Nashville, TN – Acclaimed singer, songwriter and musician Ruston Kelly has announced the March 14th release of Dirt Emo, Vol. 2. 2019’s Dirt Emo, Vol. 1 received high critical praise and became a fan-favorite release. Kelly continues to reimagine the genre and more with Dirt Emo, Vol. 2. Pre-order the forthcoming EP HERE.
Dirt Emo, Vol. 2 is comprised of five well-known cover tracks, including Kelly’s unique, honeyed take on Avril Lavigne’s “Complicated,” which was released today and features Annie DiRusso. Listen to it HERE.
“Complicated was always a banger,” Kelly explains. “Especially when you’re an angsty teen at the local swim club, fantasizing a relationship with the lifeguard who’s older than you. You try to impress her by doing a double front flip off the diving board, but you belly flop – and that’s the moment you get her attention.”
Released late last year, Kelly recorded an earnest cover Morgan Wallen’s “Sand In My Boots,” which is included on Dirt Emo, Vol. 2.
“On Dirt Emo, Vol. 2 we went to expand the concept a bit, and include songs that were (in my opinion) emo-adjacent – as well as making it clear that ‘dirt emo’ doesn’t have to be a specific genre, per se, but more a mood or style in which I perform / reinterpret a song,” says Kelly. “It’s like angsty tumbleweeds or weeping holding a banjo, etcetera.”
In celebration of the second volume’s release, Kelly has already sold out two ‘Dirt Emo Nights’ at The Basement East in Nashville on March 10th and 11th. He will also be playing at Railbird Music Festival in Lexington, KY on May 31st.
As a commended songwriter himself, Ruston Kelly has a penchant for re-interpreting songs by other writers. Dirt Emo, Vol. 1 featured covers of songs by artists by such as Taylor Swift, Dashboard Confessional, The Carter Family, Wheatus, Saves the Day and Blink 182. The New York Times said of the project, “The album’s dozen songs, propelled by his Americana and pop-punk tastes, thread the tension between downbeat and shimmery…”
