Bend singer-songwriter Kim Kelley’s activities over the last five, six years seem to reinforce the aphorism that change is the only constant.

Five years ago, she was frontwoman of the local quartet Mean Willy, taking country songs written by her mother, a Dallas, Texas-based songwriter, and reshaping them to fit the band’s folk and bluegrass leanings.

A couple of years later, “she kicked me out of the house … in a good way,” Kelley said about her mother during an interview Monday.

In a good way means that her mom suggested her daughter write her own songs, advice Kelley took to heart. In 2009, she issued a solo album, “Bending Blue,” and has since recorded a duo album with her brother — the musical roots run deep in her family — at his Dallas recording studio.

“We locked ourselves in his studio for a week,” Kelley said of the intensive recording session, which resulted in the aptly titled “Bloodline,” an album full of her songs and a lot of her brother’s instrumentation, she said.

Skipping ahead to, well, right now: When Kelley plays at McMenamins Old St. Francis School on Wednesday, she’ll be fronting the rootsy Americana act Downhill Ryder (see “If you go”), a band made up of Kelley on vocals and acoustic guitar, electric guitarist Matthew Finfer, drummer Randy Rooker and new bassist Jim Bull.

Kelley said that as her songwriting evolved from bluegrass to folk with a touch of the Southern about it, she wanted to “bump up to what a full band” could do.

On Wednesday, concert-goers can get a feel for Kelley’s evolution, or as she put it, “that whole journey.” She’ll start things off on acoustic guitar, giving things a “nice intimate focus,” then move on to duo and trio configurations before the full band takes the stage together.

“I’ll start us out, then Matthew (Finfer) will come in on electric guitar,” Kelley said. Friend and music associate Linda Quon, one half of the local duo The Quons, will join them to provide harmony vocals on a few songs. Finally, Rooker and Bull will round things out on drums and bass.

Along with one Finfer song, Downhill Ryder mostly plays tunes written by Kelley — about half of them come from “Bending Blue” and “Bloodline” — arranged for full band in collaboration with the rest of the group.

The quartet now has enough songs for two albums, she said, and recording is among their goals as they move into the new year.

“Everyone in the band is so vital,” Kelley said. “They bring their own energy and sound.”

If you go

What: Downhill Ryder

When: 7 p.m. Wednesday

Where: McMenamins Old St. Francis School

Cost: Free

Contact: www.mcmenamins.com