Steven Kellogg and the Sixers released seven CDs, including “Live From the Heart,” recorded at New York’s Irving Plaza during their 1,000th show, in 2010. The group’s West Chester, Pennsylvania-born namesake has continued to share his autobiographical balladry. Scheduled for Dec. 2, “Keep It Up, Kid” will be the 12th release on his own.

Kellogg’s greatest source of inspiration comes from his family.

“I have four daughters,” he said. “The oldest is 17. Then, I have a 15-year-old, a 12-year-old, and a 10-year-old. I love how Tom Petty kept his personal life to himself. I thought I was going to be that kind of artist, but, as soon as my first daughter was born, it cracked me open and made me want to share my life with people and dig deeper for songs. I’ll tell you everything, even if it’s not flattering.”

Fathering four daughters and maintaining a thriving musical career is a juggling act. “It’s not cheap,” Kellogg said. “Having to work, and pair it with family, is reality. Sometimes, I feel like I’m nailing it, but most of the time, I don’t feel like I’ve given enough attention to my work or my family. I write them postcards every week when I’m on the road. I do the best I can, but there aren’t enough hours in a day.

In April 2013, Kellogg reviewed the first decade of his career during a TEDx talk, “I Can’t Get No (Job) Satisfaction.” “You’re supposed to talk about things that you’re an expert in,” he remembered, “but I never felt like an expert. I guess I’m an expert songwriter – I’ve done it for 21 years – but I don’t think I’ve looked for joy in work. I ended up talking about that. Music is my livelihood but it’s more of a choice than I give it credit for being. I don’t love every aspect of what I do because so much of it is not about the shows. There’s a lot of mundane business, but the payoff is that you get to have a life filled with meaning. You find joy in people listening to you.”

Songs by Kellogg are deeply personal. “I’ve had to push myself to do any fiction,” he said, “because I’m always grabbing from my life and the lives of people around me. The search for truth is huge; I love trying to see how things really are.”

“I’ve been keeping a journal for 30 years,” he continued. “I dump my brain into it, without a filter, and try to glean a way to live and make sense of life. The songs are an extension of that. I’ll stumble upon some insight in my journal, or conversation, turn it into poetry and put it into a song.”

Revisiting his past through songs can be straining. “I’m an emotional guy,” Kellogg explained. “I know lots of artists who are stoic, even though they write about emotions, but I’m not that guy. When I’m singing an angry song, I feel some of that anger. When I’m singing a sad song, the sadness builds up. It takes its toll.”

Growing up, Kellogg was drawn to his parent’s record collection. “My dad always came home,” he remembered, “and put on a Crosby, Stills and Nash or Jackson Browne record. My uncles sang songs by the Eagles and Cat Stevens at parties. Then, when I was 10, my sister took me to a heavy metal concert [Whitesnake]. I loved the performance of it all.”

Although he contemplated a career in music, Kellogg “didn’t think I’d be able to do it,” he said.
Despite attending college, and working a variety of jobs, Kellogg found music irresistible. “When it’s a calling,” he said, “you can’t get rid of it. You think you could do something else, but you keep coming back to it.”

Shortly before his 25th birthday, in November 2001, Kellogg took the plunge. Not only did he ask his longtime girlfriend to marry him, but he also committed himself to life as a troubadour. “I told her father,” he recalled, “that I was leaving my job to do this.”

In less than two years, Steven Kellogg and the Sixers came together. They toured with George Thorogood, Sugarland, Hanson, O.A.R., Josh Ritter, Dar Williams, David Crosby and Martin Sexton.

Most of Kellogg’s recent performances, including an ongoing series on Facebook, have been solo, the magic is rekindled whenever he’s joined by other musicians. “When I’m playing solo, I’ll tell stories for 40 percent of the night. People enjoy that a lot, but it’s much more focused on music with the band.”

Kellogg’s appearance at Race Street Live, in Holyoke on Nov. 5, will be a homecoming. “I love Western Massachusetts,” he said. “Both sets of grandparents lived there, and I was very close with them, and my cousins, so I spent a lot of time there. I ended up going to the University of Massachusetts and living in Northampton, working for the Iron Horse and Calvin Theater for a couple of years and learning the business.”

Several tracks from “Keep It Up, Kid” have been released as singles. “By Holyoke, we’ll have four of the eleven tracks out,” Kellogg said. “There’re some upbeat rock and roll songs on this record; it’ll be fun for people to hear.”