Fare Thee Well to Kelly Joe Phelps

The brilliant and elusive Shine-Eyed Mister Zen passed away on May 31, 2022.

It’s been years and years and years since I’ve talked to or been on a bill with Kelly Joe Phelps. But back in the day, we often ended up on shows together. It seemed to make a certain amount of sense. There just weren’t that many young guys around trying to do what we were trying to do. People weren’t talking about Robert Pete Williams or Skip James. But Kelly Joe was, and I saw in him a kindred spirit.

In saying that, let me be clear that I knew from the moment I first heard him that he was light years ahead of where I was with his musical conception. I was so self-conscious in those early years. I was trying too hard, and my ambition often outpaced my abilities. Kelly Joe, on the other hand, just seemed to emerge fully formed. His improvisational acumen was otherworldly, and he seemed to have so much confidence in his sound.

I’ve often said that, at heart, my musical goal has always been to write like Dylan, sing like Lemmy, and play like Bukka White. Kelly Joe beat me to his version of that by miles.

We came out at almost the exact same time; his debut dropped in 1994, and the first Preacher Boy record hit in 1995. At that point, although we were taking slightly different paths…