hen deciding who we’d have as our Night of the Living Best of Tacoma Legend, we wanted to go with someone who is not so mainstream, who doesn’t always get the spotlight, yet is so very truly Tacoma.

The natural choice for me was to grace these pages with information on the life and times of the Tacoma legend that is Kelly Mickelson.

I could wax poetic for hours about what an honor it’s been to get to know this man who is quiet but makes all kinds of noise, subtly-shy and so very intelligent, a careful listener paired with a hilarious sense of humor, and an edgy man who is also a loving father.

But rather than my going on and on, I wanted to give Tacoma locals their chance to describe why they know that Mickelson is indeed the Best of Tacoma.

Kathlyn Neal, a friend of Mickelson’s whom you can occasionally find providing backup vocals for his latest band, The Fucking Eagles, had this to say:

“Kelly is a true blue Tacoma original. He is a friend to many, an awesome musician, sound tech extraordinaire; plus, he is father to the cutest little gal in the region.”

Another cohort of Mickelson’s, Jason Locking, echoes the world-class sentiment.
“I think Kelly is a force in Tacoma because Kelly is Tacoma. Kelly is gritty, yet refined. Punk enough to work at the Community World Theater and Mother Records, yet classy enough to run the show at The Pantages (and now the 5th Avenue in Seattle), handle Microsoft’s annual meeting, and stand in the same room as the Dalai Lama and Dr. Nelson Mandela. Born and raised in the South End, the man has played in more cool bands than most of my friends combined, and he can seriously throw down in a kitchen. Kelly is my hometown hero. And what a beard he can grow!”

If you really want to get the dirt on someone, all you have to do is turn to a former housemate. Here’s what Tammi Wren threw out about Mickelson.

“Kelly was one of the best roommates I ever had. He made great tamales, and he let me ride his BMX bike whenever I wanted. And anyone who can live with me and put up with my OCD is a saint in my book. I also love him for the fact that he woke up in the middle of the night before peeing on me when my bedroom was next to the bathroom.”

In the early days of knowing Mickelson, Matt Sandborn, Kate Cohn, and Rebecca Harrison used to play a game they called Stump Kelly Mickelson wherein anytime one of them had a legitimate question about Tacoma (be it historical, architectural, social, etc.), they would ask Mickelson, and if he didn’t know the answer, the questioner would get a point. Sandborn confessed that he never stumped Mickelson once even though the game lasted well over a year.

Local artist Chris Sharp remembers when he and a friend tried to launch a war between the Mods and the Rockers in Tacoma and they had deemed Mickelson as the leader of the rockers in our area. Mickelson was such a good sport about it; he didn’t want to join in. He responded by letting them know that he was busy. Sharp had one more word to add describing Mickelson: professional.

Mickelson’s current bandmate in the Fucking Eagles, Jesse Ray, told me that Mickelson started playing music because he flunked out of pharmacy school and that he used to be a woman.

But after sitting down with Mickelson recently to learn more about this amazing Tacoma man (and laugh a little over Ray’s comments), I can help you understand that none of those allegations are true.

Meet Kelly James Mickelson
Kelly James Mickelson was born Aug. 17, 1964, in the Best of Tacoma, Wash. He grew up in a house on Wright and Thompson Streets, and he’s a graduate of Lincoln High School.

Kelly was the last of three kids in the pivotal Mickelson home. His mother cooked at Holy Rosary, and his father did heavy construction.

Sandborn offered the following endearing story about the Mickelson abode.

“The Mickelsons were so well known that their home became an informal Tacoma landmark. Friends of the family would honk on their way by, and Kelly’s mother, Diane, continued to receive daily honks from the cars of friends and loved ones until the time of her passing last November even though her youngest (Kelly) had been out of the house for more than 20 years.”

During these formidable years and thereafter, family became such an important piece of Mickelson’s life, which you can so obviously recognize any time he speaks of or looks at his girlfriend, Jennifer Renee Adams, and their 2-year-old daughter, Opal Mae Mickelson. Their family includes two fish, three dogs, one cat, and three chickens.
After Mickelson met Adams through mutual friend Cheryl Rucker, he invited her on a date to an Elvis Costello acoustic set at Benaroya Hall. At the show, he fell for her; they went on dates; she fell for him, and the rest is history.

Adams fondly recalls the following:

“When Kelly and I first met, he used to visit me at work and always bring me Madelines, those yummy French cookies. He was so sweet. He would slip them out of his pocket in a mildly self-conscious matter. My god, I love those cookies and that man.”

Another good friend of Kelly’s, Bianca Gomez, shared the following heart-warming information.

“If there’s one thing that I treasure about Kelly Mickelson, it’s how much he values those who are close to him. He’s told me on multiple occasions how much he loved his father, Francis, who passed away, and how his father used to play the accordion. For his 40th birthday, I bought him a zydeco accordion. A few weeks ago, Kelly told me that he picked it up and played it for Opal Mae. He said that she loved it and did her own sweet little two-year-old dance. I know that she will love Kelly as much as he loved his dad. He’s a great friend, a great father, and a great man.”

If that’s not the Best of Tacoma, I don’t know what is.

After graduating from Lincoln, Mickelson went on to wash dishes and cook at restaurants while doing time at local community colleges. For Mickelson, school was less about getting a formal degree and more about being educated.

His love for music
While working at one of those restaurants, Mickelson would break into a field that appealed to him so much that he’d work to become an expert at it. He was a dinner cook at an Italian restaurant called Prosito’s, and he doubled by working as a sound technician for the joint.

At the same time, Mickelson was playing in local bands. A man of many instruments as well as talents, he plays the bass, guitar, drums, keyboards and saxophone, and he’s lived the rock star life on the road where his bands would play 40 shows in 50 nights.

He has played in some 20 Tacoma bands, and two of his favorites were Goodbye Harry and Earl. He played in Earl with near and dear friend and local artist extraordinaire Ryan Loiselle, and the band was named after a door guy from The Spar. Earl had the privilege of playing at a Nirvana record release party.  Mickelson also mixed at the legendary Community World Theater, where all of the grunge bands of the Northwest got their start when they were just kids. He helped manage the space that hosted bands including Soundgarden, Nirvana, Nomeansno, Screaming Trees, The Accused, and even White Zombie.

In no time, he was working as the sound guy for many of Tacoma’s restaurants, bars and other venues. He did live music, set up for shows, and installed sound systems throughout the city.

Mickelson’s great affection for music then evolved into a business venture that Tacomans still speak of fondly.

He opened a music store and record label, both known as Mother Records, with a business partner, Kenny Johnson.

When Mother Records first showed up on the scene, there wasn’t really an indie record store in town, and people had to drive north to score good music.

To make ends meet, both of the guys worked second jobs. Mickelson continued to do restaurant and sound work for The Victory Club, which is now Jazzbones.
Johnson and Mickelson agreed that Mother Records would be a five-year investment. However, Johnson bought Mickelson out after three years and operated it solely for the remaining two.

When his Mother Records chapter ended, Mickelson landed a gig as a sound engineer for the Broadway Center for Performing Arts, a position he held for 12 years.
Some of his most memorable experiences there included doing the sound for and enjoying Paco de Lucia (incredible flamenco love), The Seattle International Children’s Festival, and meeting actor Gregory Peck.

The expertise Mickelson developed in sound led him to take on a role that he holds now, assisting on the sound for major shows in Seattle, including 5th Avenue productions and the Seattle Symphony.

You can often find him working 12-hour days, especially for the upcoming multimillion-dollar Shrek production for the 5th Avenue Theater.

But when Mickelson’s not busy bustling around the Puget Sound professionally and with the Fucking Eagles as one of Tacoma’s favorite celebrities, you can find him at home letting the dogs out, getting chicken eggs, making breakfast for Jen and Opal Mae, and not answering the phone.

When you ask Mickelson what he thinks the best thing about Tacoma is, his answer is straightforward and simple:

“If Tacoma fought Seattle in a fistfight, T-Town would prevail even though we have half as many people.”

With the force that is Kelly Mickelson on our team, you can sure as hell bet that  is so very, very true.

Facts you probably didn’t know about Kelly Mickelson:

He was an extra in the movie “Hand that Rocks the Cradle.”

In November 2002, he survived open-heart surgery. We’re so lucky to still have this wonderful man.

His favorite musical artists are Ray Charles, Johnny Cash, Nirvana, Nomeansno, The Jesus Lizard, Dave Brubeck, John Coltrane, and Miles Davis’ On the Corner is his favorite album.

He is an incredible cook and some of his favorite dishes to create include paella, coq au vin and soulful Southern fried chicken, greens, black-eyed peas, and corn bread.

He’s met Bill Cosby, Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X’s daughters, Barak Obama, the Dalai Lama, and Hal Holbrook.

He was deported from Canada for trying to sneak in to play a rock show with the Fucking Eagles. He’s banned from that uptight country for another few months.