Kelsey Hughen

Kelsey Hughen returns to Parker Jazz Club on Sunday, November 15, to celebrate the release of her second EP, Rabbit Hole. It's a homecoming of sorts: Hughen held a residency at the club from 2019 to 2020, so this is her first time back on that stage in six years.

Rabbit Hole is a self-released collection of six original songs that run 19:86 in total. Hughen describes her work as drawing on Celtic storytelling and theatrical, character-driven narratives, blending indie pop with sweeping, soundtrack-like soundscapes. It's a sound she's been building since she started in choral groups at age five, later gravitating toward songwriters like Sara Bareilles, Ingrid Michaelson, KT Tunstall and Regina Spektor. She recorded and released her first EP in 2019 with the help of a Kickstarter, and spent time as a regular at Rockwood Music Hall in New York City, where she shared the stage with Johnny Cuomo and Riverdance fiddler Pat Mangan.

Since then, she's stepped into musical theater, making her debut in Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella in 2023 and playing Liesl von Trapp in The Sound of Music. She's also appeared twice on CBS's We Are Austin performing "Welcome Home."

For this show, she's bringing a full band. Kory Burrell is on guitar and bass, Jesse Morvan on electric guitar, Colum Enrique on drums, and Maddy Brotherton on violin. The set marks the launch of Rabbit Hole, so you'll hear the new material live. The show starts at 6 PM at Parker Jazz Club, 117 W 4th St #107B, in Austin.