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Little Rock to Montgomery to Beaumont: Black History Month in school

Bill Kelly says when he thinks about those times “back in the day,” he can’t help but feel extremely fortunate to have grown up in and around the music environment that was so prevalent in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

Kelly, best know as the front man in the mega-popular bands The Buoys and Dakota, is now living in Nashville where he has compiled a remarkable career.

For the past 15 years, Kelly has been working with singing partner Jennifer Kane — they go by Kane &amp; Kelly — and singing in “praise bands” of their respective churches.

Their latest effort — “Classic Hymns” — is dedicated to the beauty of classic hymns, most of which have been around for years.

“I must say that the idea for this album was Jennifer’s,” Kelly said. “She came to me one day and very matter-of -factly just announced we needed to do an album of hymns. I was not impressed. So, at her urging, we reached out to our fans for some title suggestions. We got more than a few, and I was convinced. She was right. There, I said it. She was right.”

Kelly said with the release of Classic Hymns comes the possibility of bringing our music and their sound to “The Valley.”

“We have no concrete plans just yet, but with the availability of the CD in my hometown at Joe Nardone’s Gallery of Sound, I am hopeful that the opportunity will present itself as soon as COVID gives us a break,” he said.

No date has been set for Kane &amp; Kelly to appear here, but Nardone said he will sell the CDs in his stores and all proceeds will go to a charity of Kelly’s choice.

“I am not profiting from the sale of the CD titled ‘Classic Hymns’,” Nardone said. “I am sending all sales dollars to Bill to donate to his choice of charity.”

<strong>Back to ‘back in the day’</strong>

Kelly is a native son of Wyoming Valley. He grew up in West Wyoming and graduated from Wyoming Area High School and King’s College.

Kelly said during a telephone interview that he had “just a few more thoughts” about his days in The Buoys and Dakota.

He said every time he thinks about “back in the day,” he remembers how this area absolutely bubbled with creative young people bent on being the next big thing to hit the airwaves.

“As a young singer it never occurred to me that I wasn’t going to be successful,” Kelly said. “I loved every minute of practice and band rehearsals. And I was not alone. Any Friday night you could drive through Scranton or Wilkes-Barre and hear a great band playing at the high school after the football game. It seemed that at the center of everything was music.”

Kelly said it was that atmosphere that launched The Buoys into the national spotlight with their hit song “Timothy.”

Kelly said touring with major stars like the Rascals, the Guess Who, Ike and Tina Turner, Bob Seeger and many others was quite an experience for a 19-year-old kid. But, he said, it didn’t last and soon enough some members fell by the wayside.

“Eventually Jerry Hludzik and I were all that was left of the original band,” Kelly said.

It was that duo that broke through again, this time being discovered by superstar drummer Danny Seraphine of the band Chicago.

”Soon we were sharing the Record Plant studios in Los Angeles with the likes of Fleetwood Mac, REO Speedwagon and Cheap Trick,” Kelly said. “This partnership with Danny led to three major label recordings with Epic, Columbia and MCA Records. The Columbia album brought us to the biggest thrill of our careers when we were chosen by mega stars Queen to open their entire US/Canadian tour called The Game! There are no words to describe that.”

After their album “Runaway,” Hludzik and Kelly had reached that inevitable place where partners decide to move in different directions. Hludzik continued to write in the Dakota style, while Kelly chose to move to Nashville to pursue a career as a studio/touring musician — stepping out of the spotlight and learning how to be part of the support team for another artist.

<strong>Kane &amp; Kelly</strong>

“It was during this time that I heard a young lady from my church sing,” Kelly said. “I was totally mesmerized by the pure sound of this beautiful girl. She was talented, humble and ready to try singing with this road weary rocker. We chose a song to sing during church worship and approached it with one guitar and two voices. It was a sound I had never heard before. It was simply beautiful! After a five-minute standing ovation, we realized we had stumbled onto something special.”

That was more than 15 years ago. Kelly said he and Kane have been singing, performing in concert and on live radio, always looking for the next opportunity to share their sound with an ever-increasing audience. They have released two original albums, garnering a Number 1 chart topper on the Christian Country Music charts titled “The Storm,” which sat at that position for a month, as well as a few more chart singles bringing more attention to their distinctive sound.

Kelly said Joe Nardone has graciously offered to host the new release at the Gallery of Sound and allow Kane &amp; Kelly to sell CD’s of their latest album. Sale price will be $12.99 and all the proceeds from the sale of the CD’s will go to the Kane &amp; Kelly ministry, allowing them to cover the cost of visiting and performing at churches across the state of Tennessee, where they both currently live.

“Of course we would love to have the opportunity to perform in the Wyoming Valley as well,” Kelly said.

This is Kane &amp; Kelly’s third album, recorded solely at Kelly’s home studio outside of Nashville.

“However, it represents a departure from our usual all original efforts,” Kelly said. “Jen and I have a great love for traditional hymns of the past and decided to dedicate this album to the music that has inspired us for many years.”

Kelly said most people will remember him from his days with The Buoys and then Dakota.

“After Dakota, I decided to move to Nashville where I enjoyed many years of touring with some of the greats of country music like Charlie Louvin,” Kelly said. “It was during this time that I met Jennifer and began singing as a duet. We absolutely love what we do and have found that our original songs have been charted on the Christian Country Music charts.”

The date for Kane &amp; Kelly to appear in NEPA is unknown due to COVID-19, which is limiting travel and large gatherings.

“To say the least I am more than a little excited about the opportunity to perform this music in my hometown along with my dearest friend and partner, Jennifer Kane,” Kelly said.

From The Buoys and Dakota to Kane & Kelly and ‘Classic Hymns’