Ian Kelly might just well be the most generous person I know. Let me give you an example: when the Key-Lites played at L’Ange Vagabond back in August, there was a power outage. Ian was also the one who introduced us to this fantastic venue in St-Adolphe-d’Howard. We’ve played there a few times now, and it’s always really fun. Anyways, on this particular night, the whole grid was offline, with no signs of it coming back online, and a lot of the people who had come for the show decided to go home. While we were talking with the owners about what to do, Ian showed up to see us play (he lives nearby – FYI, our singer/guitarist, Josh Toal, has been playing in Ian’s band for the past year or so). When he saw what was going on, he called his father, who also lives nearby, and who happened to have a gas-powered generator. When Ian’s father got to the venue. we all set up the generator in the dark, wired all our amps to the generator, as well as some lighting for the stage, and then played the show!! There weren’t that many people who had stuck around this long, and the only lights in the audience were candles on the tables, but this made for a super special, super intimate night of music. It was amazing! And if it wasn’t for Ian, we probably would have ended up just packing up and going home, which would have been super lame.

When it came to my Indiegogo campaign, Ian was very supportive, making this awesome endorsement video, as well as donating copies of both his Diamonds & Plastic and All These Lines albums as perks. Thanks, Ian!!

I met Ian when I was playing with Sarah Slean in 2013. We were doing a cross-Canada tour, and Ian opened for us every night. He would always play a couple tunes with us at the end of the show, which was a delight. I actually met Sarah through Mark Nelson, the drummer in my quartet, who used to play in Ian’s band, and Sarah had opened for Ian’s cross-Canada tour the year previously. The tour was six weeks long, with 11 of us in very close quarters the entire time, so we got to know each other pretty well – it was actually amazing how well we all got along! Anyways – when in groups, people always tend towards certain roles within the group dynamic. Ian was the one who could, with a sentence, lighten the mood, lift everybody’s spirits, and bring everyone closer together – while always being genuine, down-to-earth, and honest. Ian also enjoys good coffee and good food, so we got along really well!