I Want Your Job: Country Music Singer
Kelli Rachel Jones, A.K.A. Belles ('19), and making music that connects
- contact: Jared Craig - UNO Office of Strategic Marketing and Communications
- email: unonews@unomaha.edu
Kelli Rachel Jones ('19) is better known as Belles, a country music singer with a big future. She has performed at country music's most prestigious venues and traveled around the country to share her music. She even made a song with Dolly Parton titled "The Son of Jolene," a sort of sequel to one of the greatest songs in the genre.
Standing on stage at UNO campus to close out homecoming, she couldn't help but point out her deep connections to the university. Apart from the familiar surroundings, such as the nearby residence hall where her best friend lived and the nearby cafeteria where she ate countless meals, she couldn't help but reflect on what the university meant to her and what it provided.
On stage in her own words:
I graduated from Westside High School when I was 16. I loved my time, but I wanted more freedom to work on my music and figure out who I was.
I graduated high school early, and then I came to UNO very young, still trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. I was playing bars with my mom a lot, and I was having so much fun doing music, but I was also weirdly good at math and science.
I was actually a chemistry major here at UNO for two years. I loved the people I met here. I was a Chi Omega here, which was so much fun. I made a lot of great friends, but my heart wasn't in chemistry and science, and I think everyone could tell because I constantly went to my professors and asked, "Can I miss lab to go to Nashville for 12 hours and write a song?"
Read Belles' full personal remarks from her performance, and see more photos here: I Want Your Job: Country Music Singer
Related: More from UNO on exposure
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The University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) is Nebraska’s premier metropolitan university, committed to innovating for the public good, advancing social mobility, powering workforce development, and serving as a hub for community engagement. Nearly 15,000 Mavericks choose UNO for its hands-on education experiences, nationally ranked online and graduate programs, military-connected student support, and innovative approaches to supporting lifelong learning. UNO holds the Carnegie Research Activity “R2” designation, securing more than $40 million annually in external research funding and counts its faculty among the world’s most cited scholars. Sixteen Omaha Athletics programs compete in NCAA Division I as members of the Summit League and National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC).
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