Kelle Jolly

Performing Member

"The Tennessee Ukulele Lady", is an accomplished music entertainer and educator. She shares musical stories and songs from the South. Her repertoire includes traditional African American music of blues, jazz, spirituals, and folk. Kelle is a graduate of South Carolina State University, where she studied Music Education with Concentrations in Voice. Kelle is the 2011 Mountain Soul Vocal competition winner and the Knoxville Community Shares 2013 Artist of the Year. Kelle Jolly is the host of Jazz Jam, Knoxville's only vocal jazz radio show, on WUOT 91.9FM. She is the founder of the Women in Jazz Jam Festival and Ukesphere of Knoxville. Kelle and her saxophonist husband, Will Boyd, have served as ambassadors of jazz from Tennessee to Japan. They are Knoxville MLK Commission Artist Award recipients. In 2021, the City of Knoxville proclaimed July 21st, "Kelle Jolly and Will Boyd" Day in Knoxville, TN. Kelle Jolly is currently a graduate student in the Communication and Storytelling Studies program at East Tennessee State University, pursuing her Master of Arts degree.