Steve Vlazo Photo/Graphic design Andrea Sicco
Cover art for Ready For the Morning.
“I’ve been down underneath the ocean of sound, got bloodied in the battle of the blues. Yeah, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, but I’m ready for the morning.” The unmistakable voice of Kelly Reilly shines through like a summer sunrise on her newest single, the ethereal rocker “Ready For the Morning,” released two weeks ago after a year of indelible changes. Now the legendary New Haven singer and lifetime fan of music and the local scene is ready to record again.
The Ghost Of Marc Bolan
The journey of “Ready for the Morning” began over a year ago, when Reilly recorded “Ballrooms of Mars,” a cover of the famed T. Rex song, something she had been planning for nearly her entire life.
“It’s my favorite song on the planet since I was a child,” said Reilly. “I always intended to do it.”
Brendan Toller Photo
Richard Dev Greene and Kelly Reilly performing at Cafe Nine.
How this particular moment in time became the one in which she actually decided to record the song happened quite organically.
“We’re having breakfast and Richard” — singer/songwriter Richard Dev Greene, Reilly’s partner, who also wrote “Ready For the Morning” — “gets out his guitar and says, ‘sing “Ballrooms of Mars.”’ He made me sing it at the breakfast table. We recorded it on the iPhone, and it sounded great. We ended up recording the vocals in Brooklyn at Mighty Toad with Craig Dryer, who also played piano, and we tracked and recorded ‘Ready for the Morning’ at the same time.”
Reilly also brought in one of her oldest friends, New Haven-based musician Dean Falcone, to contribute. “When he heard it, Dean went nuts,” she said. “He’s insanely talented. He plays everything. I’ve known Dean since I was 14. He’s my lifelong friend. I always intended to have him involved.” Reilly and Falcone are both veterans of New Haven’s rock scene, going back decades.
Falcone not only played on both songs, but also produced the tracks along with Greene. Drums were recorded at Hobo Sound in New Jersey with Eric Seftel, and then they brought it to be engineered at Firehouse 12 by Greg DiCrosta. The songs were then mixed at Hobo Sound by James Frazee and Greene. Reilly could not have been happier with the results and with those involved.
“Everyone is so, so talented,” she said, calling them “the dream team.”
“Ballrooms of Mars” was released on July 21, 2020, and was well received, even getting airplay from the Joe Elliott Radio Show on Planet Rock — as in Joe Elliott of the rock band Def Leppard.
“Some of his listeners in the UK found me on Facebook. That’s how I found out,” said Reilly. “He’s cool as hell. That will always make me happy.”
That airplay also connected Reilly with another fan base, one with whom she has a lot in common.
“A bunch of T. Rex fan groups found me. So many of them have reposted the song and video. We take our Bolan seriously. They are great, great people. They don’t know how much they mean to me.” Reilly said their comments were “amazing, things like ‘she’s the female Marc Bolan’ and ‘Marc would be proud of you.’ T. Rex fans are the best. They’re very loyal.”
Reilly also ended up using the audio from Elliott’s radio program at the beginning of the video for “Ballrooms of Mars,” which was released a month ago. The video is a compilation of photos from throughout her life, video footage of her performing with her former New Haven-based band Baby Strange, and video of her present day.
“It’s a walk through my life,” said Reilly.
Living And Breathing Music
Reilly had decided to hold off on releasing “Ready for the Morning,” submitting it to CD Baby in January 2021 with a release date set for June. Then, in February 2021, Reilly’s nephew died suddenly. Reilly had been scheduled to record more songs a few days after he died but “I couldn’t function, never mind sing,” she said.
She eventually decided to release the video with its tributes last month and already had the plan in motion to have the next song come out in June. Now Reilly will be going into the studio in a few weeks to record four or five songs, including originals and another T. Rex song that she is keeping under wraps. Her love of the band and Bolan is deep and unabating.
“When I was 10 years old, I stole my older brother’s Slider album” said Reilly, who felt a deep connection with the music as well as Bolan. “He looked familiar to me. I became obsessed,” she said. She even named her band after his song “Baby Strange.”
That iconic punk group began in New Haven in the late 1970s when Reilly was 14. Within a year, Baby Strange was playing in clubs all over the East Coast.
“We played Max’s Kansas City and the Living Room in Providence,” said Reilly. The band became a staple of the local music scene as well. “New Haven had so many clubs,” said Reilly. “It was so much fun. It was all about fun. New Haven is such a rocking city. There was always something going on.”
Claude Bell Photo
Baby Strange performing at Ron’s Place.
The band’s home base was Ron’s Place, Reilly noting that she was there “every night.”
“I live and breathe music,” she added. “I went to all the shows everywhere, even the Coliseum, and whether I liked the band or not.” She and the other members of Baby Strange even finished high school at 17, a year early, “because we were playing so many shows and out late all the time.” After a short stint with another lineup, Baby Strange broke up. Reilly never joined another band, though she did sing a song “here and there with friends” at the Grotto.
As far as live performances of these current tunes, Reilly has not made any specific plans. “I haven’t thought about it yet,” she said. “I’m more concerned with recording right now. It’s my favorite thing to do.” She knows when she is ready to get back to performing, her friends will be there waiting to welcome her with open arms. “Paul Mayer has been one of my best friends since I was 16,” she said “He’s like family to me. The two clubs near and dear to me are Ron’s Place and Cafe Nine. Cafe Nine is like Ron’s place, like a community. Both clubs were like that. Everybody loves music so much. They’re my people.”
Reilly has as much love for the current New Haven music scene as she does for its past. “It’s all ages and everyone gets along,” she said “It’s a supportive community. I love it.”
She ended the interview with an “interesting Kelly Reilly fact,” she said. “I spent my life in clubs and around music, and I have never had a drink in my life and no drugs,” she said. “To me, it’s just me. It’s always been about the music and the people.”
Kelly Reilly’s music can be purchased on her Bandcamp page and streamed on Spotify.