Sam Kelly’s talent and stage presence helped him land his latest full-time gig. The Dolores raised saxophone player cut his teeth locally, playing in bands Elder Grown and Pants Party (among others) while also working as staff and faculty at iAM MUSIC. A modern-day Bobby Keys (look him up), Kelly’s a saxophonist who can jump into just about any band of any genre, a dude always ready, willing and able to play his saxophone with just about anyone.
It’s that musical skill that landed him the job as a now full-time, touring member with Andy Frasco and the U.N., a rollicking, multi-genre, nationally touring band that bangs out a rowdy blend of rock, funk and jam.
Sitting in with Frasco and band the last couple of times they played Durango, it’s his fun and solid playing that landed him the job – that alongside his conquering “the party machine,” which is the name for Frasco’s keyboard rig, which sits front and center on stage. Many times throughout the show the “party machine” will hydraulically lift like a “souped-up stand-up desk” as described by Kelly, pulsing out light and smoke, much to the audience’s delight.
“A few of us sat in with the group and we hit it off personality-wise,” Kelly said. “That night, I crawled up on the ‘party machine,’ and ripped a sax solo and as soon as I got off stage, their tour manager was like, “Well, our old sax player never did that,’ and it just kind of snowballed from there. I got a text from Frasco later that night and he said, ‘Our current saxophone player is having a kid and doesn’t want to tour anymore.’ and that just made it happen.”
Kelly’s contribution ramped up on the quick; what began with him thinking he was a fill-in soon turned into a full-time, on-the-road job that included learning a load of tunes.
“It started out I had just filled in for a couple gigs in October and that was me under the impression that I was just going to be filling in,” he said. “I was on the hook to learn 25 songs; I had to be ready to go so I was making charts and listening to these songs on rotation. The two shows we were playing, one was for a private event at a Hilton Head Resort. That was a good low-key thing to get us rolling. The second one was in front of 5,000 people, and I had to have those tunes ready to go. But then I was asked to do this two-month run with them, and that was like OK, we’ve got 80-plus songs you’re kind of on the hook to learn and be able to play any of them at any point in time.”
For now, Kelly’s going to try to pull some double duty: He’ll continue to play with Elder Grown when he can, which will come between a lot of time on the road with his new employer in Andy Frasco and the U.N.
It’s a job well deserved for the one-time local musician, who has been dedicated to his instrument since he learned in high school that he could get a college degree for playing his saxophone. That saxophone has taken him from Dolores to Durango to Denver, and now being on the road with Frasco and band, he’s basically circling the country, which will include home-state stops at Rhythms on the Rio in Del Norte in late July, and at Blues and Brews in Telluride in September.
“There are moments that it feels like I got very lucky. I’ve been grinding with the Elder Grown boys for over a decade now. Andy Frasco’s been together for 15 years, and Elder Grown’s not far behind that,” Kelly said. “It’s been a lot of hard work and being in the right place at the right time.”
Bryant Liggett is a freelance writer and KDUR station manager. Reach him at liggett_b@fortlewis.edu.
