Slingshot Professional

Kelly Jo Phelps belongs to the much loved school of head scratching, soul searching singer/songwriters that is much loved in Ireland.

While he may be steeped in the same blue collar US culture that inspired Bruce Springsteen and Josh Ritter, however, his music lacks the romantic bombast of the former or the ramshackle charm of the latter. In their place is a low-key, bluesy acoustic amble that is perfectly pleasant without being inspiring. Phelp’s lyrics attempt to create a world of down home characters and to be fair he sometimes succeeds in his aim – but my own feeling is that there is nothing on offer here that you won’t find in a far superior form elsewhere.