Pittsburgh-based singer-songwriter Kelly McCafferty loves a good story song — so she shared one of her own ahead of the release of her new EP "Texas Heat." “Red T-Shirt” tells the story of a relationship from start to finish with cinematic detail.
Kelly recently spoke with WYEP's Joey Spehar.
What’s your musical history up to this point?
Music has been the most important thing in my life for as long as I can remember. I started writing music around 15-16, but didn’t start putting it out into the world until my 20s. I recorded a few songs at Treelady studios with Nathan Zoob and Dave Hidek. This was a great experience, but throughout the whole thing I was very unsure of myself and my sound. I was doing it because I loved it, but I felt lost in a lot of ways.
After that, I moved to New Orleans and then Texas, honing in on what I wanted my music to be. It took me some time, but I finally started writing songs that I was genuinely proud of. I thought if I liked them this much maybe some other people out there would as well. Right around that time, Dave Hidek reached back out to see if I wanted to record again. It was very serendipitous. It felt like all the pieces were coming together. Over the past year and a half, we created my debut EP, "Texas Heat," which will be out later this year. The first two singles, “Milky Way” and “Red T-Shirt,” are out now and I’m incredibly proud of them.
How do you describe your sound?
Singer/songwriter with some indie/pop mixed in. My influences, and who Dave and I really looked to while recording the EP, are Lizzy McAlpine, Gracie Abrams, Holly Humberstone and Taylor Swift. Really, just all the girls.
Tell us more about the song "Red T-Shirt." What inspired you to write it and what does it mean to you?
“Red T-Shirt” is my favorite song I’ve ever written (so far). It’s actually the first song I wrote for "Texas Heat" and the song that made me want to make this EP — so it definitely means a lot to me! It tells a story from start to finish — everything that happens in it comes from a real experience and the hope is that the lyrics allow the listener to almost visualize the song as if they’re reading a book or watching a movie. It’s what my favorite songs do, like “Cornelia Street” or “All My Ghosts.” I wrote it about looking back on those very first moments of a relationship and thinking about how crazy it would be to know then what I know now.
What was the first album that really changed your life?
This is a hard question! When I was REALLY young I loved S CLUB 7, which is kind of funny, but that was the first album I remember listening to that made me realize how much I loved music. I played it on repeat — I think I was six or seven.
On a more realistic note, probably "RED" by Taylor Swift. I always loved her and she always inspired me, but when that album came out I had this moment of “Oh, these are the kinds of songs I want to write.”
"Our Own House" by MisterWives also was a big game changer for me. I’ll never forget seeing them live at Stage AE right when this album came out. They were so new that the venue closed off half the indoor portion — it was a small show, maybe a few hundred people were there. They had so much enthusiasm and were so genuinely happy to be doing the thing they loved. It inspired me so much — they still do to this day, but it was right after that that I decided to start recording my own songs for the first time.
Who are some other Pittsburgh artists you think more people should listen to?
Jon Bindley of Bindley Hardware Co. He’s a good friend and an incredible musician. Everyone should be listening! I’ve also recently started to listen to Merce Lemon and Zack Keim, both incredible Pittsburgh artists.
Any other super interesting things about you we should know?
It’s been a long journey to finish this EP, but one I’m incredibly proud of — starting as an intern on the DVE morning show with Randy and Bill — I played a cover of “Ho Hey” by The Lumineers that kind of catapulted all of this for me. I had a very small five minutes of Pittsburgh fame from it and ever since then I’ve been cobbling together the confidence to pursue my dreams in a real way. Although it took me a while to get from there to here, I truly believe it took everything in between to allow me to be able to create something I’m genuinely proud of. I’m grateful for the opportunity to share it on WYEP and I hope the listeners love it as much as I do.
Band:
Daniel Carballal - Guitar
Dave Hidek - Producer / Engineer
