Russell, Kelly

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Origin: St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, 🇨🇦
Biography:

Kelly Russell : A Brief Biography
Born in St. John’s, Newfoundland, in June of 1956, Kelly Russell has been a professional musician since 1974. An original member of such landmark Newfoundland Groups as Figgy Duff and The Wonderful Grand Band in the 1970's and more recently The Plankerdown Band, he also spent 10 years working closely with Newfoundland’s late, great fiddle masters, Rufus Guinchard and Emile Benoit. With these and other musicians, he has brought the unique folk music of Newfoundland to such countries as England, Ireland, France, Sweden, Denmark, Hong Kong, Japan, Australia, the USA and all across Canada.

Recognizing a need to preserve the music of older performers in Newfoundland, Kelly founded Pigeon Inlet Productions in 1979. The label has since produced over 30 full length recordings on LP, Cassette & CD. Visit the Pigeon Inlet Catalogue for more details on these recordings. Also a music Teacher, Kelly has taught fiddle to several hundred people, some of who are now accomplished musicians themselves. He has collected and transcribed into musical notation over 500 fiddle tunes unique to Newfoundland and is now preparing to publish a book of this work.
Today, as one of Newfoundland’s most prominent musicians, Kelly is recognized as an Ambassador of Newfoundland Music. As a solo artist, or teamed with various combinations of musicians he has worked with over the years, Kelly demonstrates the true essence of Newfoundland traditional folk music. In addition to fiddle, he plays concertina, bouzouki, mandolin, tin whistle, dulcimer & harp.

As well as furthering Newfoundland traditional music, Kelly has also been active in preserving another important Newfoundland tradition : the art of storytelling and recitation, as inspired by his late father, Ted Russell (creator of The Chronicles of Uncle Mose - Tales from Pigeon Inlet). In an effort to educate our younger generation on Newfoundland traditional music and storytelling, Kelly visits a number of Schools in the province each year, sharing his wealth of knowledge in these areas.

In addition to performing both nationally and internationally, Kelly is a well known on the local provincial music scene as a performer and entertainer. His most recent projects include groups The Planks, a folk-rock group and Bristol's Hope, a project group for The Cabot 500 Celebrations in 1997. With wife & partner Tonya Kearley, Kelly also runs a music & dance events in Trinity such as Dance Up and they are former co-owners of two Bed & Breakfast establishments ; Monkstown Manor B&B in St. John's and The Hangashore B&B in Trinity.

Kelly Russell has received numerous awards & accolades including The Marius Barbeau Award for significant contribution to folklore in Canada, The Nfld & Labrador Arts Council Award for Music, 2 Certificates of Recognition from The Tourism Association of Nfld. & Lab., the City of St. John's Legend Award and his photo was featured on the front cover of the 1997 Newfoundland & Labrador Telephone Book.