Meet Kelvin Jones. He's going to be famous. The 20 year-old Stevenage songwriter picked-up guitar five years back, but broke through when his track, Call You Home, caught the attention of Reddit in February 2014 and had a million YouTube views overnight.
I'm a BB King lover, so it's 'play what needs to be played'
"It was like winning the lottery when you haven't bought a ticket," laughs Kelvin. "It was just so surreal. It was only like a year after that I was like, 'Holy crap… that happened!'"
Combining a direct Noel Gallagher-esque style of songwriting, with an innate pop appeal absorbed from Michael Jackson and John Mayer, Kelvin's debut, Stop The Moment, is packed with to-the-point tunes.
Say something
"In my opinion that's where you should come from when you write," reckons Kelvin. "'I want to say something and here it is.'"
It's the same when it comes to Kelvin's short but sweet lead playing. Channeling a treasured Fender Michael Landau '68 Strat into Deluxe Blues Reverb, via a tastefully minimal 'board of Tube Screamer Mini ("the awesome switch"), Strymon compressor and TC Hall Of Fame reverb, it's all about function over form.
"I'm a BB King lover, so it's 'play what needs to be played'," he says. "I have three checkpoints in a solo: I know I'm going to start somewhere, elevate it and then end on this thing. You've got to have a structure - and then get out while people are still into it!"
- For fans of: James Bay, Jack Johnson
- Hear: Good Together
