Do you remember being 12 years old and knowing exactly what you were going to do with the rest of your life? You saw a fireman rushing to a four-alarm blaze, or met a teacher who made you realize how challenging education was. Or maybe you just thought that Mr. McAndrew, who ran the corner shop, was the coolest guy in town, and that's exactly how you wanted to live your life; as the smartest, sharpest, coolest person around. I can make no claims to know about Kelly Bell's intelligence, but I can say he's a hell of a cool guy. He's also done exactly what he's wanted to do since the age of 12: play the blues.

Kelly Bell was raised in a suburb of Washington, D.C. His first band was a heavy metal outfit called Border Patrol which played Judas Priest-like ditties. After a few too many screaming sessions, Bell found a new genre in the world of funk Ð the days of Rick James worship when he saw his first blues show. Bell only went to the show because B.B. King was playing, and his dad offered the tickets. But he was instantly hooked by the passion of the music, how it was able to speak for that low-down, sweet dirty shame part in all of us. Talk to Bell about that first exposure to the blues, and you'll be amazed by how dedicated he is to it, and how willing he is to share it with anyone and everyone in his path. I suspect that Bell probably thinks that we're all blues artists when you get down to it. Ask him about blues greats and you're likely to hear him speak of names like Albert Collins, Bobby Parker, and Bobby "Blue" Bland as if they were the holy trinity in his own church of soul. He's so dedicated to this work, this life, that he's tattooed "Blues Man" on the back of his neck. This man wears his heart on his sleeve, and that is immediately evident the first time you hear his band, the conveniently monikered Kelly Bell Band.

This band is incredible. I put their last CD, Phat Blues Music, on my stereo as I settled in for a long round of cleaning. I've never dusted, swept and mopped faster in my entire life. Bell's passion comes alive when the bass starts, when the drums keep up. He screams, sings, shouts; anything to make you listen, and understand that this is the music his body was made for, and maybe yours too.

Kelly Bell is very much a hep cat. He's the only person I can recall meeting who actually uses the word "cat" to describe another human being. And he's done something amazing; Kelly Bell has had the ability to see his first love, funk, and realize that there was absolutely no reason why it couldn't be combined with his true love, blues. Add a dash of rock, and you have the concoction Bell refers to as the "phat blues." Bell gets extremely upset when he hears someone accuse him of being too young to play the blues (don't ask me how old Bell is, he won't discuss it; suffice it to say he's probably a twentysomething). His phat blues are an opportunity to prove that each blues man (or woman) has the chance to make the blues their own. "Entertainers don't make mistakes," he told me. And believe me, the phat blues are about as far from a mistake as you can get. He's had to persevere through a lot of people telling him that it was wrong for him to try and mix the blues up, that his young, headstrong ways were going to ruin a perfectly good tradition. Bell stood firm. He comments, "You're going to bring to the table what you bring. Period." He's not afraid to bring the phat blues out regularly, at convenient locations for all Fly readers, such as Lancaster's Historic Blue Star and Murph's Other Bar in York.

Bell feels the blues community connection wherever it is that he plays. He told me of a show where three generations of one family all attended Ð separately. A grandfather, father, and son had all heard the K.B. Band CD and decided it was a show they wanted to see. It's experiences like that which remind Bell why he fell in love with B.B. King's guitar, Lucille, at that first B.B. King show.

Voted the "Best Blues Band" for five years straight in the Baltimore area, the Kelly Bell Band has opened for the likes of Matchbox Twenty, Buckwheat Zydeco, and Better Than Ezra. In fact, their first two gigs were opening for Bo Diddley at a well-known Baltimore blues club, the 8 x 10. The band was an instant success in the area, and now supports itself through constant touring. Having gone through many different line-ups before arriving at the groovelicious group we see today has made things a bit challenging, but that's also what keeps the music fresh. The current line-up is Ira Mayfield on guitar, Kirk Myers tickling the ivories, Erik True keeping the beat, Brett Sharbaugh playing bass, and Speedo is the sound man who Bell says "keeps the show going." All of that talent, backing up Bell's strong, husky voice makes for quite a show. Bell loves playing live, because it's there that he gets to see the audience that lets him live out his dream.

He wants his shows to do for us what that first show did for him. He likes the idea of a Kelly Bell Band show making the audience have a "homey feeling, like 'This is where I belong tonight.'" The band blasts its way through countless sessions, showing that they sound just as good in person as they do on CD.

Speaking of CDs, the new Kelly Bell Band CD, tentatively titled Let me Spoke to Your Momma Real for a Minute ... Please is due out in the next few months, and will contain what has become a K.B. Band tradition: a classic blues song played in phat blues style. When I spoke with Kelly, he still wasn't sure about which song it would be, but you can bet it'll be as good as the cover of "Rollin' & Tumblin" on Phat Blues Music.

There are four goals Kelly Bell has set for himself: first, to have his own CD Ð done. Secondly, he wanted to have his grandmother see him perform live Ð happened three summers ago. He's always wanted to meet Bobby Bland, the opening act for B.B. King all those years ago Ð accomplished. Now, Bell's only wish is to become a good enough guitar player to sit in a coffeeshop alone and play for himself. And maybe for a few 12-year-olds who like to dream.