BATTLE MOUNTAIN - Kelly Zirbes, known as Kelly Z, will be performing live at Perdé on July 27 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. This is her first solo tour and she will be telling original stories along with her self-written songs. Her tour is entitled Six Strings and Me.
Zirbes, of Los Angeles, will begin her tour on July 26, right after her band performs in Gilroy, Calif. Battle Mountain is her first stop on her Los Angeles to Chicago tour, and she said she is really excited to come here because she has received such a kind response.
"I am so excited," she said. "I got such a welcome response from Perdé. I really appreciate it."
She plans to sing songs and tell stories while she strums the guitar during her two-hour performance. When she is with her band, Kelly's Lot, she specializes in rock and blues but alone she is more folksy.
She said she started out as a folk singer before her husband, Perry Robertson, a guitar player for her band, got her into rock and blues. Her husband may join her on parts of the tour depending on his schedule.
Other stops on her tour will include Omaha, Minneapolis and Milwaukee. She plans to head home from Chicago on Aug. 6 and may play at places along the way. The money raised from her Milwaukee show will be donated to Islands of Brilliance, an organization that helps children with autism. Her Omaha show will raise funds for breast cancer research and her Minneapolis show will raise money for veterans.
Zirbes usually performs with her band, Kelly's Lot, which was started in 1995 and has done two U.S. tours and tours that took her to London, Scotland, Belgium, France and Germany. She is the singer for the band.
Most of the songs are written by Zirbes, who began playing the guitar and writing her own songs when her mother gave her a guitar at the age of 12. She is self taught.
She said she was inspired to write emotional songs by her mother, who sang to her as a child. Zirbes said she writes songs and stories about a lot of different things, including veterans, love and fighting sadness after loss. One of her songs is about Adam Walsh, the son of John Walsh, who was kidnapped and murdered.
The stories and songs may focus on sad topics but they always send out a positive message that leaves her fans on a happy note at the end, she said. The message she most wants to convey through her stories and songs is one of perseverance.
"We have to survive and we have to get through," she said.
This year she released an acoustic CD of some of her more folksy material entitled "Plain Simple Me." Her band has released nine CDs.
Prior to starting her band, Zirbes said she played mostly for herself and considered it a hobby. Her main hobby today is volunteering for nonprofit organizations which focus on veterans and spreading awareness of hepatitis C.
She said she tried many careers including acting, modeling and selling cars until finally deciding to do what she loves, music. She added that she is proud to call herself a late bloomer.
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