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Bio: Mike Kelly

Mike Kelly has been playing bass since the age of 7, studying since the age of 11 and playing professionally since the age of 14. Now at 43, to say that Bass is in his blood is only the beginning of the story. He grew up in a family of talented musicians which included a father who is a drummer and a brother who plays drums professionally with the Dropkick Murphys. Being surrounded by great rhythm has been Mike’s whole life from the beginning. Now on a career path of his own he supports his family through playing gigs and doing studio session work in the Massachusetts area. He is the go-to bass player for sessions at Mixed Emotions Music in Middleton with engineer Kenny Lewis. There, Mike has played on numerous recordings over the past 10 years. This includes many Bass sessions as well as Acoustic Guitar sessions, some Banjo sessions and the occasional Mandolin session. Being a multi instrumentalist has gained Mike a good workload and respect from clients for which he now frequently works. Since 2009, Mike has been the first call back up bass player for Legendary Blues harmonica player James Montgomery. This has put Mike on stage and playing bass for artists such as J. Geils, Trombone Shorty, Paula Cole, Joan Osborne, G.E. Smith (SNL band leader for 10 years), Simon Kirke (drummer for Bad Company), Quinn Sullivan, Cliff Goodwin (guitarist for Joe Cocker). The list goes on. Mike has original bands from the area as well. TREBEK is a long time band of Mike’s as well as the Jim Weeks Band. Both can be found on Spotify or YouTube. Mike tours with the Dropkick Murphys as a backline tech and banjo tech and most recently as the fill in bass player.

 

Now, Mike can offer session work from his own home studio as well as on-site work at different studios. The ability to adapt to all styles of music and produce original parts on any of his instruments is one of Mike’s strengths.

 

Equipment to record Bass includes:

 

REDDI Tube direct box

Focusrite ISA 2 preamp

Warm Audio WA2A Opto compressor

Orange AD200B Amp

Orange 1x15 and 2x12 cabs

 

Basses:

2009 Fender Jazz Bass

1965/1974 Fender Jazz Bass

2021 American Professional II Pbass

Jazz Bass style fretless

5-string Read Custom bass

Duesenberg hollow body bass

 

Acoustic guitar:

1999 Taylor 710 Dreadnought

1976 Alvarez Yari classical guitar

12 string Takamine

 

Banjo:

5-string Deering Sierra

 

Mandolin:

1960’s Kay A-style

 

Mics:

WA47 Tube mic

Shure SM7B

Shure SM57/58

AKG C451B

2x Gauge ECM 87

Rode NT4 stereo mic

Audio Technica AT 3031

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