Singer-songwriter Kelly Fry to play at Scotto’s Wine & Cider
When Kelly Fry was a young girl, she loved to perform in plays, but in high school she developed terrible stage fright.
But even as the Lodi woman grew up and began working as an executive assistant for the San Joaquin County Office of Education, that creative drive never fully went away.
“I’ve always had a passion for performing and loved it, but that stage fright held me back for many years,” Fry said.
But when a friend began crossing items off her “bucket list,” Fry was inspired.
“She was jumping out of planes, and she was ziplining, and traveling to South America,” she said.
For her birthday a little over a year ago, Fry decided she was going to try something she’d been considering for a long time: writing and performing her own music.
Fry had written songs as a hobby for a while, but didn’t play any instruments and wasn’t sure how to set them to music. So she asked her friend, local musician Dave Atencio, to help.
Once she’d put chords to a song, the next step was performing.
Fry knew about the open mic nights at Woodbridge Crossing, so she decided to take the plunge.
“I’m just going to do it,” she remembers thinking.
She found an incredibly supportive “music family.” A guitarist offered to back her up while she sang, and Christine Taunton, who co-hosts the open mic nights with her husband, Dustin, played tamborine.
Fry was thrilled to be welcomed by the regulars.
“It’s all about this musical kinship and support. Everyone is there to support everyone else,” she said. “I met some nice people that night.”
So she went back, and after a few weeks, decided she needed to learn to play the guitar.
“It was pretty horrible when I first started,” she said with a laugh.
But as Fry learned to play, and then began bringing her own guitar to the open mics, no one heckled her, she said. Her “music family” was always supportive.
“It was very scary and very painful, but there were always musicians there who would say something encouraging to me after I performed,” she said.
Now, a little over a year later, she has grown exponentially as a musician. She’s been invited to open for the Sweet Taunts — the Tauntons’ band — and to perform in a singer-songwriter showcase at the former Calturas event center.
She’s even joined in the open blues jam run by Jeramy Norris at Garlic Brothers in Stockton.
Fry submitted one of her songs, “Chasing Butterflies,” to the West Coast Songwriters Association, winning the Song of the Year from the Stockton chapter.
“Considering I’ve only been doing this a year, winning that competition was mindblowing,” Fry said.
The honor gave her a spot competing against winners from the other chapters throughout the West Coast at Berkeley’s Freight and Salvage.
At Scotto’s Wine & Cider on Friday, she’ll be hitting another milestone: headlining a performance for the first time. While most of the music she plays will be acoustic covers of women like Grace Potter, Stevie Nicks, Sheryl Crow and Lady Gaga, she’ll also be playing a few of her original compositions.
Even her covers have a unique twist, though. Fry tries to make every song she performs her own, she said.
She’ll be joined by the Sweet Taunts, who have become her musical mentors.
“If not for them, I know I wouldn’t be at this level,” Fry said.
They’ve encouraged her and pushed her to try new ideas and techniques with her music. They’ll be playing some of their own original music on Friday.
For the first time, too, Fry will be playing for her work friends. She often brings her guitar along to work so she can practice on her lunch break, but this will be the first time they hear her really perform.
“Music is so different (than work), and so much more vulnerable,” she said.
Next, Fry hopes to work with some of her music family to set her original songs to a full band. Once they’ve figured out how each song should sound, she wants to record them, she said.
She’s very grateful to local venues — especially Woodbridge Crossing and Scotto’s — for giving her and other local musicians a chance.
“There’s so much good, local music in our area,” she said. “You don’t have to go to Sacramento or San Francisco.”
Fry still gets nervous when she performs. She’s got a few butterflies in her stomach about inviting her work friends to hear her play on Friday. But she’s become a lot more comfortable with stepping on stage and taking risks over the past year.
“I’m definitely over my stage fright,” she said.