Kelly's Heroes

Kelly Hogan takes great songs by great artists and makes them her own.

Comments (0) By Michael Roberts Thursday, Nov 15 2001

The tone of the album developed just as naturally: What could have been an erratic patchwork turned into what Hogan describes, with a publicist's knack for catchy phrases, as "a tender bummer makeout record." Indeed, Hogan had to leave out one of her favorites from the Athens sessions -- "One Million Songs (From a Seed-Carrier's Point of View)," inspired by a tune by the Sadies -- because it was too lively. "It would have been like Jerry Reed driving an eighteen-wheeler full of Coors right through the middle of this beautiful little record going, 'Honk! Honk!'

"It was nerve-racking to make the record the way we did," she adds, "and we could have totally crashed and burned. And maybe other people will listen to it and say, 'Boy, that sucks; they did crash and burn.' But we were all really relieved. When it came out the way it did, we were all, like, 'Whew!'"

Kelly Hogan covers a wide array of artists on her new album, just Because It Feels Good.

Details

With Scott Miller
9 p.m. Saturday, November 17
$8, 303-320-9200

Lion's Lair, 2022 East Colfax Avenue

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Now all that's left for Hogan is to promote the album -- something she knows more than a little about. She understands that Because It Feels Good presents a challenge to Bloodshot's current publicist, if only because "nobody even knows what section of the record store to put it in." But she believes that having realistic expectations helps her in the long run.

"The Bloodshot job was good, because I was ignorant about a lot of the business stuff on purpose," she says. "But it's also helped me be wiser about deadlines and what needs to be done and how to cover your ass, so that if you tank, well, you've done your best. It steeled my reserve -- and I think everybody's reserve could use a little steel."