Kelly Richey

Kelly Richey was born and raised in Lexington, Kentucky, United States,[3] in a conservative Christian household that avoided rock music. Her first instrument was the piano.[4][5] Her second instrument was a drum kit that her neighbor let her take home. After a couple of months of playing drums in her bedroom, her father offered to buy her anything she wanted; she chose the guitar. She started learning guitar at age 15; she reached a point where she was practicing 12 hours a day.[6][7][8]

Kelly Richey joined Kopana Terry, Kiya Heartwood and Tony Nagy in 1986. In 1988 she sat in with Albert King at the Cuckoo Club in Nashville.[9][10] In 1990, she formed The Kelly Richey Band (KRB).[11] In 1997 she moved from Lexington, Kentucky to Mount Auburn, Cincinnati.[12] Writing of her 2001 album Sending Me Angels, Guitar Player praised her "fiery solos" and her "fast, powerful picking hand", which she credited to having played as a drummer.[13] She cites Roy Buchanan as an influence,[13] besides Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimi Hendrix[1] and Lonnie Mack.[14] She released eleven albums between 1994 and 2008.[6] Her 2006 album Speechless consisted entirely of instrumentals.[15] She took a break from performing in 2010.[16][17]

Richey plays a 1965 Fender Stratocaster, the same she has played since the 1980s.[18][13] It has a 1963 body and a 1965 neck, with a traditional Fender tremolo; the pickups are Seymour Duncan and she uses SIT strings (.10-.046).[13] She plays through a Fender Super Reverb with an Ibanez Tube Screamer.[13]

• List of articles and reviews from national magazines
• KET television show
• Interview