Kellie Coffey
Growing up in Moore, Oklahoma, a small town outside of Oklahoma
City, Kellie Coffey must have wished upon a pretty powerful star.
She signed a publishing contract with industry giant Warner
Chappell; had a record deal with BNA Records Nashville; a top 10
single; opened for Superstar Kenny Chesney on his Senorita's and
Margaritas tour; a top 5 album sales debut; a top 15 2nd single;
and hundreds of thousands of CDs sold. She capped all that off
with the Academy of Country Music's Top New Female Vocalist Award
in 2003 and then opened for George Strait on his 2004 tour. With
tour dates sharing the stage with Keith Urban, Brooks & Dunn,
Montgomery Gentry, Trace Adkins, Winona Judd, Martina McBride,
Lone Star, Alan Jackson.... it's been an amazing beginning to her
recording career.
Kellie's journey to Nashville and career in Country Music has
taken some unusual turns. "All through high school and college, I
led a pretty typical, Midwestern, all-American life. When I
graduated from OU with a vocal performance degree, it felt like it
was time to fly. My goal was to make a living as a singer. I had a
friend from OU who had moved to L.A. the year before and had an
extra room. So, I packed up my car and headed west. Leaving
Oklahoma was very difficult for me and for my whole family,
especially my mom. She was a stay at home mom. We are very close
but my parents were very supportive. They always believed in me."
Getting established in L.A. wasn't easy. To pay the bills, Kellie
got a job as a singing waitress -- "I was a much better singer
than waitress. Those poor people I waited on!" She also began
writing songs. "When I first started writing, it was because of a
break-up," she explains. "So all of my early songs were about love
lost. Those songs helped me get through some tough times." The
ball really started rolling after she made a demo tape that she
sent around, and began getting work on recording sessions and in
live shows. She sang backgrounds for Barbra Streisand's Millennium
Concert, recorded songs for the Disney Theme Parks (You can still
hear Kellie at Christmas time at Disneyland singing "White
Christmas" as snow falls on Main Street and at Epcot's nightly
fireworks extravaganza, Illuminations, singing "We Go On" and "The
Promise"). "I was working more and more but people kept asking me
to take the country out of my voice. I'm glad I had those
experiences but at certain point as an artist, I decided I wanted
to be true to myself, my voice, who I was. That's where my heart
was so more and more of my singing work was as a demo singer for
songwriters, singing country songs."
About that time, Kellie met Geoff Koch who was writing songs for
several television shows, among them Walker Texas Ranger. Kellie's
subtle twang helped her land a job singing and writing songs for
the hit television show, a source of income that allowed her to
realize her goal of making a living as a singer. Kellie was able
to leave her waitress days behind. Kellie began to find her niche
as a songwriter and, given her roots, it was not surprising that
it was decidedly country. Nashville seemed like the next logical
step. "About four years after I moved to LA, I started making
trips to Nashville, checking out the scene and trying to get a
deal. I knew what I really wanted to do and once I focused on my
dream, it all started to come together. Doors began to open for
me." Her friendship with Geoff had turned romantic, and she said
yes to his marriage proposal. While planning her wedding, she also
doubled her efforts to get a record deal. The unlikeliest location
for a country music showcase would have to be a Kosher-Chinese
restaurant in Los Angeles, California, but following her
invitation-only performance at Genghis Cohen, she was offered a
development deal by Judy Stakee with Warner-Chappell. "Judy has
been so instrumental in my career, as a mentor and a friend. She
had me co-write with JD Martin (a transplanted Nashville writer
who had hits with Terri Clark and Reba) in LA. Then she started
sending me to Tennessee to write with Warner Chappell's Nashville
writers. " In 2000, a demo CD was sent to all of the A&R people on
Nashville's Music Row. Soon after, Kellie was signed to BNA
records. Dann Huff (Faith Hill, Lone Star, Keith Urban, Rascal
Flatts) was brought in to produce the CD. Kellie and Geoff got an
apartment and then bought a home in Nashville.
Kellie's first single, "When You Lie Next to Me" took off at radio
and her incredible run began culminating in her ACM Award and
opening for George Strait on his 2004 tour. After 3 amazing years
and after performing for over one million people, Kellie and BNA
parted ways. For the first time in a while, Kellie had a chance to
take stock of her career and life. Kellie continued to write, but
put her recording career on hold to focus on her biggest dream:
having a baby. On November 15, 2005, Kellie gave birth to a
beautiful baby boy, Jackson Geoffrey.
Now, armed with songs that reflect the trials and joys of the her
career journey as well as the deepened heart that only having a
child can bring, Kellie is once again pursuing her recording
career. Teamed with Grammy Award winning songwriter/producer Wayne
Kirkpatrick (Little Big Town) and with Judy Stakee as Executive
Producer , Kellie co-wrote 11 of the 12 songs on her new CD, Walk
On. The CD is available now on her website and will be available
at various online CD retailers as well as download stores iTunes,
Rhapsody, eMusic, Sony Connect, Napster and MusicNet by July. The
video of the song "I Would Die For That", a song dealing with
infertility and a working woman's desire to have a child, is on
various sites around the internet now. The video for the title
track, "Walk On", will be released soon. Kellie must have wished
on a powerful star, her dreams continue to come true.
