From the moment he sits down and picks up his guitar, Kelly Joe Phelps holds his audience spellbound with the astoundingly pure intensity of his music. A soulful, gravelly singer, Kelly Joe's haunting lyrics weave in and out through his superbly understated slide guitar, raising echoes in the deepest shade of blue and ringing with bittersweet experience. While Kelly Joe has long been known as a guitar ace, his five albums -- most recently last year's Slingshot Professionals (Rykodisc) -- have displayed the steady honing of his songwriting, to the point where his subtle roots rock and blues guitar stylings, weathered voice, and rich, gritty lyrics blend powerfully as equal elements in one eloquent tale after another. Not to be missed.