When Mia Kelly tours Northwestern Ontario at the end of October, she’ll be bringing a blend of folk, rock, and blues that has seen her tour the world, taking her music as far away as Australia.
Kelly said she got started in music as a child, growing up in Gatineau, Que., on the banks of the Kitchissippi (Ottawa) River.
“As a seven-year-old with too much energy, I was put into musical theatre, and that’s when I fell in love with being on stage and singing and performing,” Kelly told The Times.
“Then I just kind of fed that flame for as long as I can remember, really, through music classes and band programming for youth and just learning how to be on stage and how to sing and how to play instruments and how to write songs.”
Kelly launched into songwriting in high school, at a time when she says there were emotions that needed processing. “Songwriting is kind of the best way to do that, for me at least. It’s just kind of all been snowballing from there ever since, and now it’s my full-time career, which is incredible.”
Kelly put out her debut album in 2022 called Garden Through the War and a second one called To Be Clear in 2024. Most recently, she released a new album entitled Big Time Roller Coaster Feeling which was released this year; the album includes a duet with Australian artist Kim Churchill, who has played in the Fort Frances area before.
For the album, Kelly worked with renowned Canadian producer Connor Seidel, who has also worked with the likes of Canadian artists Charlotte Cardin, Half Moon Run, the Beaches and Donovan Woods, among others.
“It’s my third record and my fourth project, really, and it is by far the most joyful thing I’ve ever made,” she said. “It’s 11 songs produced by Connor Seidel in Montreal, who’s an incredible producer. I’ve been wanting to work with him for a very long time, and he was an amazing creative mind to get to share the studio with and to make this album with. And I’m really proud of what we made.”
Kelly said the album’s title refers to the rollercoaster of emotions people ride throughout their lives.
“It’s kind of spanning lots of different human emotions and experiences, from falling in love to being grateful for friendship and grateful for the luck and the privilege and the security that comes with being born in a good family in a safe country. But then also it grapples with loss and grapples with medically assisted suicide, so there’s lots of light and darkness, hence the ‘Roller Coaster Feeling’ title. But overall, there’s this through line of light and of hope throughout the whole record.”
Kelly is touring through NWO with shows in Dryden, Atikokan, Thunder Bay, Sioux Lookout and Red Lake, in addition to her show in Fort Frances. This is her first time touring with a band, so the vibe will be different than shows she’s played before, she said.
“Well, it’s the first time I’m touring with a trio, and so there’s going to be a lot more energy than there typically is on stage, when it’s just me,” Kelly said. “There will be a lot more depth to the arrangements. My shows are really connective and full of storytelling and community, and following this record, lots of joy. So, hopefully, it kind of just brings lots of people together and creates a beautiful little magic for the night.”
The album features songs in both English and French, representing Kelly’s heritage as a Québécoise. “I try to honour my paternal language, and yeah, lots of varied storytelling and kind of emotional journeys that will be taking the audience on. But the spirit of it is kind of to be all together in one space and feeling things.”
Kelly says her sound is a mixture of many things she’s been inspired by over the years.
“It is alternative folk singer-songwriter, essentially is what it is,” she said. “There are so many inspirations to draw from in the kind of pool of music that I am listening to and making. So, there’s hints of rock and hints of blues and hints of pop and hints of Americana country and kind of drawing from all of those places, but kind of making my own thing.”
Mia Kelly will be performing at the Townshend Theatre on Thursday, Oct. 29 at 7:30 p.m. Tour de Fort has released a limited number of tickets for the show, available at tourdefort.com/miakelly.
