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The Full Story

"Take Me Back" was an artistic indulgence on Michael's part.  When sitting down to write one day he was reminded of a sculpture crafted by his current boss and Texas songwriting legend Pat Green, entitled "The Gunslinger."  This eerie cowboy reminded Kelton of a character from a dark western, had that character been modeled in the style of Jack Skellington from "The Nightmare Before Christmas;" tall and contemplative, hopeful yet weary.  "Take Me Back" is Kelton's take on this lost troubadour's tale of longing, both for a land and a love that have long since left him reminiscing his distant youth.

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Kelton once again teamed up with co-producer John Marlin and wrangled some of Texas' finest to enliven this story through music.  While the southwest stylings of Paul Eason (The Wilder Blue) vividly set the desert stage with mandolin and baritone guitar, our protagonist's unique perspective is delicately animated by Sean Giddings (Pat Green, Christopher Cross, Eric Johnson) on piano and Sam Kossler (Pat Green, Katie Offerman, Luke Grimes) on steel guitar. Giddings further illustrates our troubadour's misled hope with a wistful melodica solo.

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Kelton enlisted the help of his wife Michaela to gather all visual aspects of this release, including a full length music video, while camping in the vast expanse of the Big Bend area of west Texas.

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"Take Me Back" will hit Texas radio in mid November, with an official release date of November 22nd, 2024.  The full-length music video will premier the following day.

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Follow as this release unfolds on Kelton's social media pages, and pre-save "Take Me Back" wherever you listen to music.

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Kelton "on set" outside of Terlingua, TX
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Kelton and son Mathis hiking in Big Bend
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