Red McKelvie’s guitar and pedal steel guitar have appeared on a multitude of New Zealand recordings from John Hanlon, Larry Morris, DD Smash, Hello Sailor and Sneaky Feelings to country music acts Patsy Riggir, John Hore Grenell, Gray Bartlett and Brendan Dugan.
He began his career in blues bands in Auckland before moving to Australia, falling in love with The Byrds, becoming a country rock pioneer in Sydney and providing the riffs for the huge Richard Clapton hit ‘Girls On The Avenue’. He became a permanent fixture at Stebbing Recording Studios from the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s.
Infinity
SDL Music
Sun Pacific
In the 1990s, McKelvie’s son, Chris McKelvie, was a guitarist in The Greg Johnson Set, appearing on Everyday Distortions and Johnson’s solo album Vine Street Stories.
McKelvie’s Third Union Band cohort Grahame Lister co-wrote the UK and New Zealand 1987 No.1 novelty song ‘Star Trekkin'.