hank Williams, Willie Nelson, Neil Young, Patsy Cline, Joni Mitchell, Fiona Apple, Neko Case, Elliott Smith, and Gillian Welch are the big ones for me. Fiona was an especially big breakthrough for me. She is someone who bleeds through her pen. You can feel every word like a knife. That to me is just incredibly effective songwriting. I have played Fiona’s songs on repeat almost as many times as I’ve played The Beatles masterpiece “Eleanor Rigby”.

Stumbling through since the day you turned 22
You drained everything anybody placed in front of you
Weren’t ever keen on turning down another round
Always been the biggest rockstar in this god forsaken town

Kiely Connell, the song “Through to You”

When you perform, what do you hope is your audience’s biggest takeaway?

I want to make people feel less alone in this busy, noisy world. I think folks relate to the things I’m writing about and I want them to feel seen and heard.

Tell me a little bit about your latest project?

I had the honor of working on this album, “My Own Company” with my dream producer Tucker Martine out in Portland OR. I got to record it with Nate Query on bass (The Decemberists), Andy Borger on drums(Tom Waits, Norah Jones, Pink Martini), and my long time lead guitarist and multi instrumentalist Drew Kohl. This album has a few story arcs in it that I tried to weave in order. One of the story arcs is about my friends back home who struggled with substance abuse and mental health. I lost one of them when we were teenagers and that was something that had a huge impact on the person I’ve become. The second story arc is a longterm relationship that sadly didn’t work out and you end up learning that the relationship you have with yourself is the most important.

What was different or unique about your approach to this last project as compared to previous ones?

My first album “Calumet Queen”, was a collection of songs I had been working on when I first made my move to Nashville. That album was much more folky and borderline bluegrassy to what we did on this new album. I think on “Calumet Queen” you can hear a lot more of my Gillian Welch influence. We only had drums on one song on that album.”My Own Company” brings my country and rock influence to the forefront. The production on this record is much bigger than my first record. This album has big guitar tones, drums on almost every track, and a lot more of my songs that showcase my love for rootsy Americana rock music.

Was there ever a time you felt like you wanted to quit making music?

I think if you haven’t wanted to quit music several times then you probably haven’t been doing it for very long. But if this is what you’re meant to do then you never really stop creating. I’m always reading about some of my favorite artists who maybe stopped writing songs for a while and started painting or writing poetry. This thing that some of us choose to do can beat you down but it is incredibly rewarding if you stay the course. You definitely have to be in it for the right reasons.

What is your funniest or favorite “on the road” story when touring?

When I did my tour opening for Ondara last summer I couldn’t afford to hire a tour manager on an opening act budget and my father is retired so he wanted to come with me to help with some of the longer drive days. I also come from a fairly large family so we typically didn’t have too much trouble finding accommodations, but when we needed to we ended up staying in some unusual spots. We stayed in this European style hotel in San Francisco with twin sized beds and community style bathrooms which was really a bit awkward for my 6ft 3 father. But what made up for it was we spent the morning of the show day exploring Alcatraz and then on our way out of town we enjoyed a cafe breakfast in Haight Ashbury.

Who or what keeps you grounded the most?

The thing that keeps me grounded the most is typically hiking. The more time I can spend in a deep green forest the better. It has been incredibly helpful with combating my depressive tendencies. Getting my heart rate up and getting out into nature keeps my mind in a more peaceful place.

What advice would you give artists just starting out?

Don’t let others distract you from your goals. The comparison game is fruitless. We all know that to be true and most of us still fall back into it occasionally because admittedly it can be hard to feel like someone is “passing you”. Your journey is your own journey, your life will happen on your timeline not someone else’s, and ultimately there is only one YOU, so focus on being the best YOU that you can be.

Listen to Kiely Connell and other artists you should know…