with Ella Maddux
Originally from Pittsburgh, KELS built her career from the ground up—she moved to Atlanta and started cleaning houses by day to fund her music career, writing songs between jobs, and playing anywhere and everywhere she could including busking on the street.
Rather than waiting for a label, manager, or viral moment, KELS created her own path. She promoted individual songs through hundreds of original posts, sometimes sharing as many as 500 pieces of content around a single record. She then took her music directly to fans, independently booking, funding, promoting, and managing a 52-show U.S. “Secret Show” tour without a label or management support. What began with a living-room performance for five people grew into sold-out shows across the country.
