rorie kelly

Three trail-blazing local musical artists took over the Sage Cafe to perform in the Blue Point restaurant's all acoustic singer-songwriter night, featuring prominent members of Long Island's thriving grassroots music scene.

Multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter, Chris P. Cauley; singer-songwriter and traveler, Rorie Kelly, and singer-songwriter Jay Scott have been showcasing their talents at venues near and far for the last several years.

Cauley has been an all-pervading presence in the Patchogue music scene for a decade, promoting and producing original music. He's also served as the drummer and percussionist accompanying Jay Scott, another of the show's performers.

In 2010, the literal one-man-band that is Cauley released the CD Stirrings on Paradiddle Records, which is available for free download in its entirety on his website, as are all his past projects.

Stirrings, like several of his previous works, features the multitalented musician on everything including vocals, guitars, bass, drums, percussion, production and mastering.

"He's a very humble and cool guy. He makes music that makes those of us who aren't musicians very impressed," said Cauley's manager and Patchogue Theatre's Live in the Lobby curator, Christopher Capobianco. He also manages both Kelly and Scott.

While in Cauley's sound, traces of nineties grunge can be discerned, his music's more avant-garde elements are evocative of his biggest musical influences, the groundbreaking bands Sonic Youth and The Velvet Underground.

He was joined during his set by Sean Virag, a well-known guitarist from Long Island and a member of Scott's band.

Kelly, who currently resides in Brooklyn, recently released her first album, Wish Upon a Bottlecap.

The 26-year-old is a crimson-haired indie siren that is as unabashed about championing political causes she believes in- vegetarianism and combating racism and sexism- as she is about getting on stage, with or without her band, More of the Mess, and offering up her confessional lyrics with fearlessness, ferociousness and vulnerability, while not being afraid to break a few guitar strings — or stereotypes — in the process.

When not performing, she also volunteers as a hotline counselor at Long Island Crisis Center. The passionate performer, who admits that most of her lyrics come from "personal drama" said, "It makes me feel good to do it. I spend the night talking to people about their problems, and it makes me feel better."

The performer that has captured the attention of live music audiences throughout Long Island and the New York Metro area since she catapulted onto the music scene in 2004 was glad to be back at the Sage Cafe.

"I love it here; it's like home. I never lived here, but it's like home," said Kelly.

Jay Scott was equally enthused to be back performing again at the Blue Point hot spot.

"We get to play in a nice intimate room, and get down to the nitty gritty, so to speak," said Scott. "The owner does such a nice thing with this place: It's really welcoming and earthy. It doesn't matter who you are, or what you do; you can come here and have a good time."

Scott, a Patchogue native, released his sophomore effort in 2010, a five song EP Life in a Hurry on Paraddidle Records .

His music is hard to categorize, steeped in traces of southern rock, it is an amalgam of folk, rock and jazz, alongside heartfelt vocals.

Capobianco articulated what gave the night its air of magic, and the inkling of witnessing the start of something big that, for now, only belongs to a select few.

He said, "In an ocean of singer-songwriters that want to sound like someone else, these performers sound like themselves." - Bayport-Blue Point Patch.com

Sage Cafe in Blue Point heated up on Sataurday night as special guest singer, songwriter Jay Scott, on acoustic guitar, joined Rorie Kelly and More of the Mess for a special performance.

Rorie Kelly and More of the Mess consists of Kelly on lead vocals and guitar, Joe Rende on drums and Kelly's father, Kevin Kelly on bass. Their long awaited first full length album, wish upon a bottlecap is soon to be released.

Kelly, 25, is originally from Bayville and currently resides in Brooklyn. The fresh faced redhead said, "I've lived everywhere; it's who I am—I'm a traveler."

She cites some of her musical influences as the twin duo, Tegan and Sara, Fiona Apple and Alanis Morrisette, "ladies who aren't afraid to be loud," she said.

Guest singer Jay Scott, a Patchogue native, recently released his sophomore CD, Life in a Hurry, the follow-up to his 2008 debut album, Homegrown, which was recorded during the Patchogue Theatre Live in the Lobby Series. Scott has been honing his musical craft over the past decade through regular performances from coast to coast.

His melodies have catchy hooks, while still retaining an authentic blues vibe, melded with a tinge of homespun country.

The Sage Cafe is a venue that mainly caters to acoustic performances, but Kelly and the band did an indie rock electric set. It included their haunting, standout track "Ghost-Lover." Jill from Melville said, "That was an awesome song; it will definitely be a hit."

"Rorie Kelly , honestly, she should be a superstar. She is absolutely incredible. I had never heard her before— and I actually shut up," said Daina Lynn from Ronkonkoma.

Her boyfriend, Shamus, chimed in and said, "And that's not easy for her to do."

Rorie Kelly and More of the Mess are having a CD Release Party at 8 p.m. on August 27, at the Conklin Barn in Huntington.
- Bayport-Blue Point Patch.com

RORIE KELLY
www.roriekelly.com
www.myspace.com/roriekelly

Rorie Kelly’s song “Sincere” is such an incredibly powerful study of gender, sexuality, counterculture, and interpersonal relationships that it’s likely to make you feel a little self-conscious because of its verisimilitude. You may empathize with the antagonist of the song and hate your short-sightedness, self-absorption, and general lack-of-with-it-ness. Or it may be the speaker, our heroine, and her keen observations about how people work that resonates for you. Either way, you’re hooked, and there’s not much you can do about it. The song, like most of what I know of Rorie’s catalogue of work, refuses categorization, especially with regard to what our collective shortsightedness expects from girls in indie rock. Rorie can hush-hush with the best of them for sure, but what sets her apart from her peers is the capacity to also let go purely guttural wails of sincerity with her voice as well as with her words. And what is indie rock anyway? Surely not the moniker of success and fashion it has become. There’s that indie rock, I guess, but I’d like to think there’s also the indie rock that remembers it once was independent, free, and full of complexity. Difficult to cage. Rorie Kelly is that type of indie rock. - Long Island Pulse Magazine

When I first heard Bayville singer-songwriter Rorie Kelly at Open Mic Night at Canvas Gallery, her sound was so powerful, she acoustically filled every square inch of space. This magnetic redhead has strength beyond her slight stature, singing with unbridled energy and playing guitar with equal force, strumming so hard that breaking strings mid-performance is pretty commonplace. “I used to try to keep it to a minimum, but it’s not as much fun when you’re holding back, so I’ve accepted string-breaking as part of the package,” she says.

Rorie has been gigging out alone until this year. “I learned a lot as a solo performer. You basically have nothing but your own energy to draw from to excite your audience,” she contends. The performer is often told that her guitar playing is “the band” and it’s hard to argue when you hear her in action, but Rorie acknowledges how lucky she is to be in good company these days: Kevin Kelly (her father) on bass, Neva Kelly (sister) and Larrin Gerard on vocals, and Joe Rende on drums. Being part of a musical family has had a tremendous impact on Rorie. My mom’s a great singer/songwriter, and I have tremendous respect for her as a guitar player; she’s not afraid to go out and really play, and perform as legitimately as any man on the scene,” she says. “My dad, apart from being a kick-ass bass player, is an amazing engineer. We produced my album together, and I’m insanely blessed to have him.”

Rorie’s take on her music: “It’s definitely aggressive and in-your-face, but it can also be very sweet and croony. The reason I got into music was to express things inside of me that I didn’t feel I could let out in day-to-day life—it’s like, ‘here’s all my feelings and opinions, WHAM, TAKE THAT!’”
- Canvas Magazine