Wow.
Ten years ago tonight, we played our first real show ever. It was at Barley’s in Knoxville for the Snow Day benefit. Our good friend Khann was the organizer and knew that we needed a gig to get started. She gave us a spot on the bill, but we didn’t even have a name yet. So, we missed the first round of posters and show bills because they couldn’t list us as “New Band with No Name Yet”! We scrambled and found our name a couple days later and made the second round of posters and digital/print ads (digital ads in 2009 were relatively primitive back then).
Also, back then, we were a much different band: 2 gals, 2 guys, not a lot of electric instruments, and no drums. We were much quieter and folky then (we still can be, but the rowdy gets in the way sometimes most of the time!). Here we are back then, from left to right: Russ Torbett, Shawna Cyphers, Tasha East, Dave Kennedy. The ladies have since moved on, but were an instrumental piece of the band and getting KW up off the ground and rolling.
Through the years, we shared stages with Sturgill Simpson, Robert Earl Keen, Shooter Jennings, Kix Brooks, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Drivin N Cryin, the Cadillac Three, Hayes Carll, the Steeldrivers, Chris Knight, Delta Deep, Confederate Railroad, Roger Alan Wade, Darrell Scott, Holly Williams, Shonna Tucker, Shovels & Rope, the Wild Feathers, Ben Sollee, My Brightest Diamond, Roger Clyne, and tons more! Well, with that being said, ten years later, with 2 full albums, an eight song EP, a short live album, and hundreds of shows (…yes friends, hundreds! Russ is working on counting them all to get an actual number…ballpark guess, between 300-500), here we are today…still playing, with the same 5 dudes for several years now (Dave, Russ, Andrew, Austin, Stevie), louder and rowdier than ever, and not looking to stop anytime soon! We’d like to invite y’all to the original scene of the crime for one hell of a party on Saturday, February 9th at Barley’s in Knoxville to celebrate ten years of music, laughs, whiskey, and fun! We’re bringing some local and East Tennessee All-Stars with us, too, so you never know who’s gonna be there playing with us! Follow the link for more details, but here’s the short story…we hope to see you there!
Grab your Kelsey’s Woods #SinForTen gear here and be ready to rock on Saturday, February 9th!