Kelly Villaverde was born and raised in Hawai'i and has been a
professional musician for most of his life. Kelly spent some time in the midwest, basing himself in
Kansas City, Missouri and performing in many of the area's major hotels and
resorts. Since his return to the
islands, he has shared the stage with:
Na
Leo Pilimehana
Melveen
Leed
Cecilio
and Kapono
Ben
Vegas
Tia
Carrere
Rocky
Brown
Sunway
John
Valentine
Kelly has worked as a solo artist at John Richards Restaurant, The Plaza Club,
Steck's at Kahala Mall,
The Chart House
and in many of the Waikiki hotels.
Currently, he performs solo on a weekly basis at Planet Hollywood, The Kahala Hotel and Resort Veranda, RumFire
at the Sheraton Waikiki and Moana
Surfrider Beach
Bar. He
also plays regularly for private and corporate events.
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In the recording field, Kelly has been affiliated with Tropical Jam Productions,
whose recording credits
include Andy Bumatai, Richard Natto, Augie Tulba, Paul Ogata
and TomaNatto. He contributed heavily to the multiple Na Hoku Award-winning
release by Na Leo Pilimehana, "Flying With Angels"
(recently named one of THE FIFTY GREATEST
HAWAI’I ALBUMS of ALL TIME) by performing on the title track and several others, including
his original composition, "Still Yours", a Top
Five At Five tune
on KCCN FM 100 while assisting with arrangements for several songs on the
CD. He also produced Slender
Line Of Lavender
by Kim Char Meredith and the debut album for Loco Spice.
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In 1996, Kelly released Emerald House, his debut album.
The Emerald
House
version of "Still Yours" received regular airplay for over a year on KINE FM 105. Another original composition, "On The Windward Side" appears on the Home
Grown '97 CD
and has received airplay on KRTR FM 96 (Krater). In 2001, Emerald House released Take Two, which can be purchased online at CDBaby.com.
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Kelly has appeared on several local broadcasts, including the KITV
Morning Show,
the KGMB Morning Show, and the Perry and Price Hanohano Room Show.
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Kelly has been influenced by various artists and his eclectic work
reflects it. Some of his favorites
include James Taylor, Stevie Wonder, the Beatles, the Eagles, Robben Ford,
Steely Dan, Nickel Creek, Jason Mraz, Bruce Hornsby, the Rolling Stones,
Hapa, Take 6, Jack Johnson, Crosby, Stills & Nash and John Mayer. His music is melodic and driven by the acoustic guitar.
