Singer-Songwriter Harmonizes Music and Business on National Stage

A woman with long hair sings into a microphone on stage while a man plays guitar next to her. Image by Martin and Kelly
"Being a musician in the 21st century means you are your own business," says UMass Lowell business alum Jilly Martin '09, part of the country music duo Martin and Kelly.

06/06/2025
By Ed Brennen

Before she was performing on stages across the country, opening for legends like Loretta Lynn and Willie Nelson, Jilly Martin ’09 was a business student at UMass Lowell, juggling campus jobs, club sports and dreams of making it in country music.

“I loved my time at UMass Lowell,” says Martin, a Chelmsford, Massachusetts, native, who graduated from the Manning School of Business with a concentration in management.

For the past decade, Martin has teamed with fellow singer-songwriter Ryan Brooks Kelly to form the Nashville-based country music duo . Last year, they played nearly 150 shows across the country, logging over 49,000 miles. This summer, their tour schedule is taking them from New England to the Mountain West and points in between.

Martin swung by campus recently to be inducted as an honorary member of the Beta Gamma Sigma international business honor society. In addition to performing one of her songs on her white Gretsch acoustic-electric guitar, Martin shared with students how her business degree gave her the “exact foundation” she needed to succeed in the music industry.

A woman plays an acoustic guitar and sings while standing behind a podium on stage. Image by Ed Brennen
Manning School of Business alum Jilly Martin '09 performs one of her songs during the recent Beta Gamma Sigma induction ceremony at University Crossing, where she was an honorary inductee.
“Being a musician in the 21st century means you are your own business,” Martin said. “If you’re not on a record label, you are your own business manager, booking agent, publicist, tour manager, merchandiser, bookkeeper … the list goes on.”

Martin started singing in church at age 7. Two years later, she began performing with The John Penny Band, a local country and oldies group. As a member of the Lowell Highland Players, she took the stage at the Lowell Memorial Auditorium and what is now UMass Lowell’s Moloney Performing Arts Center.

Despite her familiarity with the UML campus — and the fact that her parents are alumni (mom Sandy Hayes ’84 and dad Connie Martin ’84 met in a Spanish class at UMass Lowell) — Martin chose to attend Belmont University in Nashville.

It was a decision she quickly regretted.

“After about seven or eight Southwest flights home that first semester, I realized I was a bit too homesick to stick that out for the next four years,” says Martin, who transferred to UMass Lowell that spring.

Two men and three women smile and chat while standing around a table in a ballroom. Image by Ed Brennen
Manning School of Business Dean Bertie Greer, center, chats with Connie and Sandy Martin, left, while Jilly Martin '09 and Ryan Brooks Kelly look on.
Martin could often be found at the Campus Recreation Center, where she worked as a personal trainer, group fitness instructor and supervisor. She also joined the women’s club rugby team and rowed crew. Meanwhile, she continued to perform around New England while making trips back to Nashville to work on her songwriting and build industry connections.

After graduating, she landed a job in the UML Athletics Department as a community relations coordinator, developing corporate sponsors and organizing promotions for the men’s hockey team.

“I was able to take the things I learned in my undergrad, including in the late, great Gary Mucica’s marketing class, and put them to practical use,” Martin says.

In 2012, Martin started to “dip my toes into doing music full-time” with Kelly.

“Doing music full-time was always the goal, but I had to make sure it was a sustainable career,” she says.

Two women pose for a photo on stage while holding a framed certificate. Image by Ed Brennen
Business alum Jilly Martin '09, right, received an honorary induction into the Beta Gamma Sigma international business honor society by Manning School Dean Bertie Greer.
Just as she found corporate support for the hockey team, Martin has developed sponsorships for her tours, including with Alltown Fresh foods and Boot Barn, a retailer that specializes in Western wear. She has also learned how to harness the power of social media: Martin and Kelly have more than 70,000 followers on their platforms and more than 10 million views on TikTok.

While Martin and Kelly have performed at several UML hockey games in recent years, Martin had not visited University Crossing until the Beta Gamma Sigma ceremony.

“It’s awesome to see the growth of the school, because it has been a foundation for so many things in my life,” she says. “Most importantly, UMass Lowell taught me the power of relationships in business.”

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