Kelly Reverb (born Kelly Partridge) is a Dallas DJ and producer who came up in the city's overlooked but fertile club and rave scene. He got his start spinning open-format sets at the original Hard Rock Cafe in 1987, worked at the legendary Bill's Records, and trainspotted Go Go Mike during the acid-house years at Dallas's Starck Club before landing his prized residency at Lizard Lounge.
Doing "the math" on the Hardkiss Bros, he decided touring meant making records. His breakbeat single "Here We Go" landed on New York's ESP Sun, and the Southside Reverb album followed, with "Go Get On It" placed in the Wesley Snipes film Blade. He then launched his own iconic red-white-and-blue Lone Star Records, selling thousands of copies of tracks like "Fine Ladies Only" before the MP3 gutted the vinyl market.
After decades of drinking, Reverb went to rehab in 2020 and got sober, and now hosts the recovery podcast This Pink Cloud, producing new music and experiencing what he calls a renaissance.