Kelly the Bastard is one of the best known figures in Calgary’s cover band circuit. First picking up the guitar at a serious level after an injury ended his professional sports career as a BMXer, he joined his first touring act in 1989.

“There was more of a cool party attitude back then,” Kelly recalls. “People were in the bars to see bands. Now it’s like musicians are sort of a hindrance, a pain in the ass for clubs. We’ve become a glorified jukebox in some ways.”

In his opinion, “the whole DJ thing killed it, and the ’90s grunge crap. Before that, it was all about big shows. Everybody had to have more lights; everybody had to look cool. Look was a big thing. It was a show. It was a rock show. Nowadays, you go to a club and you see people dressed in jeans and torn t-shirts and ball caps. It’s pretty boring, unless they’re really good musicians.”

But he sees a change on the horizon, and he wants to help make it happen.

For Kelly, it’s all about the show, and he has four projects on the go that are working to that end in one form or another. This is a guy that has made a career as musician, and now, in addition to working in his bands, he wants to help others.

Born in Fernie, B.C. and raised in Alberta, Kelly was passionate about music long before his life-changing injury.

“I grew up with The Beatles, Queen, Alice Cooper and all that stuff growing up, which was awesome. And I even took a few guitar lessons when I was younger.”

After spending nearly a year on crutches and a cane, he devoted the same drive he had for sports into his music. Looking back, it’s almost as though this was the path he was always on.

“I’ve been playing hard rock forever, and more metal gradually over the last 10 years. And mostly cover tunes. I know a lot of the readers are like, ‘Ugh, covers, boo!’”

It’s easy to stereotype your run of the mill cover band, but when the musicians are bringing an energy and originality to it – and having fun doing it – well, there’s just no sense in the stigma. Especially when you factor in how popular they are with pub owners and goers.

“I don’t know (why there’s such a stigma), but I see all these original acts go out there with really good products, and then get ripped off by all these venues that just give them the door. It’s sad. They should be making money like the rest of us,” he says.

“My suggestion for all these young bands out there that want to play originals, go ahead, that’s great, but learn covers. Then you can throw them in your set and sell your CDs at the show. You’re going to get paid more for it, and you’re going to make money from your merch.

“You can either starve to death and be ‘true’ to your form, or you can go out there, make a few compromises, probably even have fun doing it, and actually make some money doing what you love.”

Kelly, and his main act, formerly known as Original Sin (and currently working on a new band name to go with some line-up changes) started out playing covers and will soon incorporate original material into their set.

“We are starting to write right now. I’ve had a few songs written for quite awhile, I just didn’t have a fire for it until now. And I can only stay 29 for another 10 years, so…” he laughs.

“A lot of them are all over the board, which is nice, and I’d like to keep it that way,” he adds, which will add to the dynamics in their set list.

Kelly personally knows more than 400 cover songs. With the new rhythm section in the main act, that list is a little limited. But, according to Kelly, the band he hosts Metal Mondays with is almost back to where they were before he headed west a little over a year ago. He spent a year in Vancouver before deciding it was time to come home.

“I took a year off because I was really trying to make (a relationship) work out, but it didn’t,” he sighed. “Now I’m back at square one trying to get all these projects off the ground again.”

But it’s coming together and, while he’s not playing fours times a week like he was, it won’t be long.

Speak of the Devil, his popular Ozzy tribute, has evolved into Mizzus Crowley and now features a female vocalist.

“We are looking into some bookings for the Ozzy show for some time in April, but that one is a hard sell because, usually, when there’s an Ozzy album coming out or an Ozzy tour, everybody wants the Ozzy show. In between, not really,” he says.

“I’m also in the process of putting a Pantera tribute together. You can let everyone know we’re looking for a Phil. We need a Phil. We need a singer that can also handle screaming.”

The goal for unnamed Pantera tribute is “to do some of the summer festival shows ,or get a big metal show going. For some reason it’s easier to put a tribute act as a headliner and then go out with somebody like Divinity and Kilyakai. I’d love to do a show like that, just go out and tour all summer long, you know, headline, but get three or four really good original acts, help them sell lots of stuff and get them lots of money to put towards their goals.”

Perhaps one will be found on Metal Mondays, which will soon return, though not at The Thirsty Dog as they once were. Kelly and the Metal Monday Jam Band, which includes Edward the Great vocalist John Sinclair on bass, have been showcasing at a number of venues and hope to find a new home for it in the near future.

“We’ve always wanted to treat it as a showcase for these young bands that really don’t have a chance to get out to play except for places like Vern’s,” he says, referring to the limited number of venues in Calgary willing to take a chance on unknown bands.

“With the help of Jess (Morrison from Devils Work Promotions) we got metal into The Thirsty Dog, and I think we can still do the same thing, get the young bands out there and get some shows for them.

“I’ve had a fruitful career, so it’s great to give back to the young guys just starting out, and you always see something cool and new. These guys have all the energy and fire and determination. It’s awesome, I love it,” he enthuses.

“Back in the day, we had Iron Maiden and Judas Priest and Saxon. These days, it’s all over the gamut. You’ve got screamo and death metal, and you’ve got black metal. So many young bands are smearing the lines; they don’t want to be labeled anymore. You look at ads now and these are all the influences. It’s kind of cool to see.”

And what exactly does Kelly like to play?

When it comes down to it, “about 30 per cent of it is stuff I actually enjoy playing. The rest of it is getting us the gig,” he admits.

“Getting to know the club owner is the first thing. Always go in and talk to these guys; find out what they want to hear. I then usually take about 40 per cent of that and throw it out the window,” he exclaims.

“There are 47 bands out there right now that are just doing top-40. I could go out and see any of those bands and hear the exact same songs over and over and over. It’s not fun.

“So we’ll take some of the lamer stuff – I’ve actually done Britney Spears covers and just rocked it up, make it funny. We’ll play some Weird Al stuff, but we’ll rock that up too. People enjoy laughing. You can’t take yourself too seriously in the music industry anymore.”

Regardless of the wants-to-play/paid-to-play struggle, it’s all worth it for the guitarist.

“It’s my job. It doesn’t pay the bills anymore, but it’s my number one job. The year I spent in Vancouver not doing it was the worst year of my life,” he sighs.

“And life’s too short.”