Self life

Kelly Willis gets what she Deserves

by John O'Neill

All things tallied, Kelly Willis's story was meant to play out the way it has. Much like some kind of perky, made-for-television movie -- where the beautiful starlet's perseverance pays off, the bad is eventually

washed over by the good. The critics see the error of their ways (complete with record executive/ villain giving the I-got-to-hand-it-to-her grin and a shake of the head); and the camera pulls back from the stage, out over the cheering crowd. And we fade to black as she smiles to the (insert artistic license here) guitarist/ love interest. Currently in pre-production, Willis is just now writing the comeback portion of the story.

Signed at 18 to a large money deal after moving to Austin from Washington, DC, Willis earned the personal blessing of Nashville MCA president and industry super-power Tony Brown. She also captured the Next Big Thing status that comes with such proclamations and became part of the whirlwind Nashville star-maker process (landing on People's 50 most beautiful people list). The result: she was embattled between artistic yearning and the label's plan for country confectionery. Willis, with three albums under her belt by age 24, nonetheless appeared on the way to becoming the latest casualty of the Austin singer/songwriter scene to pull a major-label crash and burn.

"I think the records I made at MCA were accurate of what I was capable of; and by the third I was capable of saying that this [was] the type of music I wanted to make," says Willis from her hotel room. (She makes a local stop at the Iron Horse, Thursday, April 22). "I was really young and shy and awkward. I didn't really know what I wanted or even how to ask for it. But I'm proud of the [albums]."

While the first three albums showed flashes of the true artist, it was a four-song EP that proved to be the real turning point. That release came during an otherwise fruitless two-year stint at A&M. With members of Sun Volt, Sixteen Horsepower, and the Jayhawks backing, 1997's Fading Fast (released only in her home state of Texas) was a revelatory work that offered a more self-assured, accomplished Willis. But Willis left the label shortly after her A&M rep did because she feared that a less-sympathetic rep would repeat the square-peg-in-a-round-hole syndrome of MCA. Willis then signed on with indie Rykodisc for the release of What I Deserve .

"It's a great feeling to have a record out, finally," says Willis, who retained the rights to her most recent work. "I'd made the album before I came to Ryko, and I sold it to them. And that's a nice freedom. I'm looking forward to doing the next one with them, because they seem to have soul."

Produced by Dave McNair, What I Deserve again finds Willis mining the territory between straight-ahead country and not-quite-rock. Using a solid supporting cast of alt-country's better musicians and collaborators (most notably the Jayhawks' Gary Louris, Green on Red's Chuck Prophet, and the Blood Oranges' Mark Spencer), she is able to turn in her finest full-length outing. Six original/cowritten numbers buck up nicely against covers from varied sources like Nick Drake, Paul Westerburg (from the Replacements' Don't Tell a Soul no less), and Aussie Paul Kelly. Willis's much-celebrate voice is as beautiful as ever, but now it's less weighted down in the heavy Nashville syrup of her earlier work. Crackling and yodeling on the opening cut, "Take Me Down," pure and clear on "Heaven Bound," playful and sensual on "Got a Feelin' for Ya," achy-breaky, 2 a.m. roadhouse on "Time Has Told Me," Willis navigates a path somewhere between the finger-waving back road of alt-county and a commercial torch singer on the big-city bandstand. Not nearly as raw or intimate as Fading Fast, the new album is still a passionate well-rounded (and occasionally over-produced) statement by an artist who is in the beginning stages of finding her true voice. It also comes at a time when the music she's spent much of her career trying to get attention for -- and caused a fair share of heartache -- is finally gaining a measure of acceptability, as bands like Wilco, the Jayhawks, and Son Volt actually sell product.

And now, though she never really went away at all, Willis finds herself in a prime position to re-establish a career on her own terms in a relatively (radio) friendly climate. It's been a long road for the former bonus baby from Next Big Thing to Established Artist, but not one she views with much regret.

"I went from a record deal with MCA, and I had a lot of money behind me. I was so young! I didn't know how rare that was," says a now-wiser Willis after a virtual five-year absence from the public eye. During that period, she's also grown from shy and awkward to charmingly candid. "Now I'm just grateful people are willing to listen to my album. I can do this for as long as it's fulfilling. Before, I felt ruled and run by [the music industry]. But I can leave and not feel bad about it. It wouldn't be a step down.

"So far, 30 has been great!"

Local Buzz

Former Gas Food Lodging guitarist Matt Erhartic is back in action with a new Shrewsbury-based outfit, Ultra-Fuzz. They plan on being tour-ready by early summer. Erhartic is also headed into the studio to twiddle the knobs for pop-punkers Raymond, who feature GFL-alum Chris Principe and Noel Heroux and Twist 160 drummer Andy Patrick. Their disc should be completed by summertime as well. The Lucky Dog Music Hall will feature acoustic music on Tuesday night with local Scott Anderson hosting. Jason James and the Bay State Houserockers are also at work and should have a disc of original material ready to go by the fall. How cool was it to walk into a two-hundred seat theater in Easton, Maryland, and see local folkie Dan Hart's photo hanging from the wall of fame in the lobby? Very. The disc promised from Espresso Bar honcho Eric Spencer will be on the way in May. Tentatively titled Dark-Roasted, Full-Bodied and Premium-Blended -- Episode One, the 17-song compilation features cuts from Eastcide, God Stands Still, Split, Rawhead Rex, Special 79, Chillum, and Seven Hill Psychos. Speaking of Chillum, their third CD, Should Come To No Harm In Water, will be on the street in June. It was engineered by Laurie Flannery at Longview Farm. No word from MTV as to if it will be used for Real World -- Boise. And finally, the Commercial Street Cafe has changed its name to Commercial Street Concert Club and Cafe.