Kelley Mickwee: Don't Miss You At Austin
“Don’t Miss You at Austin” is an interesting thought experiment given life through song by Kelley Mickwee. Kelley is one of the Shiny Soul Sisters, the back-up singers for the always audacious Shinyribs, and formerly of the legendary all-girl group The Trishas. Along with friend and fellow Austinite, Dan Dyer who, himself, has a rather substantial catalog of songs and is a mainstay in the music scene in Austin and surrounding areas.
The premise of the song was to write about the concept of change. However, the duo chose to approach the subject from an unusual direction. Not entirely through melody and not entirely through lyrics. No, they chose as the medium to convey this idea - the music itself.
The song starts with a simple, folk/traditional country sound with a western/Mexican style of guitar playing in the background as a notable embellishment. The song takes a slight pause then changes both tempo and form into a 1920's speakeasy jazz style with a clarinet that stands out much like the guitar in the previous section did. The song takes another pause then transitions into a more traditional country song with fiddle and mandolin having a stronger influence, but just for the chorus, then it transitions yet again back into the 20’s jazz feel.
The overall idea of the song is both interesting and unique. I am intrigued to see how the fans and listening public, in general, relate to this song and the artistry.
Cover photo by Todd V. Wolfson
Find out more about Kelley here: