"Refreshing" is the word most often used to describe the music of WIND. This husband and wife duo, Nori and Barbie Kelley, live in the Gadsden, Alabama area. Being songwiters as well as musicians, they have a wealth of original material between them. Their concerts showcase both their songwriting and musical abilities, with Barbie singing, playing flute and percussion, and Nori singing and playing electric and acoustic guitars. Together since 1993, Nori and Barbie also own and operate "Forestgreen Studio," a small digital recording facility.

Born in Japan, Nori has been a recording session musician since 1979. CCM magazine has compared his guitar playing to both Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits and Phil Keaggy. In 1999 Mel Bay plans to publish a book/CD package written by Nori called "Basic Strumming & Fingerpicking." In 1995 they released a CD of his arrangements of the music in their largest selling guitar instruction book, titled "Modern Guitar Method Grade 1 - Pop Version." Barbie is from the Wilmington, Delaware area and has been playing flute since age 9, and more recently, the oboe. Her voice has a pleasant, almost Celtic-like quality, and has been compared by some to Natalie Merchant.

WIND's style of music is a mixture of rock and folk, drawing from British artists of the 70's for influence (Al Stewart, Yes, Pink Floyd, Badfinger, Dire Straits, etc.), as well as American groups like Kansas & The Allman Bros.

WIND has been to Russia three times, where they've played a number of concerts. Their new EP is an exquisite mixture, from the Cockburn-esque "Forestgreen" to the Allman-like anthem "Daybreak." They're debut CD was released in 1996, and they soon plan to begin work on their second full album. They're currently performing songs from their new EP & first album, with a few tasty covers peppered in.

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