Kelly McCartney

Having won prestigious literary competitions in both grade school and junior high, Kelly McCartney attended college with a Scripps Howard Foundation scholarship, earned a BA in Journalism, and interned at Entertainment Tonight. She then started her career in 1989 as a personal assistant to celebrity types like Susanna Hoffs (Bangles) and Adam Horowitz (Beastie Boys). Over the past 25 years (and counting), Kelly has tackled almost every role in the music business -- except artist -- working with folks like Vonda Shepard, Shawn Mullins, Jill Sobule, Melissa Ferrick, Boingo, JD Souther, Steven Delopoulos, Tracy Bonham, Natalia Zukerman, and more. 

At some point in there, Kelly got back to her roots, combined her loves of music and writing, and became a freelance "expert" for AllMusic.com penning album reviews and artist bios for Sheryl Crow, Dixie Chicks, Sarah McLachlan, Indigo Girls, Shawn Colvin, David Gray, and many more. Shortly after, she joined the Velvetpark magazine upstarts and authored interviews with the likes of Joan Osborne, Patty Griffin, and others.

Kelly currently contributes to No Depression, Cuepoint, Folk Alley, PopMatters, Curve, NoiseTrade, NPR Music, and the Bluegrass Situation, interviewing and reviewing artists including Annie Lennox, Lenny Kravitz, Ani DiFranco, Brandy Clark, OK Go, and many more. On the side, she is still consulting with artists, while also collaborating with some wonderful musicians on a multi-media theatre series and developing a couple of music-related video projects.

Twitter: @theKELword
Website: theKELword.com