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Mountain Top author to read from children’s book at Osterhout on Sept. 16

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<p>Katie Kelly hopes the new Charming Beards single can be used as a message of hope.</p><p>The song, &#8220;Out of the Valley,&#8221; which is available now on <a href="https://thecharmingbeards.bandcamp.com/album/out-of-the-valley-single" target="_blank">Bandcamp</a>, and will be available Tuesday on iTunes, was written in 2013 after a good friend of Kelly&#8217;s committed suicide.</p><p>Kelly said the song originally started out with a melancholy tone to it, with references to the Hotel Sterling, which was demolished shortly after Kelly&#8217;s friend&#8217;s passing. The songwriter said she left the project on the shelf for a few years before taking it to current bandmates Lisa Dietterich and Jordan Hine.</p><p>Once she took &#8220;Out of the Valley&#8221; to the band, Dietterich suggested taking the song and morphing it into a more buoyant tune with a message of hope.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s way more upbeat,&#8221; Kelly said.</p><p>In addition to sending a message to those who might be struggling with addiction and mental health issues, Kelly wanted to shine a light on the substance abuse epidemic that is prevalent in the area.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s important to raise awareness,&#8221; Kelly said.</p><p>One of the themes of the song is to &#8220;reach out and reach out again,&#8221; Kelly said. In the song, there is spoken word verse in which Kelly says:</p><p>&#8220;Each day, someone, loses their battle with addiction/Each day, someone takes their own life/But one life lost is too many/So reach out. And reach out again/because it can get better./And it will get better.&#8221;</p><p>And Kelly wanted to deliver that message for both those who are struggling and anybody who knows someone struggling.</p><p>&#8220;You never know when just asking somebody how they are can change the course of their day,&#8221; she said.</p><p>For people who need help, Kelly implores them to seek it, &#8220;because it does get better.&#8221;</p><p>The songstress, who has made notable music with local outfits like the Clamstompers and Umbriel, said Dietterich had a &#8220;vital&#8221; role in making the song into what it is, and that she helped make it positive.</p><p>Dietterich said Kelly had a lot of songs &#8220;buried,&#8221; and the two talked about resurfacing them and turning them into more upbeat songs.</p><p>&#8220;(I said) let&#8217;s rework them and make them something that everyone can enjoy,&#8221; Dietterich said.</p><p>Kelly said the two would go back and forth with lyrics and molding the song into what it became.</p><p>&#8220;It had a little bit of a catharsis,&#8221; Kelly said. &#8220;It felt like there was more purpose to the song than originally.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;Out of the Valley&#8221; is part of an upcoming EP The Charming Beards are working on with Joe Loftus and Jay Preston, of JL Studios in Olyphant.</p><p>&#8220;They&#8217;re brilliant producers,&#8221; Kelly said.</p><p>The EP will feature a lot of Kelly&#8217;s old songs that have been revisited and reworked with current bandmates.</p><p>&#8220;Playing with Lisa and Jordan, the songs really evolved,&#8221; Kelly said.</p><p>Kelly said she would bring the bones of a song to the band, and then everyone would add their parts to it in order to develop the song into what the band brought to the studio.</p><p>&#8220;Everybody has their own styles, their own influences,&#8221; Dietterich said. &#8220;With the three of us right now, it&#8217;s incredible.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">&#8216;Out of the Valley,&#8217; the new single by The Charming Beards, was written by Katie Kelly in 2013 after her friend committed suicide. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/web1_Beards.jpg</photo0><caption0>&#8216;Out of the Valley,&#8217; the new single by The Charming Beards, was written by Katie Kelly in 2013 after her friend committed suicide. </caption0><photoCredit0>Courtesy of Keith Perks </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/web1_Beards2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">From left, Katie Kelly and Lisa Dietterich perform with The Charming Beards. Kelly said bandmate Dietterich was &#8216;vital&#8217; in bringing the shelved song into new light with a more upbeat and communicable approach. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/web1_Beards2.jpg</photo1><caption1>From left, Katie Kelly and Lisa Dietterich perform with The Charming Beards. Kelly said bandmate Dietterich was &#8216;vital&#8217; in bringing the shelved song into new light with a more upbeat and communicable approach. </caption1><photoCredit1>Courtesy of Keith Perks </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/web1_Beards3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">The Charming Beards are scheduled to release an EP of Kelly&#8217;s reworked songs in the near future. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/web1_Beards3.jpg</photo2><caption2>The Charming Beards are scheduled to release an EP of Kelly&#8217;s reworked songs in the near future. </caption2><photoCredit2>Courtesy of Keith Perks </photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Song carries message of recovery, suicide prevention</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Brigid Edmunds</p><p>bedmunds@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>Upcoming shows:</strong></p><p>Today: 7 p.m. at The Irish Wolf Pub, part of the Electric City Music Conference</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Brigid Edmunds at 570-991-6113 or on Twitter @brigidedmunds.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

NEPA band The Charming Beards release poignant single with hopeful message