8 • The Southwest Portland Post
FEATURES
December 2015
Multnomah singer/songwriter Kelsey Mousley brings soulful sound to her band
By Jack Rubinger
The Southwest Portland Post
Kelsey Mousley sings with a big
smile on her face. That is the first
thing you notice when you see her
play.
The second thing is the groove, and
then the third thing is the feeling. She
reminds me a lot of British soul singer
Joss Stone.
The 31-year-old singer/songwriter
has many reasons to be happy. Her
band, Kelsey and The Next Right
Thing, is sounding tight.
They have got some fun and exciting
upcoming gigs, their recordings are
selling and everyone in the band
is on the same page musically and
emotionally.
This newspaper started paying
attention to Mousley when her band
played during the Multnomah Days
Festival back in August.
They are preparing for a gig on Jan.
7 at the White Eagle Saloon in North
Portland. A band named Colorworks
(from Seattle) will be playing that
night as well.
Mousley is keeping busy. Her day
job is as a dental assistant for Dr. Lisa
Jensen at Multnomah Village Dental
Care where she takes care of patients.
She practices every Tuesday night
with her band. She has an upcoming
solo album. Plus, she’s always
working on new material.
With influences including Stevie
Wonder, Toots & The Maytals, Herbie
H a n c oc k , T he M e t e r s , and T he
Rolling Stones, the band sank deeply
into the funk at a recent rehearsal
I attended (and later joined for a
couple of tunes on saxophone).
While Mousley writes all the music
for this project and sings all the tunes,
this is definitely a cooperative group.
Wi t h i n t r i c a t e p a r t s , t i g h t
arrangements and soulful solos, it’s
clear that everyone is experienced
and can shred when the feeling and
time is right.
Between tune patter was the
typical band stuff — comments
about little filly things in the chorus,
an appreciation of the bass and kick
locked in, applause for building
during solos, encouragement to come
out of the bridge quick and stretch
out the buildup part.
The band has five members:
Mousley on guitar and vocals, Ben
Grossen handling the bass, Brad
Warshaur on lead guitar, Jody
Redifer on drums and Nate Crateau
on keyboards.
Each has their job and each is
focused on doing that and listening
intently to each other.
To a non-musician, it looks easy.
But it takes lots of practice to make
a groove work. Redifer ’s high-hat
work, for example, is subtle and his
rolls are jazzy.
C r a t e a u s h i f t s f ro m a g o s p e l
organ sound to Rhodes electric
piano sound that reminds me of
Grover Washington’s “Mister Magic”
album. Warshaur does a lot rhythmic
Kelsey and The Next Right Thing play Jan. 7 at the White Eagle Saloon.
accompaniment, but he also cuts
loose from time to time.
Originally from Astoria, Mousley
moved to Portland several years ago
and the band’s been together for
three and a half years. Redifer drafted
m o s t o f t he m e m b e r s w h o h a d
either known of each other through
reputation or played together in
other bands.
What I heard at their rehearsal
was a rich mix of side neck swaying
slow jams, funk tunes, some Latin
beats, a bit of reggae and lots of
throwback R&B — mostly originals
like “Here We Are,” “No News,” and
“One in a Room,” and covers like
Amy Winehouse’s “Valerie” and Joe
Walsh’s “Funk #49.”
“We’re all about mixing tension
and release,” said Mousley. “All these
guys can shred if they want to, like
Nate really kills it on the keys, but in
this band, we’re focusing mostly on
the total sound and getting the right
feeling down.”
“ Ye a h , f e e l i n g i s k i n g , ” s a i d
Wa r s h a u r. M o u s l e y ’ s p e r s o n a l
influences include Jill Scott, Etta
James, Aretha Franklin, and jazz
singer Gretchen Parlato.
“It’ll get there,” said Warshaur
when the band was packing up.
“This was a good rehearsal. Really
productive. The band is taking shape.
There’s a whole band feel collective.”
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