Alex Kelley

AlexYou never forget your first guitar. For Alex, it showed up when he was in the fifth grade.

“A ten-dollar Dreadnought,” he says. “It was suitable in many ways. And terrible in many ways.”

His first electric guitar would enter the picture a few years later. He bought that one on his own—an Aria Pro II Knight Warrior. It’s a moment Alex now considers the start of his profession.

“June 15, 1988. That’s the date I purchased my first electric guitar and began a non-stop life with music,” says the Brighton, NY, resident.

Just the same, he was already an absorbent student in a very large universe of bands, musicians and concepts. His improvisations and ensemble performances tap into those influences. King Crimson. Loreena McKennitt. Rush. Adrian Belew. Dead Can Dance. California Guitar Trio. Talking Heads. And musical traditions as varied as Japanese, Indian and Irish. You can hear the echoes of those cultures in his performance on songs like “Where It Goes We Go.”

But he didn’t get there all at once.

“There was an unseen evolution in my relationship with music,” Alex says. That evolution eventually found him passing his guitar skills on to others.

Today, he teaches guitar in the music program at The Music Store in Webster, NY, where he’s been since 1998. Watching the progress in his students inspires him to grow.

Another significant source of growth for Alex was Guitar Craft, a program that offered multi-level courses around the world. His most recent experience had him recording as a member of the League of Crafty Guitarists, which fits well with his preference for collaborative projects.

“I find inspiration in work with a group and through the creation of something new,” Alex says. 

As a recording artist, his discography is populated with solo releases and group ventures. At the moment, he’s involved in a project for a friend and collaborator that will take him to Manhattan at the end of June.

Alex is also entertaining the idea of pursuing an advanced degree in music. Whether he returns to school or not, what makes him a great musician is that he’ll never really be done learning.

The best teachers are forever students.

See more: www.alexkelley.net

Say hi: alex@alexkelley.net