Josh Kelley's AC Debut Is A Story `To Remember'

The stage couldn't be bigger. A worldwide audience of many millions is expected to tune in to the 2008 Olympics. And as fans cheer the spectacle and drama of sporting events that are centuries old, they'll do so to a soundtrack that's as fresh and energetic as the athletes themselves.

Josh Kelley will be a big part of it. Thanks to a delightful karmic destiny, Josh's latest single will give the participants, viewers and lovers of adult music across the planet an Olympic theme song to remember.

As athletes compete for the heavy metal, Josh's timely track "To Remember" will be impacting AC radio. Its arrival on your desk is the culmination of a journey that began with an odd, but intriguing request several months ago.

"This is my karma story," Josh recently told acradio.com. "This guy, who is now a buddy of mine, called up my manager.  He said, `My girlfriend and I are really big fans of Josh, and I want to hire him to come and sing to us -- to just walk up out of the woodwork and sing -- right after I propose to my girlfriend on the beach at Malibu.' He asked me if I would do it, and I said yes."

"It was, like, so Elvis Costello or something," mused the Augusta, Georgia native, recalling videos from VH1 past. "All the sudden I walk out on this terrace overlooking the ocean and start singing `Amazing.' We became friends.  We got some drinks afterwards and hung out, and six months later I find out that he's the head guy who's putting all the music together for the Olympics."

("To Remember" is one of many songs that will accompany daily Olympic highlights shown on AT&T's website. Click here to check it out. It's also included on AT&T's "Team USA" soundtrack, proceeds from which support Team USA athletes.)

The rewarding turn of events took Josh by surprise. "He said, `Josh because you were so kind to us, and because we love your music so much, I'm putting you first on the list to write one of the theme songs for the Olympics this year.' I was like, no way.  No freaking way!

"Right after he asked me, I sat down at my piano and finished the song `To Remember.'  It took about two days."

(While he plays a variety of instruments, Josh has developed a fondness for composing songs on the piano. "For some reason I feel like I write more sophisticated songs on the piano," he says. "I think it's because you are dealing with 10 fingers, and you allow yourself to go in as many different directions as you can. I also come up with hipper and smarter chord progressions.")

The "To Remember" saga was the living definition of instant karma. "I did something nice for these people because I was in the same boat, too, getting married -- and you want people to help you out and make it memorable.  Then six months later he calls me up and asks me to do a song for the Olympics. It's all because of this little act of kindness to somebody else."

The single will undoubtedly be the soundtrack for many Olympic memories, but for Josh it's much more. "It has become the beginning of a new album," he explains. "I might even call the whole album `To Remember' -- not sure yet.  But it's going to be a great record.  The whole album is like 70% very inspirational, but with a sort of old school, Doobie Brothers kind of vibe."

Already familiar to adult audiences for the hits "Amazing" and "Everybody Wants You," Josh says "To Remember" and the music he's writing now is different -- in a good way.

"I'm a much better writer now," he confides. "I know how to relate more to people.  I write more about specific things now instead of broad themes.  This song ["To Remember"] is to inspire people -- to remember where we are right now, and how fortunate we are.  Also to celebrate people's achievements. 

"I feel like I have just now come into my own with writing. When I wrote this song and asked my management if we could take it to radio, I was thinking specifically about this format.  This is the format I want.  It's my first time here.  I'm a novice.  This is the beginning for me here, and I'm hoping that it's going to be a nice home for my music."

Josh is confident that AC listeners will embrace his work. "I feel like my music lends itself to this format," he explains.  "Kids love it too, but my music relates to adults.  My audience is mainly females, age 25 to 48, and I have a good male audience.  This is the perfect format for me.  I need a good home at radio.  I am going to make music until I'm 90.  I am going to keep doing it, and keep getting better.  I am trying to create a family here, and I really want this musical direction to work."

In addition to hearing "To Remember" on AC radio, Josh recently signed on for something else that will put him front and center in the world of adult music lovers. He's been tapped to open several gigs for Rod Stewart during the month of August. It's lit a fire under the 28-year-old artist. "I'm actually scrambling right now.  I have about three days left to finish the album."

"To Remember," the single and album, will be Josh's second CD released on his own label, DNK Records. He says that starting his own label is another facet of something he calls the Kelley mentality.  "Men in the Kelley family feel like we can do everything," he points out. "I have a real vision for my future, what I see myself doing for years and years to come.  And a lot of times, when you are with a company that is only thinking about dollar signs, they lose perspective on the artistic angle -- and that's all I care about, representing myself to the fullest, artistically.  Making my mark, leaving something. 

"So I started this label from the ground up. We have slowly gotten more employees and it's become a real thing, a real force in the business.  My last record, `Special Company,' was completely independent and sold something like 50,0000 records.  That was recorded in my studio, and all marketed guerilla-style.  It's a good feeling, you know.  We did Jay Leno, Regis & Kelly, and Good Morning America.  And when you get those kind of things on your own, with your team that believes in you, with your own family that you create, then you appreciate it more.  You celebrate it together, and that's what I was missing."

Before launching DNK, Josh was signed to Hollywood Records. "I was really lucky that they let me out of the deal," he recalls.  "They could have kept me for another five records.  They're all really nice people over there.  Good people, but we just didn't share the same goal."

While he works with some other artists, DNK Records is mostly about Josh's music. "I'm selfish," he jokes. "But I have helped out other artists. Mainly the label facilitates my writing for other artists.  I just wrote a song that, right now, looks like it might be the first single on Michael Buble's next record.  And I just wrote a song for David Archuleta.

"So DNK is not just a record label, it's my company.  DNK is basically Everything Josh, and it stands for Do Not Knock.  But it doesn't matter.  It can be anything anybody wants it to be.  I haven't come up with a good idea for what the three letters stand for.  It's totally random.  It means nothing, and I love that about it."

Having a record company whose name is mysterious and meaningless fits in nicely with one of the cardinal rules in Josh's jam-packed life. "I follow the fun," he reveals. "That's what life's all about.  I just want to have a good time, and always want to follow the fun.  The first rule of following the fun is `Don't leave a good time in search of a good time.'  The second rule is, `Safety never takes a vacation.'" He laughs as he recalls these and a list of similar rules. "Me and my band members came up with, like, 40 of these things!"

"Following the fun" extends to Josh's personal life as well, and aptly describes the newlywed's marriage to "Grey's Anatomy" actress Katherine Heigl. Josh says married life is great. "I'm loving it. We're both doing our thing.  I'm actually about to meet my girl right now for a little lunch.  She's good to me, and keeps me grounded.  I needed a good woman."

Josh also needs to indulge in a music-oriented guilty pleasure from time to time, and when that time comes, he goes with Journey. "Me and my friends are obsessed with karaoke, and we karaoke Journey," he says, breaking into the chorus from "Don't Stop Believin'.

"That's the biggest chord ever written," he says with obvious admiration.  "My keyboard player starts playing the opening, and we have created our own Journey karaoke set.  I thought about putting it as a hidden track on an album, but it's so illegal I would have to get it cleared.  It's phenomenal.  It goes on for something like 15 minutes." 

Who knows? Maybe you can see it one of these days for free on youtube, when like Josh, you too, are following the fun in search of something to remember.