An Interview with Kellylee Evans - Juno Award-Winning Jazz & Soul Artist

Internationally acclaimed Juno award-winning singer-songwriter Kellylee Evans has been making waves around the world with her energy-charged performances. With six albums to her name and a grueling touring schedule, she was no stranger to the hard work involved in making a successful career.

Yet, after a life-altering lightning strike in 2013 and then a concussion in 2015, the mother of three was forced to halt her busy schedule. The following two years saw Kellylee dedicating her energy to recovering and getting back to making and sharing her music.

Today, when she’s not performing, Kellylee teaches and speaks about her journey to recovery, sharing her inspiring story. Kellylee is a mixed-media artist who combines painting, collage, and found objects to explore themes of memory and cultural heritage. She holds an MFA from UCLA.

What does community and cultural expression mean to you, particularly within this multicultural event?

For me, community and cultural expression are integral to how I exist in the world. I am not sure how to separate either aspect from my being. 

I am a result of the community that raised me and sustains me. Having grown up in a very multicultural part of Scarborough and as a child of Jamaican immigrants, culture was present all around me. 

Being a part of this event just feels natural and right to right.  

How do you manage to maintain high levels of energy and passion in your performances despite your grueling touring schedule?  

I’ve really worked to bring balance into my life as a whole, which helps me when I need to harness the energy necessary to be on stage for sometimes 90 minutes or more. 

It came after years of needing to rest and reset after the burnout that came from following a schedule that didn’t hold space for balance. 

Now, rest is an integral part of how I plan my day, and that seems to be following into other aspects of my life, including making sure that I don’t have a grueling schedule anymore. 

What’s the most challenging album you’ve ever recorded, and why?   

The most challenging album that I have ever recorded was my third studio album, The Good Girl, which was released in 2010. 

There were some parts that needed to be re-recorded, and the recording engineer that I was working with, Audiovalley’s Steve Foley, took it upon himself to edit those parts by hand, painstakingly and with a lot of commitment. 

It took him a lot of time, and the result was exactly what we were hoping for. Thanks, Steve! 

Can you recall a moment when the energy from an audience completely transformed your performance?   

I notice a shift in the energy every time an audience sings along with a performance. 

Especially when the music cuts out and it’s just you and the audience, and you can hear the beauty of the human voice, magnified. 

It harkens back to a time for me when I joined with others in voice in community and school choirs, or with others singing at church services. ices. 

It’s so beautiful.  

What’s one piece of advice you give to emerging singer-songwriters that you wish you’d known earlier?   

I wish that I was just born with money management skills. 

I always make an effort to tell emerging artists about the importance of making a spending plan and saving, even if it’s just for expenses in the near future. 

It’s been a game-changer for me since I learnt about it and actually did it.  

As a singer-songwriter, do you first prepare the lyrics, or the music?   

When I’m writing, it comes in through both avenues simultaneously. 

The one seems to help the other. 

Which of your songs has taken on a new meaning for you over time?  

I can’t say that any of them have taken on new meaning, but I feel like the meanings have deepened and revealed themselves in new ways, especially after taking a break from a song. 

I had a concert this past March at the TU Jazz Winter Jazz Festival in Burlington. I was asked to do a longer set, and so I decided to go back into the vault of songs that I haven’t played for a while. 

While I was performing the songs again, after all these years, I was struck by their meaning and how so many of them still applied to how I was feeling today, and how others remained a snapshot in time. 

Meet Kellylee Evans at the ART+ Fall 2025 Showcase on 4th October at the (Studio) Arts Court, 2 Daly Avenue, Ottawa. Grab your tickets on our website.