Stories from the Studio: Daniel Kelly 

 This week we caught up with musician Daniel Kelly from Yass Valley. 

Right now in my bedroom music studio, I am getting ready to open Questfest, a Canberra Folk Metal Festival, on Saturday 2nd September at the The Basement with an acoustic set of songs about aliens, classic cowboy music and some science fiction. This will be my fourth year opening the festival. So far in 2023 I have published four albums, a feat not so easy for musicians who have others produce, mix, record and publish their music, but for a songwriter and perform who does it all themselves, it isn’t that unusual. Soon after Questfest, I’ll be brushing up on my Irish set-list for the fabulous mid-September Celtic and Irish festival here in Yass. And then in October I will be heading over to Ohio, USA, to be the international guest at the Ohio Valley Filk Festival, an event that celebrates fan-made music about fantasy and science fiction. During the COVID pandemic, soon after being introduced to the Filk community in 2017, I had the chance to perform online at the many Zoom gatherings that occurred across the US and Canada. While the tragic events of the past four years have isolated some, they have brought together many people in unexpected ways.