KERRI EDELMAN

Clinical/Forensic Psychologist | Interviewer | Researcher | Singer-Songwriter

When they say there is more than meets the eye, this phrase rings true with who and what Kerri Edelman embodies as a person and role model. Growing up in a small town in New Jersey, she was always someone who was curious and would typically take a different path trying to figure things out on her own. Terms such as authenticity, individuality, perseverance, strength, passion and graciousness capture her essence. 'I've always found people to be fascinating and have wanted to understand what drives them to act in certain ways or make particular decisions,' she stated. Therefore, it's not surprising that she chose to pursue a career in the field of psychology. Edelman graduated with distinguished honors, Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa, where she earned a Doctorate Degree in Clinical Psychology. The career path she chose is atypical in comparison to others since she works as a Clinical/Forensic Psychologist in prison. Edelman has done everything from managing a 150-bed maximum security inpatient psychiatric unit in prison and supervising over a dozen clinical staff to conducting psychological and forensic evaluations with high profile cases. Her passion for developing and executing research projects, which contribute to improving and providing exceptional patient care to a forensic population, has earned her more than a dozen awards as well as medical journal publications.

But who she is as a person extends far beyond her career. Athleticism and creativity have been aspects she has incorporated throughout her life. Despite her petite frame, she excelled and played competitive sports in soccer, tennis and even surfing. When it came to supplementing her course work in school, Edelman chose to enroll in art classes such as drawing and painting, which earned her a minor in fine arts in her undergraduate program. Although she did not express an interest in singing and songwriting early on, she comes from a family of highly accomplished musicians. Edelman is the niece of Composer & Singer-Songwriter Randy Edelman (Gettysburg, Last of the Mohicans & The Mask, to name a few along with hit songs such as Weekend in New England) and Singer-Songwriter Jackie DeShannon (most recognized for hit songs such as What the World Needs Now is Love, Put a Little Love in Your Heart & Bette Davis Eyes). When Edelman gets interested in pursuing a new hobby, it does not stay that way for long. While in her graduate programs, Edelman started composing her own lyrics and songs. She eventually discovered an intrinsic musical talent, which resulted in her fronting several original rock bands. When challenges and difficulties arose with her not being able to pursue music at the pace she wanted to, Edelman chose to take a different road and become a solo artist releasing a full-length original modern rock album. On her own, she secured air play on college and internet radio stations, managed a band where she played shows at legendary venues such as The Stone Pony, earned placement for her songs in independent films and secured product endorsements. However, Edelman quickly learned from managing everything on her own, while continuing to work a full-time job, that the entertainment industry was not an easy feat to accomplish by herself.

Edelman processed how she was burned out from the music industry and needed to take a break because even though she knew it was a business, the passion she once had was beginning to wear thin from external forces she could not control. She stated, 'I started to think to myself how can I still be involved in music and entertainment without performing?' She recognized how much experience she had from her professional career with interviewing and started to brainstorm what it may be like to launch her own podcast with the purpose of it being to support entertainers and help them promote themselves. ‘I knew pretty quickly that I wanted to combine my passion for entertainment and my extensive interviewing background to support other entertainers,' she noted. Although it did not happen overnight, Edelman took her show very seriously and launched her podcast, The Kerri Edelman Show, where she started to build up a roster of guests. Her interviews are unlike any others as she clearly does extensive research on her guests and delves into an in-depth interview, lasting over an hour and often up to 2-hours, where her audience will learn information about her guests that cannot be accessed elsewhere. 'The greatest and most frequent compliment that I have received from my guests is how they walk away having an experience unlike any other interviews they have done. I've been told by my guests that they feel like they were just having a conversation with a close friend and how much of a breath of fresh air it has been for them to not answer the standard cookie-cutter questions that are often asked. When I hear positive comments like these, then I know I've done my job,' she stated.

Her hard work, dedication and perseverance has paid off. Edelman has conducted over 270 interviews with national musicians/artists, comedians, writers, film makers, authors, actors, illustrators, cartoonists and other creatives. Although she often schedules guests by reaching out to them on her own, she also works with major labels, management and public relations firms to book her interviews. She has interviewed Head Writer & Co-Executive Producer of Seinfeld Peter Mehlman, Award-winning Comedian/Actor/Writer Cathy Ladman (The Tonight Show, Curb Your Enthusiasm & Modern Family), New Yorker Cartoonist David Sipress, New York Times Bestselling Author & Artist Jim Benton (Creator of It's Happy Bunny & Dear Dumb Diary Series), Multi-award-winning Recording Artist Jim Wilson, Grammy Award-winning Pianist & Composer Jeffrey Biegel, Co-Creator of The Daily Show/Former David Letterman TV Producer Madeleine Smithberg, Award-winning Playwright Brett Neveu, Award-winning New Yorker Cartoonist/Illustrator/Writer Bob Eckstein, MAD Magazine Illustrator Ed Steckley, New Yorker Cartoonist Dan Misdea, New York Times Best-Selling Author & Pop Culture Expert/Historian Jennifer Keishin Armstrong (Seinfeldia, Sex and the City and Us & So Fetch: The Making of Mean Girls), Emmy-Nominated Comedian & Impersonator John Di Domenico, Howard Stern Show Writer/Producer Richard Christy & Internationally Acclaimed Mastering Engineer Maor Appelbaum. Some of the bands & musicians who have been featured on her show include Lacey Sturm (of Flyleaf), Starset, Tremonti, Trivium, Any Given Sin, From Ashes To New, 10 Years, DED, Nonpoint & Otherwise. Her interviews can be streamed and downloaded on iTunes, iHeart and other major digital forums.

With her show in rotation, Edelman's passion for music may have taken a back seat for a while, but it never faded away. She stated, 'I have been thinking for some time if I ventured back into music, it would have to be on such a different level. I never set small goals for myself and I told myself that I would want to work with someone on a national level. Someone whose experience goes above and beyond anything I've ever done. I want to be able to learn from others, be challenged and work with someone who will bring out things I never knew I was even capable of.' So once again, she took destiny into her own hands and reached out to a national musician that she had been fortunate to interview. Although she is not releasing detailed information yet because she wants to wait until she can excitedly announce the release of her new singles, which will be coming out in the future, she was able to get this musician to take an interest in her. Edelman said, 'with this recent musical experience I had, I have a difficult time putting into words. It holds a special place in my life. The respect and kindness I was treated with meant the world to me. As a singer-songwriter, I was pushed in ways I had never been before. And even though it had been several years since I had written a song, I never lost my ability for writing catchy lyrics and melodies. My producer helped me create some of my best songs to date.' Her music is taking a bit of a turn this time. The songs will focus more on her songwriting and showcase her vocals while incorporating elements of rock, pop and some electronics. Edelman has been compared vocally to artists such as Lacey Sturm (of Flyleaf), Dolores O'Riordan (The Cranberries), Hayley Williams (Paramore) & Tara Sloan (Joydrop). Her knack for writing catchy hooks with deep, emotional lyrics that exude an underlying positive message is evident throughout her songs.

Edelman’s passion for supporting and promoting others does not stop with her podcast. She has this undeniable drive, motivation and energy to collaborate with others. One of the ways she decided to channel this was to get involved with publicity work. ‘I have this whole other background (referring to her extensive career in clinical psychology with specialties in interviewing, research and evaluations) that I felt I could put to good use by combining it with my interest in marketing, advertising and entertainment,’ she stated. And so Edelman added a new role to her resume after she took on the role of Music Publicist for Boston’s National Hard Rock Band Silent Season. She discussed how she had interviewed the majorly talented band on her podcast and picked up quickly from the interview about how passionate, driven and authentic they were not only as a band, but as people.‘ Before I decide to work with anyone, I first have to be passionate about their product. I had always loved this band’s music. Of course talent is essential, but I also focus on who they are as people. I knew from my prior experiences of working with others in the entertainment industry that talent only takes one so far and if one does not have an authentic, genuine and relatable personality, it’s not going to work for me.’ Although Edelman may have been ‘green,’ as one says when starting in the field of publicity with limited experience, she quickly arose to the occasion, did her research and dove in to promote Silent Season.

Edelman helped the band garner major attention for their singles ‘The Negative,’ ‘Stars’ and EP ‘The War Within’ (Volume I). With her relentless drive to get them publicity, Silent Season earned rave reviews in Alternative Revolt Magazine and All Access Music Magazine, generated over 2,000,000+ streams as well as have their music played on Music Choice's Rock Channel and Loudwire's Weekly Wire Spotify Playlist, numerous FM stations (96.7 KCMQ, 95.7 The Rock Station, KEYJ-Rock 108, 105.1 The Blaze and The Dark on FM94, to name a few) and internet stations (Rock Rage Radio, Boston Rock Radio, Renegade Radio, Philly Rock Radio, Neue Regel Radio, 101.9 Fox FM, Rock 98.9, Rock On The Rise, Rock File Radio and Unphiltered Radio, to name a few).

And if you think her writing stops at conducting clinical/forensic evaluations, composing songs and producing interviews for her podcast, you would be wrong. Edelman discusses how she is a huge fan of pop-culture, watching TV and reading books. With her eclectic background and unique life story, she has been writing on the side. When asked about specifically what she has been writing, she is somewhat cryptic, as understandably she does not want her ideas to be taken by someone else, but does give hints to some of her ideas. Edelman discusses how over time she has gravitated towards writing that focuses on comedy and humor. She starts to open up about herself as she processes how she was always the underdog, an outlier and someone who was told by others she will not be able to accomplish what she sets out to do. This clearly is untrue as everything she has set out to achieve, not only has she done, but she has excelled at a level above and beyond what anyone anticipated. She stated that she uses humor to deal with those who doubt her and has no problem being self-deprecating to show the dichotomy between being put down when she has successes to prove them wrong.

So with regards to writing, she stated, ‘I’m looking to get involved in comedy writing projects as a consultant with my psychology background as well as collaborating with others to develop comedy bits and content for shows and projects. As a clinical psychologist, I have a strong foundation when it comes to developing characters, story lines and comedic content.’ It’s not ironic with her psychology background that she is driven to a specific type of comedy. ‘I’ve always been drawn to observational and situational humor, such as looking at the minutiae of everyday life whereby taking situations and behaviors to make them ludicrous and absurd. I also like humor that can be dark and edgy. I'm a huge fan of shows such as Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Office and The Howard Stern Show, to name a few, which tie in this type of humor.’ Edelman processes how she recognizes what her limitations are since she is not a stand-up comic, but she is highly confident that the stories and material she has can be developed into a comedic content and bits as well as a book, sitcom or movie. And with that being said, there is no limit to what Edelman will accomplish in the future.

For press or interview inquires, to be featured on her podcast, to collaborate on a writing project and/or to hire her as a psychological consultant, please send an email to kerriedelman@hotmail.com