By Janday Wilson
Tyler-James Kelly and Galianna
Backyard concert
Westville, New Haven
Oct. 17, 2025
Dan and Julie McGurk’s Chapel Street backyard was an enchanted scene Friday evening. String lights twinkled and glowing orbs swayed above the heads of the crowd gathered for a home show thrown by the McGurks’ promotional outfit, Me and the Other Moms.
At the start of the night, headliner Tyler-James Kelly, a rising country singer-songwriter from Rhode Island, was sipping on a beer in the driveway, right at home. Opening act Galianna chatted in a circle of friends. Shrieking children ran around gleefully, safe under the watchful eyes of bundled up parents.
In addition to getting a world-class show for the low price of a suggested $20 donation, guests got to enjoy free New Haven pizza along with beers, Long View Ciderhouse’s donated cider and juice boxes. As the show began, Dan McGurk hopped on the deck serving as a stage to urge the crowd to make new friends, a plea he repeated a few times throughout the night.
Galianna is Dan McGurk’s friend and co-worker. Once she began to sing and smoothly strum her guitar, her voice sweet but never cloying, it was clear that it wasn’t friendship alone that got her this gig.
Galianna opened with “By the Reservoir,” a haunting song about unrequited love, with the lyric, “I stopped crying at the thought of your eyes.” Her set continued with more originals, including the soaring “Carolina Flowers” and her most pop-like number, “Dramatically Irrationally,” in which she crooned half-dejectedly, half-triumphantly, “Who am I if I’m not chasing broken things?”
By the time we arrived at “Laces,” a song that will be on her EP coming out next year, members of the audience were swaying in their seats. In between performing, Galianna joked that she doesn’t know the genre in which to slot her songs of heartache and yearning, but she thinks it might be “coffeehouse emo.”
Then it was Tyler-James Kelly’s turn to hit the stage. The rising country artist led with the hard charging “Travelin’ Troubador,” the first single off his recently released album Dream River. He picked the strings of his five-decades-old guitar as he sang, “A brand new town every night/looking for them neon lights,” and, later “I don’t need a thing but an old six string/to keep me going strong” on his favorite song on the album Going Strong.
Kelly reported that SiriusXM has been playing “Travelin’ Troubador.” He has earned accolades from Rolling Stone and has been touring to support his new album. He told Friday’s crowd that this performance was a “special treat” as he hasn’t played a house show in a while.
Kelly’s gravel-laced voice rang out into the night with a warmth that eased the air’s bite.
Kelly’s spirited rendition of “Mud Money” off Dream River was a revelation. After he performed his rousing cover of “Ramblin’ Man,” it sounded like the Allman Brothers the song was made for him.
Country music of the 1970s is Kelly’s sweet spot. He regaled the audience with tales of growing up in a flea market alongside his Nana, who introduced him to the records of George Jones, Loretta Lynn, and Randy Travis. Kelly’s hero is Guy Clark. Amidst cheers, he declared to the audience, “Country music ain’t just about a red solo cup.” Kelly’s sound is honest, and his lyrics cut to the heart of life.
Tyler ended the night with the jaunty “I’ve Got All the Good Luck in the World,” which included an intricate guitar solo. As the last note sounded, someone in the crowd said, “He’s something else. He ain’t old enough to sound that good, that rich.”
Visit @meandtheothermoms on Instagram for future shows. Find Galianna on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram at @galiannamusic. For more Tyler-James Kelly, visit www.tylerjameskelly.com.
