An Inspired Chat with WIND – Nori & Barbie Kelley of Southeastern Pennsylvania

We recently had the chance to connect with WIND – Nori & Barbie Kelley and have shared our conversation below.

Hi WIND – , thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day to share your story, experiences and insights with our readers. Let’s jump right in with an interesting one: What is a normal day like for you right now?
Nori: When we’re not traveling, which seems to be a good bit of the time lately, a normal day at home generally starts off with coffee and reading, meditating & prayer. In my case, it’s the Bible – actually everyday starts off that way no matter where we are. Both 2024 and 2025 have been years of writing, arranging & recording music, followed by editing, mixing & mastering what was recorded. I just finished mastering the new WIND album a couple of days ago. It has been both exhilarating and exhausting at the same time, and I’ve been sick with the flu for the past week!

Often my days are spent scheduling and booking the various tours we do every year, both overseas and here in the U.S., which is quite time consuming. Keeping up to date with our website, itinerary and other things fall in there somewhere as well. Once or twice a week I do additional recording session work for my brother-in-law, Steve Beck, who is a singer-songwriter as well as a drummer. Weekly coffee dates with Barbie, errands, lunch meetings and other events take up the rest of the time!

Barbie: Normal?  That’s funny!  I do have a few regular jobs during the week- caring for my brother with MS, “Amish Taxi” regular daily drives and some random drives, and helping out at our church.  Nori and I try to go out on a weekly coffee date where we read a few pages or a chapter of a book on marriage.  It always stirs up some good conversation and we continue to learn more about one another.  Practicing and/or recording music, learning our new songs, rehearsing for upcoming tours…  Over the summer, I made several trips to the Delaware beaches and NJ shores to try to catch a few waves on my surfboard. I would say the most normal thing about my days are waking up, reading my Bible, and journaling in my prayer journal.  I believe that’s the best way to start my day.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Nori: We have a progressive rock influenced band called “WIND.” WIND has basically been together since Barbie & I were married in 1993, and has involved the two of us plus other revolving members over the years. Currently we are four members, and we’ve just completed a new album which will be released on September 30. Our music is melodic, with emphasis placed on instrumentation, vocals and lyrics.

Barbie: Nori plays many instruments extremely well, but guitar is his forte- electric, acoustic, classical, resonator, mandolin, lap steel… he makes them all sing!  I play the flute,acoustic guitar and hand percussion.  Sometimes an Irish whistle, recorder, or Chinese wooden flute in the studio.  I think the flute and guitar combo gives us an original sound.  Also, the fact that we both grew up listening to progressive rock, folk, and me, pop, gives us a unique sound from song to song.

Okay, so here’s a deep one: What’s a moment that really shaped how you see the world?
Nori: For various reasons, I think I grew up feeling out of control and extremely insecure. I felt like the world was going to just swallow me up. I grew up in church, but never quite got that as an adolescent. However, after several years of drug use, I had a series of experiences that led me to God – Jesus, to be specific – and my life changed forever. I felt I had a reason, a purpose for living, and I no longer felt I was going to be swallowed up by the world because I knew the one who was in control of it all. That was 1975 and I haven’t looked back!

Barbie:  Like Nori, I had a life-changing experience at the age of 21.  When I surrendered my directionless life to Jesus, everything changed!  I found purpose, joy, and I felt like I saw the world through new eyes.  Even the grass seemed greener.

What fear has held you back the most in your life?
Nori: Growing up in a home where I was told over and over that I was no good and would never amount to anything was pretty tough. I heard those things for as long as I can remember from my dad, who was a verbally abusive alcoholic. So I was extremely insecure growing up, and my greatest fear was the fear of being in front of people. It’s funny…I started playing music and singing in front of live audiences when I was 12, but still to this day, I don’t particularly enjoy being in front of people, and it’s a huge part of what I do! So I credit God with getting me over the fears and insecurities of my younger years, and I can also appreciate my upbringing with all its challenges – it has helped shape me into the man I am today. I know my parents did their best with what they had to raise me and I can look back on my dad with total forgiveness and love. He suffered from PTSD and was just lost for most of his life. The good news is that he found God’s forgiveness before he passed on at the early age of 50.

Barbie:  Comparing my musical talents to others hasn’t held me back, but it has surely made me question myself.  I had to come to grips with the fact that I don’t have a voice like certain amazing female vocalists, but that’s ok!  I have the voice God gave me, and, people seem to like it! So I try to be an encouragement to others to simply be who God created them to be and not compare themselves.

I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. What would your closest friends say really matters to you?
Nori: I guess that would really be a question for my closest friends, but if I had to guess, I would hope they would use words like, “faithfulness,” “perseverance” and “true.” I wrote a song earlier this year titled, “Friends,” and it’s on the new album.

Barbie:  My faith.  Trying to live my life according to the examples Jesus taught.

Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. When do you feel most at peace?
Nori: I feel most at peace when I know I’m doing what I was created to do, whether it’s music, being a husband or, when we were raising our daughters, being the best father I could be.

Barbie:  I feel the most peace when I’m spending time in prayer.  There is so much going on in the world these days, and some nights I just can’t stop my brain so I can go to sleep.  That’s when I get up, grab my Bible, do some reading and then pray.  I always go back to bed and fall right to sleep.  Usually curling up next to Nori.

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Image Credits
Photography by Julie Smith & Chris Griffiths

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