The Show That Changed Everything: Featuring Kelly Colyer of My Girl, My Whiskey & Me - iOnGreenville: Your Guide to Greenville South Carolina

Brett Barest

This is the first in a new series where we tell the stories of Upstate musicians in their own words. We are asking them to submit the experiences on stage that shaped them as artists, be it their first time performing live, their first big gig, or even just a light bulb moment they had during a performance. Thanks to My Girl, My Whiskey, & Me’s Kelly Colyer for kicking things off.

Kelly Colyer

“I love this question and I’m intrigued to read the other responses. I think it should be noted that I didn’t intend to pursue music for most of my life and I was shaking in my boots when I decided to join this band back in 2013. There are so many moments and comments and shows that have shaped me as an artist, but the only one I feel worth noting for this series actually came a couple years into my journey of pursuing music.

It was at the beginning of our tour of all 50 states, which was also when we officially became full time musicians. It was our second time playing on the WDVX radio station in Knoxville, TN for a segment called “The Blue Plate Special”. This time we were with our full band and we had this beginning-of-the-our energy, but I think I was sort of having these doubts about whether or not I was doing what I should be doing with my life which put a slight damper on everything.

Also, I wonder if everyone feels this way, but whenever we play original music I expect people to not like it and so I kind of feel like there’s no point in putting them through that. But I pushed on and while we were playing our title track “In The Ground” I had this moment of realization. When I started writing the song I had this vague idea of what I was writing about, but I typically don’t try to create a meaning for a song if it doesn’t come up very naturally. I know that people will derive the meaning that suits them and I think that’s kind of special. So when I came to the lyric “Don’t be afraid, this is the work you were born to do” it suddenly hit me so hard. The general tone behind the song is metaphorical and spiritual, but in that moment it was like God was answering my fears in a literal and direct way. It gave me a renewed sense of courage to keep writing for whatever niche group of people would resonate with what I have to say.”