Stu Kelly (that’s me) AKA “Kelly Green” was born in Washington, DC and relocated to Bethesda, Maryland at the age of nine. My dad played guitar in various bands throughout my childhood, exposing me to music from an early age. This was my first musical inspiration.

Although I wanted to play the drums while in elementary school, my parents bought me a guitar. The guitar was three quarters the size of a standard guitar, however, I found it difficult to play since my hands were too small. It was not until my dad brought his old bass guitar out of the attic that I found my calling.

In middle school, I began playing the bass more seriously. I would listen to his fathers forty five’s and pick out the bass lines, mimicking them the best I could. I began to take bass lessons, discovering that he was drawn to the seventies funk songs. One summer my dad asked me to join his band that was in need of a bassist. I joined the band, creating an opportunity to perform in front of a crowd for the first time.

At boarding school, I played in the Jazz band. This provided me with the opportunity to not only collaborate with other musicians, but play music every day. I spent time composing and recording music on a four track with other students.

During my freshman year at Savannah College of Art and Design, I started to composed Hip-Hop beats on my computer. Shortly thereafter, I met Stephen Pender and Yancy Wilkenson, my soon to be bandmates. When given an opportunity to collaborate for a spoken word event at SCAD, we obliged.  Shortly thereafter, the band Yancy and the Breakneck Quartet was formed.

After a successful run for about five years of gigging and opening up for Toni Braxton in Savannah the band parted ways. Now I have been blessed with the opportunity to collaborate with many talented musicians as I develop my sound further…

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