It all started early in his life.  Kelly’s 6th grade music teacher called his mom and told her he was playing "In A Gadda Da Vida" in music class.  His teacher highly recommended that his mom buy Kelly a drum set for Christmas. 

He started playing various professional gigs at 17 and it just compounded the urge to improve.  He studied under Todd Straight  (Ed Soph prodege) while living in Kansas City.  Kelly went on to immerse himself in a few years of intensive studies with drum teacher guru and coach Henrique De Almeida (highly respected professor at the Berklee College of Music)

During his studies with De Almeida, Kelly focused on the teachings of Alan Dawson (legendary Jazz educator, who founded the Berklee Jazz curriculum for drums.)

He has played thousands of gigs over the past 45 years including Arch Hooks, The Blues Bullies, The Tommy Rockers, Electric Sky, Herrera Blues, Chaser, Tripper, Vision, Mile High among many others. Specializing in progressive rock similar to Rush, The Dixie Dregs and Captain Beyond including most pop rock styles. 

He has produced several world-class music educational products for various artists including books, albums and DVD’s with Henrique De Almeida. Kelly Burns was a co-founder of the Percussion Institute of Colorado years ago. There at PIC, he was an instructor of drum set and studio recording classes.

In the Fall of 2019, Kelly Burns was appointed Director of Concert Office/Director of Music Production & Engineering /Drum Set Artist & Producer Clinician for The Drum Set Coach Academy, in Colorado.

Influences have been John Bonham, Neil Peart, Rod Morgenstein, Bobby Caldwell, Billy Cobham, Lenny White, Steve Gadd, Tony Williams, Buddy Rich, Andy Ward, Carl Palmer among many many others.

Kelly plays Yamaha drums, Zildjian cymbals, Evans drum heads, Vic Firth sticks