Mike Kelly is facing his fear. After having spent his entire music career playing in ensemble pieces, the Leominster native is answering his call and making the great leap to being a solo artist. The daunting and unknown prospect of putting yourself out there can indeed be nerve-racking, but Mike Kelly is ready.

Under the moniker The Brother Stereo, Kelly’s first solo album, Sweet of the Fall, is the result of years of learning the craft of writing and performing music, continuing on a family tradition that includes his father, drummer in the ’60s band Pugsley Munion, and his brother Matt, who is the drummer for the Dropkick Murphys.

“I have always been around music, whether it was one of my father’s gigs, my brother’s band practices at home in our basement or just the radio on Sunday mornings playing jazz,” Kelly said.

Although he isn’t a drummer like his father or brother, Kelly has stayed in the rhythm section with his bass guitar, playing gigs and performing in countless bands, including his own original group Trebek. But to say that he is only a bass player would be like saying the only thing Keith Richards has ever smoked is a cigarette. Kelly is a jack-of-all-trades when it comes to music. Besides bass, Kelly has been known to play everything from the banjo to the bouzouki. He attributes his love of variety to “texture, songwriting and the unknown.”

After building up his chops and playing with numerous groups, Kelly decided to put it all together into his solo debut, something he had been waiting to do for a long time.

“I made the decision to put out my first solo album because it is something I always knew I wanted to do, but it was a fear of mine,” he said. “I have found that conquering your fears gets you a lot further in life, so I said to myself, ‘Get this first album out there, get feedback, apply, move on.’”

Kelly’s courage to overcome his fear has led to The Brother Stereo’s Sweet of the Fall, a rustic collection of pop songs with a twang and sometimes-heavy heart.

“I think that Mike didn’t want the parts to sound over-rehearsed and stiff, so we took first, second and third takes of all of the piano and accordion parts,” said Joey Mazzarella, who performed on the album. “I do think things come out much better when parts are not over-rehearsed. It makes the music sound more natural.”

Currently, Kelly is booking gigs with Mazzarella backing him, as well as background vocalist and percussionist Santino Proiettie. Dates include the Westender in Marlborough on April 16.

With The Brother Stereo’s first effort out of the way, don’t be surprised to hear more from Kelly again very soon. He is already looking forward to mining more out of his songbook for his next project.

“I already have a bunch more finished and unfinished songs for a second album,” he said. “My plan is to write, record and release as many albums as I can in my lifetime.”

For more information, visit thebrotherstereo.com.