Welcome to the website of Wild Mountain Honey, the female acoustic rock band out of Colorado. Kelley Nelson (guitar & vocals) and Rachel Jane (vocals) perform original material, blues, and rock, with integral harmonies, leaving their listeners mesmerized. This captivating duo from the Denver Metro area have been making news!
Contact for Booking:
Kelley at kenelson_915@msn.com
Wild Mountain Honey - The Band
Kelley Nelson and Rachel Jane, each with a band of their own, have come together acoustically to create a mesmerizing performance.
Kelley's Bio
Ahh..where to begin. Got a minute? I guess it all started before I was born, music is in my blood. I was born in an East Cleveland suburb, ironically, called Painesville. I come from an incredibly musically talented family. My family rocks!! Everyone plays an instrument, sings or both. Family gatherings always include a jam session, PA and all. My grandparents pretty much raised me in my early years. So when I came home one day and started playing the songs I’d learned in school that day on the organ my grandfather immediately enrolled me in lessons at the local music store where he taught classical guitar. The lessons came to an abrupt end when Grampa realized I was playing by ear and not reading music. I didn’t really think much about music as far as playing an instrument after that. I always liked to sing though, especially harmony, and would sing with my family or while at church. Then, when I was about 10 or so, my dad gave me my cousin’s old guitar (I still have it Johnny.) He showed me your basic chords and applied them to the songs he taught me from Neil Young, Cat Stevens and CSN&Y. I took it from there, sort of, but without training I got easily frustrated if I couldn’t use my 6 chords to figure out a song and I’d put it down for a while (ok, I still do this but I know at least 12 chords now...just don’t ask me to name them.) I’d play the campsite or living room crowd but it never dawned on me to do this in public. Then, one day at bar camp, my mother insisted I come listen to these two guys known as Lewis and Swan (Steve and Greg.) They are singing all the songs my hippie parents used to listen to when I was growing up, and when they took a break I worked up the courage to ask Greg if I could sing. With one eye squinted and a smirk, he said “I don’t know, can ya?” I just stood there with pleading eyes until he caved. They played Suite: Judy Blue Eyes, perfectly I might add, and I fell right into place. As I found out years later, I fell into Steve’s place. I stepped all over his part and he graciously took a different one and never let on for years. But it was phenomenal. The three of us sounded so good together. It was a while before we actually formed Alter Ego but when we did it was more than I could’ve ever hoped for. Greg and Steve raised me well. They pushed me and made me realize my potential. I wouldn’t be where I am today, doing what I love most, if it weren’t for them. The hardest thing about leaving Ohio was the music. I knew it would be damn near impossible to find a connection like that again. It’s taken a long time, all of the six years I’ve been here, to find something as fulfilling. I’ve been blessed with being able to sit in with Mark and Cindy (Soho Band) for the past 5 years. I can’t thank them enough for their support and inspiration. And I could never thank Cindy enough for introducing Rachel and I. It was kind of like a blind date. Cindy kept telling us she had to introduce us. In all honesty, I wasn’t as sure as Cindy that we’d get along because, let’s face it, it’s hard to make it into the cool female sisterhood! A lot of girls can be irritating, backstabbing, conniving, steal your man kind of…anyway…we both happened to show up at the same place and Cindy threw us together and left us to go schmooze. We each sat in with the band that night and heard each other. The minute I heard her voice I knew that we’d sound awesome together! To prove it I made her sing with me a cappella on the patio. Sold! To the lady with the cool leather jacket with an embroidered butterfly on the back! (For the record I am very envious of Rachel’s coat, purse and shoe collection.) Anyway, I had been working up the courage to do a solo act and suggested it would be much better if we do something together. She agreed and here we are. Individually, we have very different styles. But together, it’s the perfect compliment! Rachel, you rock! Looking forward to many years of music, friendship and sisterhood!
Rachel Jane's Bio
I was destined to accept all kinds of music into my life. My parents put speakers in my crib as an infant. My mom would play classical music and my dad would play all the greats….Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, Motown, Simon and Garfunkel… My dad also played guitar, and wrote songs. I loved hearing his latest creations (also because I would get to stay up late!). I can remember singing my whole life. I always joined the choir and sang at school either off by myself or for a group of kids. I was always known as “that girl who can sing”. I moved around a lot so it helped to be known for something.
I took voice lessons for a couple of years around 1998. My vocal teacher took me to a studio (Level 14 Productions, Broomfield, Colorado) where Chris Boggs produced a demo for me. It was funny because he had me warm up with one of the Aretha Franklin tunes and then said “OK I’m going to need you to step back about a foot from the mic. You just blew out all my levels.” I apologized and he told me to never apologize for having a powerful voice. And I never have again. After the session, he introduced me to his wife M.E. Wilson and she and I, along with my vocal teacher, started a 3-part harmony, Christian group, Voices of Love. M.E. also had a rock band called 10th Floor Ledge that I sang back ups in and lead on a couple songs. At the same time, I was following a local Denver band, Wild Blue, around. They’d let me get up and sing lead on “Dreams” and “Love Me Like a Man”. I remember the first time I got up with them, I was SO nervous. I started the song in the wrong key and didn’t even realize it till the chorus! I’ll never forget that they got me started!
In 2001 I auditioned for a lead singer spot for a band called The Fabulous Recliners. I went in and belted out “Heat Wave”. The rhythm guitar player said “OK I’m going to go ahead and turn your monitor off. You don’t even really need a mic.” Where had I heard that before?! :-) They hired me on the spot, cut a demo and changed their name to Rachel Jane and The Hurricane. I have learned so much from these guys. Especially the bass player (Tim Kohler) and drummer (Willie Allemang) (original members). They have watched me grow and gave me the confidence to get out of my comfort zone just by believing in me. Even when we lost half our band, they stuck with me and helped form the group we have today.
I met Cindy Wallace during a time in my life where I was pretty lost and sad in the fall of 2006. I will never be able to thank her enough for taking me under her wing and introducing me to so many amazing people. One of which ended up being Kelley Nelson. I remember Cindy kept mentioning this girl Kelley I just HAD to meet. She was an amazing singer and Cindy just KNEW we’d get along great. One night, at one of our local hang outs, I finally got to meet Kelley. I heard her sing on stage and was so happy to hear another female vocalist with a powerful voice. I heard she also played guitar. I was really impressed. I liked her singing style AND she was a cool chick…I could tell. We finally got some private time on the patio where we talked a bit and sang some. I was totally mesmerized by her hair!! I think I asked her how she got it to curl like that about five minutes after I met her. Now I know why they call her Hair Bitch! :-) Seriously everywhere we go people want to talk about her hair!! Yeah…I’m jealous! When we left that night, I told her it was nice to meet her and she said “Yeah you’re one of those girls I don’t want to punch in the face.” I totally got what she meant! And that was all it took. I knew I had a friend for life. Kelley, I just know that no matter what we are doing in the future, we’ll be doing it together and I can’t wait to find out what that is!!! Love you girl!
Peace,
Rachel Jane