Kelley was six years old when she attended her first concert, in Utica, NY. Sleepy on her father's knee she heard, in a sonorous voice, 'hello, my name is Johnny Cash' as she drifted off to dreamland.

Like Johnny Cash, Kelley 'fell into a burning ring of fire' when her family relocated to Bristol, Tennessee when she was nine.

The span of years following the 'B.M.', or 'Big Move', marked the death of Kelley's father Raymond at age 40, and her mother's subsequent descent into the seedy watering holes of East Tennessee looking for a new husband. Meanwhile Kelley, between premonitions of fame and disaster, made no rational decisions regarding her future.

Instead, she chose a life of creative expression and music.

To that end, and despite her individualistic, anti-establishment tendencies, Kelley was awarded a full scholarship and graduated from the esteemed Peabody Conservatory of Music.

Kelley produced her first album, Beautiful Inventions, on the considerable (to her) budget of $100. This collection of impressionistic folk songs was recorded by an engineer known as 'The Bishop' during off-hours of a theater blessed with a Steinway Concert Grand Piano.

When Kelley met partner and leading man Jason Graham she was carting around all her possessions and living in her Dodge Shadow. He was impressed with her acumen for self-promotion, reaching in the car and giving him a tape...

After intensive musical exploration and work, Kelley's latest release, "Bedtime Story, a postmodern nightmare...", places this innovative artist on the cutting edge of modern songwriting. Incorporating vocals, live improvised chamber music, and electric & electronic sounds, an ardent fan has described this CD as 'modern day Beethoven'.

Emotional, mystical, driving, with complex rhythmic and mood changes, and broad sweeping landscapes, “Bedtime Story” is poised to captivate the imagination of discriminating listeners.

Kelley Dolan is a 2002 B.E.A.M Grant Recipient

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