With what can only be described as a whirlwind bass performance from Russ Torbett, Kelsey’s Woods launched its set on the Bud Light Stage of Riverbend earlier this month.
For singer Dave Kennedy, the performance was different from any other – it felt like coming home.
“Russ and I grew up going to Riverbend,” said Kennedy, who grew up in the East Hamilton area. “I remember being 7 or 8 and seeing Vince Gill down there. Hell, it was probably my first concert, to tell you the truth.”
This year’s performance marked the second time Kelsey’s Woods has played Riverbend, but the self-described Americana and country band has come a long way since its 2013 performance, Kennedy said.
The five-part band, made up of Kennedy, Torbett, Andrew Bryant, Austin Stepp and Stevie Jones, plays music that reflects a time when Merle Haggard and The Wailin’ Jennys just might have been on a Riverbend stage twirling their instruments if the mood struck them.
The homegrown band’s roots go back to the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, of which Kennedy and Torbett are both alumni, and where they met and began playing music together.
After graduating and beginning careers, the two were still itching to play music and began toying with the idea of playing together again. Kennedy had also begun doing some songwriting, and with some new material to try out, they began meeting at an old neighborhood bar to play.
Before they knew it, a friend from Chattanooga had offered them a gig, and – without a full band, a set list or even a name, for that matter – they said “Yes.”
They quickly dubbed themselves Kelsey’s Woods after an episode of “The Andy Griffith Show,” which they grew up watching with their dads, Kennedy explained. After the name, additional bandmates and a set list came together.
That first gig was in January. A month before, Kennedy had been laid off from his last “real job.” Eight years later, that’s still his last real job, he said.
Since then, he has made his passion for songwriting and playing with Kelsey’s Woods his focus, working toward eventually making this a full-time career in Nashville if everything goes right. However, the former Chattanooga resident said he does work with other musicians, and actually recently appeared onstage at the Country Music Awards.
As his career has grown and taken him from the city he grew up in, Kennedy said getting to come back and play another set at Riverbend has great significance.
“Getting to come back and play in a hometown festival was and is a thrill for us,” he said. “Anytime we get to come back down and play a big show in Chattanooga is always going to be special to me.”
So special, in fact, that the sentiment comes through in his lyrics.
“Just a little bit longer I can lay my head down. Ain’t nothin’ like going back to my home town.”