By Nick Hopton Photographs courtesy of Bright Kelly

“Bring down that old record player we found, in that sorrow-strewn store, in that ten-dollar town,I’ll dig up something to move to, If you pour the wine”. It’s not very often that the opening lines of an album immediately draw you in and place you in a moment, not only in the life of the artist, but reminiscent of one of your own. It might not be that exact one that they sing about, but you’re moved somewhere with that familiar feeling. It’s a tough task to accomplish, but Bright Kelly has done just that. In his latest adventure entitled ‘The Quiet Ones’, Kelly is able to reignite not only the feelings of past love, but current as well. And in my conversation with him, I came to find out that love is what it’s really all about.

In a departure from his most well known musical adventure, local legends The Great Enough, Kelly created his newest piece of art out of one of the most primal natures that we all possess…necessity. What really sparked the creation of this as compared to doing another typical album? “Necessity being the mother of invention. I had no choice. The pandemic shut the band down. We all had our own individual spheres of life that couldn’t intersect safely, we couldn’t get into a room together. We tried to do the virtual way but it just didn’t work the way we wanted it to. So I had to think of a way to get some work coming in. I had this wealth of material that I was working with that I was streaming online, so I decided to narrow it down and build this EP.” 

As we sat at a restaurant in Plymouth Meeting, nursing our cocktails on a Thursday afternoon, we began talking about how these five songs were chosen. Narrowing down was not an easy task, as Kelly has hundreds of songs written in his catalogue. Trimming that down to five tracks is half the work of recording an EP. You’re essentially creating a short story out of an encyclopedia’s worth of material. “At the end of the day, it was really about living up to what I wanted the album to be, which is The Quiet Ones. It’s partly a joke and partly the truth. These are the quietest songs in my catalogue. This is my rainy day record, my sit contemplatively record, my put it on when you’re sad record. It’s mostly a place of ‘embrace your melancholy’.”

‘Shake Till The Fever Is Gone’, ‘Apocalypse Driving’, ‘Phantom Heart’, ‘Lucas, Get Up’, and ‘I Wish You The Best’, would eventually be the tracks chosen to become ‘The Quiet Ones’. Songs that built a story of love and loss, sadness and hope. This EP, clocking in at only 16 minutes in length, is a perfect ensemble of emotions that create a sense of being home, no matter where you listen. 

We continued on, catching up on the months and years since we had actually been able to see each other in person. From the first gig that we had played together at The Barbary years back with our respective bands, to now where nothing is the same as it was in the world…the little things never changed. Our mutual love for Bruce Springsteen, The Gaslight Anthem, The Replacements, and that gritty city called Philadelphia, it’s all still there and always will be. Kelly credits both Springsteen and The Gaslight Anthem’s Brian Fallon as massive influences in his storytelling and songwriting. That ability to hide the truth in plain sight. Shadowed lyrics of heartbreak told in an uplifting manner, or a love song written like a down and out hitchhiker created it. It’s a masquerade really. But out of that act, the truth eventually shines through.

    “I don’t want my music to be mess free. Mess free is so achievable now, anybody can be perfect. In the age of digital recording, anyone can make a perfect sounding record…and that makes a perfect sounding record not something I want to achieve anymore. It’s not interesting. It takes a different kind of courage to do the best you can out of the box, out of the microphone, out of the guitar…and listen back and say to yourself ‘I’ve achieved the emotional goal I wanted to, I’m going to leave this alone”.

As we began to wrap our time together up, his phone that had gone undisturbed throughout the time we spent together suddenly lit up. It was a FaceTime call from his wife and his daughter. Immediately, his face lit up like the sun on a summer day. He answered immediately, and his happiness went to the stars. In the few minutes they briefly chatted, I was able to see in his face what all of this was really about. It really was necessity. It was necessity out of love. Kelly doesn’t do all of this because he has to, he does it because he needs to. He needs to write these songs and tell these stories because it’s his way of telling the world how much his family means to him. That unconditional love that you read about in fairy tales and see in romantic movies. That’s what they have. When the rest of the world is falling apart around them, they will always have each other…and that’s all they need. The Beatles really weren’t lying when they said “All You Need Is Love”. And after seeing that short call, I truly believe it. 

The closing track on the EP, ‘I Wish You The Best’, ends with a line that resonates far beyond the song itself. With lyrics like, “I wish you the best, to go on forever like this, I wish you the best, wherever you end up going next”. I think we all need that kind of love in our life.

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Check out his first single, “Apocalypse Driving” HERE

single artwork: Bright Kelly

Written by Nick Hopton

While The Great Enough’s frontman Bright Kelly is hard at work putting on constant live, at-home concerts in that big white chair of his… the Philadelphia alt-rock darlings return with a brand new tune and music video for their latest song “The Fall.”

Comprised of Brian DiBiagio (guitars), John Hoff (drums), Robby Crane (bass), and the aforementioned Bright Kelly (lead vocals and guitars), The Great Enough follow in the footsteps of the great alt-rock bands of the past while paving the way towards a new direction and feel of their own.

“Lyrically, ‘The Fall’ is at least in part about my need to question everything. And I do, man. I question fucking everything. Capital-E-Everything,” proclaims Kelly. “It’s also about the societal pitfalls that snare us, insofar as I understand them. We fall into being deceitful in order to protect ourselves. We fall into believing that we know best, and we dismiss those who disagree with us. We fall into proclaiming our opinions at the top of our lungs, leaving us with open mouths and stopped-up ears and no chance at all of finding common ground. We preach, but we don’t practice, you know? We are grappling with those traps, and how easy it is to fall into them and become lost.”

Kelly also tells me that although the lyrics might represent the current state of the world, this song is not in fact about the current pandemic or any one specific thing. “I want to be clear: I didn’t write this song about the current crisis. No one was more surprised than The Great Enough were at how timely the lyrics seem.”

However…even though it might not be about the “right now”…the lyrics still ring true for where we are as a society.

“All of the light is swallowed in water now, and all, all, all of the walls are burning down. What are we on about?”

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written by Maria Arroyo

This past Friday, June’s Landing and The Great Enough opened for the rock/indie outfit, Brother Starling, who just released their latest album, The Weight of Change.

We ran into The Great Enough at Philly’s very own Orlieb’s where they opened for PHNTMS! We chatted and they told us about their upcoming show at MilkBoy. I immediately jumped at the chance to see them again. Their stage presence and the way they captivated that room was memorizing. I knew it would make for an incredible show.

Prior to the show, I had the most unique time interviewing the band in the esteemed area of MilkBoy’s very own bathroom. Although completely out of the ordinary, it made for the best time! I got to see them truly transform into this incredible group of musicians that would truly steal the show.

The first band up was New Jersey’s own June’s Landing. You could tell they had a devoted fan-base that followed them to MilkBoy for the show. Throughout their set, they flaunt everything from funk, alternative, indie, and even reggae to tie together this very interesting sound. The band also performed some new songs for us; to have a sneak peek into some of their upcoming material was a nice experience.

The lead singer had a great vocal range that raised the bar that he constantly hit every time. While I loved their music and his vocals, the stage presence didn’t match the music. I expected some more laughs and smiles and overall a higher amount of energy for their music, but it didn’t happen. Sometimes there were a few hiccups, as there are for all shows, but the singer showed it extensively all over his face which only made us notice it more. Their fans really helped to pull them out of that funk but it is definitely something I hope they keep in mind for future shows.

Next to take the stage was the eclectic Philly band, The Great Enough. This band truly has become one of my favorites to listen to. Lead singer, Bright Kelly, continues to astonish me with his wide vocal ability and adaption to his surroundings. All of the band members communicated with each other and let each other shine in the spotlight. Their extensive knowledge of music theory and how to incorporate that into music is evident in their songs. I learned that almost all of them are currently teaching music, but all of them have had music as a massive part of their lives.

My favorite moment of the entire show came from their stripped-down performance where Bright stood at the edge of the stage and truly sang from his heart. It felt like he was individually singing this song to every person in the room. They left everything they had on that stage and left me utterly and completely speechless.

They are able to create such a smooth and unique sound that is edgy and catchy. They ranged from genres of soft and alternative rock, to contemporary and even some metal as well. As their set went on, the room became fuller and the applause only got louder. They managed to keep me captivated from beginning to end and I tip my hat to them. They even shared their new single “Never Run Away” that will be coming out February 14th so please be sure to keep an eye out for it!

Closing out the show is rock and Americana inspired band, Brother Starling, for their new album release! Originally from Philadelphia, the crowd was no stranger to their music as people filled every square inch of that room. They had so many elements going on throughout the show, but it never felt overdone. They had an incredible sense of how important a strong song structure is and they worked well to balance their sound out between all of them. They ended up playing their new album from beginning to end. Then, ending the show with some classics of their earlier music.

Their music is all technically brilliant and their melodies and relatable lyrics were so catchy. They all had solid stage presence that matched their music and the harmonies between them were all was amazing! I truly believe they were completely submerged in their music and they believed in the performance they were giving us. The crowd was so supportive and interacted with the band through their show banter as well.

Their album as a whole is a mix of different emotions and influences that are strung together to create one cohesive end product. Their album release show stuck with the crowd and me and the overall show was one for the books!