Kelly Finnigan: A Lover Was Born

Soundcheck to load-out with Kelly Finnigan & the Atonements.

I’m excited to share the inaugural photo feature of That Million Dollar Bash documenting a lovely hang with Kelly Finnigan and his 8-piece band, The Atonements, at Brooklyn Made in Bushwick a few weeks ago.

Finnigan and singer Mayteana Morales working out vocal parts backstage

The first thing you notice when you hear the music of Kelly Finnigan is his phenomenal voice that somehow is able to phase back and forth between the laid-back sweep of Al Green and the frenzied immediacy of Otis Redding. The second thing you hear is how painstakingly constructed the music that surrounds that voice is. Peeking at the credits to his new album, A Lover Was Born, I learned that’s no accident: Finnigan is also the songwriter and produces, engineers and mixes his own music.

I got clued into that meticulous approach as Finnigan paused the sound check several times to request an adjustment of the interplay between the two guitarists, Jimmy James and Joe Ramey. As I observed him making more fine adjustme…