Showcase Artist for the 2016 New Music Confab

The New Music Confab brings music industry professionals from all areas of the Artist Development process: radio, record labels, managers, agents, festival and concert promotion, sound and video production, social media, and of course, NEW Music Artists, to discover and learn from each other.   

DriftJam 2016 Artist

DriftJam formed in the fall of 2013 and is based off of the ideas of the former "Reggaefest" started by the Pirates of Lake Murray. DriftJam is a "one-of-a-kind" floating music festival, based solely on water. Featuring live music from some of the best up-and-coming bands around the region. This family-friendly water music festival has become one of the most unique events in the southeast. 

Free Times Feature/vincent harris

The best thing about Keep On Smiling, the new album from Newberry’s Kelly Cheats, is that it keeps you guessing. Just when the first two songs have lulled you into thinking the band is a revisionist Southern rock act in the vein of The Black Crowes, the razor-sharp slide riffs and hot-rod rhythm section fade into the widescreen acoustic balladry of “Moving On.” Then once the rich vocal harmonies dissipate, it’s straight into the piano-heavy “Get On or Get Off,” an easy-rolling, mid-tempo number that sounds like.... Read More

WACH FOX 57 The Jeffery Lampkin Show

Trent got the priveledge of playing one of our new songs on the Jeffery Lampkin show on WACH FOX 57 which was in support of our good friend Trevor Mars who is in need of a kidney transplant www.emeraldsfortrevor.com

Belk Southern Musician Showcase

Kelly Cheats was selected as a top semi-finalist for the 3rd annual Belk Southern Musician Showcase. Selected finalists from these auditions compete for a cash prize, all expense-paid performances at major music festivals and other venues, in addition with the Belk Bowl and the opportunity to be featured in Belk ad campaigns.

Shutter 16 Magazine / Molly Shores

"The number one rule in writing persuasive or concise work is to use active voice. The number one rule in naming a band is making it memorable. With these powers combined, you can create a punchy, conversation-starting band name; that’s what Kelly Cheats did. Kelly Cheats, but on who and why? I hope to find out today. This South Carolina fusion band has one album out (Out of The Patch 2010), and another on the way. Read More..... 

The Even Ground / Andrew Westberry

"True genuineness emanates from the very start of Out of the Patch, the first full album release from Kelly Cheats. “What You Say” features minimal editing and post-processing, instead letting the raw sounds of the band, competent and free from any alteration, prevail. A casual swing rhythm and tight harmonies within the instruments and voices are essential to Kelly Cheats’ sound, especially in the second track of the album “Isabel.” Read More.....

Gigspotting.Net / Dan Thornton

Kelly cheats, or so I'm told. Seriously, the Kelly Cheats band got their name from an incident at a poker game. I'm sure it serves them well as it's both intriguing and easy for the audience to remember. So they can be sure to come back to see the band the next time they're in town. There's no cheating when it comes to their sound. A well seasoned group of musicians that like to have fun. Currently finishing up the final touches of their second, soon to be released, album Keep On Smiling. Read More.....