Few careers have had closer brushes with well
deserved superstardom than that of KELLY LANG – whose
name and beautiful face bring instant recognition with country music
fans. The title of her much anticipated new album says it all: “It’s
About Time.”
Her debut single for Destiny Row Records “Goodbye Darlin’” proved
that for everything there is indeed a season. The heartfelt tribute
to Conway Twitty came from an artist who grew up in the very shadow
of his imposing legend.
One of four children, Kelly was born in Oklahoma. Her dad, Velton
Lang, worked with Conway Twitty as his road manager for more than 25
years. Kelly recalls: “As a little girl, I used to sit on the
side of the stage with my dad and watch Conway perform…and I
remember thinking to myself, now that’s what I want to do when
I grow up!” She remembers thinking too that growing up around
Conway and the biggest name in country music was something quite natural.
Kelly recorded her first Billboard single, “Lady, Lady” at
the age of 15 – filmed a video that came to the attention of
CMT – and in rapid fire time was soon appearing as a regular
on Nashville’s popular Ralph Emery Morning Show.
Her teen years were a whirlwind that found the dark haired, green-eyed
beauty poised on the very edge of a breakthrough to major stardom.
She moved to national attention as a frequent guest on the highly popular Music
City Tonight, with Crook & Chase, televised on TNN. Kelly next
made the finals of Ed McMahon’s popular weekly televised Star
Search – bringing her vibrant, pure country vocal style to
mainstream audiences.
Confident and comfortable onstage, Kelly Lang launched into more
national spotlights: The Statler Brothers Show, Church Street Station,
Fantasy, Pickin’ In The Paradise – she was an in demand
young artist for virtually every Nashville based production of the
day. She became a semi-regular artist on Ralph’s Emery’s
popular “Nashville Now” on TNN, pulling in major viewer
mail and a large national fan base.
On the road in concert, Kelly shared billings with legends such as
Ronnie Milsap, Brenda Lee, George Jones, Lorrie Morgan, Ricky Skaggs,
and T.G. Sheppard – as well as many of the hot new artists from
her own peer group. She won raves for acting roles in commercials for
Oldsmobile with fellow artist Mark Collie, and in her rare time off
the road she fielded national modeling offers.
To the music industry’s surprise, in her late teens Kelly married
and moved out of the spotlight – ultimately to have two beautiful
daughters – Payton (now 12) and Kennedy (8) both of whom became
the consuming lights of her life. Although happy in the role of motherhood,
Kelly still somehow never lost her desire for music and the desire
for success in the love of music that had been instilled in childhood.
While not actively touring or doing major television she reached
deep within herself to pull out a yet untapped goldmine of creativity – songwriting.
Her songs were deep, sensitive and reflective – or bright and
filled with the sparkle that have become a Kelly Lang trademark. Each
held an obvious spark of the heart and soul of their writer. One of
the songs – “Single Mother” (a highlight track of
her “It’s About Time” album) – reflected
the break-up of Kelly’s marriage and the subsequent challenges
of raising her two young daughters alone.
Most importantly her songs were commercial. Commercial enough in
fact to attract the attention of Lorrie Morgan, who produced a few
sides on Kelly.
With that encouragement, Kelly went into the studio a few months
ago with two major name songwriters who had become friends to craft
her own “return project.” She joined creative forces to
cut and polish six new sides – five of which were songs she had
written. “We captured the exact sound I wanted – I was
true to myself – and ended up with a project I was totally proud
of, no matter the outcome,” she recalls. Through a fortunate
channel the tape passed into the hands of T.G. Sheppard’s bus
driver – who just “happened” to know of a new label – Destiny
Row Records – who were looking for flagship artists. The label
released “Goodbye Darlin” to country radio and “Down
On My Knees” to the Christian country genre.
Kelly’s “Down On My Knees” went on to top the charts
in January of this year on the well-respected “Power Source Top
20.” The song began life as a pitch to George Jones for his gospel
album. “I had actually pitched George another of my songs – ‘Missing
Angel’ – but it didn’t quite fit the mood of the
album. I went home and wrote ‘Down On My Knees’ in fifteen
or twenty minutes. Unfortunately by the time I could get it demoed
and back to George, his producer had made a final decision on all his
material. It was a major disappointment at the time!”
“It’s a pretty awesome turn around for me to have a #1
in the Christian Country genre, noted Kelly. “It’s music
I’ve always loved – my writing always tends to be positive – so
positive in fact that I’ve even written a full album of lullabies
for children. I really liked the ‘Oh Brother’ kind of bluegrass
feel of ‘Down On My Knees’ from the moment I wrote it.
It’s a song with a lot of meaning.”
No “coincidence” that country music radio and fans are
giving a warm reception to Kelly Lang’s re-introduction to the
industry. No coincidence at all. For Kelly Lang, “It’s
About Time.”
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