July 16, 2005
Hi Everyone, I've been keeping busy these days. Tonight was a show with the BoDeans at the Rock Fest in Cadott, WI. It was extremely hot but a lot of fun. Tom Petty and The Black Crowes also played. The Rock Fest is in a field two hours outside of Minneapolis... it has a Woodstock-type feel. Someone gave us the wrong directions to the show and we got there at the exact moment we were supposed to start performing. Had to run from the car to the stage. But it all worked out and we had a great show.
So here's an update of what I've been doing lately. I ended last year with a 10 city drum clinic tour from the west coast to the east coast of Canada. The last clinic was supposed to be in Halifax, but when I got to the airport in Montreal the flight was cancelled because Halifax was getting 3-4 feet of snow. So I made up the clinic there this year and ended up doing 9 other cities while I was at it. : ) I'm real familiar with the Canadian drum shops now. They were all awesome and I had a great time.
In December I went to Wales and recorded a kick-ass record with Tony Iommi (Black Sabbath), Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple) and Bob Marlette (songwriter and producer). That record is out now...it's called "Fused".
This year I've been doing a lot of recording, clinics, shows with the BoDeans and a few other live gigs. Here's a rundown of some of the recording sessions I've done so far this year:
Melissa Etheridge. A few songs for her greatest hits CD, which should be out later this year.
Trey Anastassio - The dude from Phish, and the super talented and well known producer/engineer/mixer/musician/songwriter - Brendon O'Brien (STP, Incubus, Chili Peppers, Soundgarden, Audioslave, Rage Against The Machine, etc etc) are making a killer record with great parts and cool melodies. We recorded the songs together and to tape which I love because it sounds better. Very little editing also. Imagine that. : )
Bronson Arroyo (starting pitcher for the Red Sox) - this was a kick-ass record because we did cover songs by STP, Temple of the Dog, Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters, Alice in Chains etc etc. Bronson sang great. Mike Inez from Alice in Chains and now with Heart played bass one day and one of the greatest session bass players ever, Lee Sklar played the other 3 days. The amazing Michael Landau played guitar and I played drums. Other players such as Tim Pierce and Amy Keys over dubbed on the album. The album, called "Covering the Bases" is out now. We just performed it in Boston at the Avalon Club, which is right across the street from Fenway Park, home of the Red Sox.
Carlos Santana - I recorded 2 songs with 2 different producers. One song is Michelle Branch singing a duet with Carlos.
Les Paul tribute record. I did a bunch of songs, but you never know what will end up on the CD. It's Les with other famous artists. This one should be out soon.
American Idol contestants. A CD was made with some of this year's contestant singers - called "Season 4 - The Showstoppers", it's out now.
Fe Fe Dobson - I recorded a few songs for her upcoming CD.
Bomshel - this is a new hot country band out of Nashville. They have alot of rock energy combined with country kick ass music. 2 women! front t he band.
Trevor Hall - a new very very talented singer songwriter. Wow. check him out.
Krystal Meyers - a new very hot Nashville artist. Avril Lavigne rock vibe and even heavier at times.
Nate Sallie - another Nashville artist. Killer melodies and songs in the pop soulful vein.
Philip Sayce - guitar player from the Melissa Etheridge band. The cool thing was we recorded 14 songs live in a day and a half. The guitar amp was right next to the drums, so we had to play perfect because there was no way we could fix or overdub anything we recorded. We had to play everything in time, make everything groove and play the right parts. We had no rehearsals and had to move pretty fast from one song to another because there wasn't alot of time to make the record. Very Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughn meets Audioslave and Lenny Kravitz sounding.
Rob Gonzalez - very talented singer songwriter and piano player. We recorded his record as a trio. Piano/vocals, bass and drums. It had that live feel. This will be a very special and unique record. Also there many stylistic influences on this cd.
Shin - an artist from Taiwan. I have no idea what he is singing about because it's not in English, but it sounds kick-ass. :) Rock/Pop style music.
Dean Davison - Very talented singer songwriter. Once again this record was recorded live with drums, bass, guitar/vocals (Dean). This also has that live real feel which is lacking in a lot of music today.
The BoDeans - We made a live CD and DVD this year and will be going into the studio in August to start a new studio record. I've been touring with them across the USA. I had made some records with them in the past. One song was "Closer To Free" which was used as a theme song for a TV show. Kurt and Sammy are great singers and songwriters who who also play guitar. They have a huge selection of songs to draw! from every night because there are 2 great songwriters in the band. Plus they have been doing this together for over 20 years.
Earlier this year I did one show with Joe Cocker in Vegas. That is one of the most challenging shows I've ever played because there are so many different styles of music you have to play for his show: rock, pop, R+B, blues, shuffles, etc., and I had only one day + soundcheck to get ready. It was awesome to play with Joe again after a few years.
I taught in Banff, Canada this winter for a week, at The Banff Centre, a very prestigious school for the arts. I had mostly classical percussionists studying with me. They always ask visiting teachers to give a recital, so I performed a few intense classical compositions. I also performed with 2 other groups. We wrote compositions; I played drum set. The pieces had jazz/funk with a little bit of Latin and rock influences. Very cool.
I also played the Grammy's this year with Melissa Etheridge and Joss Stone singing 2 Janis Joplin tunes, "Piece of My Heart" and "Cry Baby" - an amazing experience.
As far as what's coming up, I'll be doing some live TV and promotional shows with Melissa in September and October. For information check the News section in upcoming months. Then I'll do some live shows in the Fall with Tony Iommi and Glenn Hughes to promote the new record, "Fused". And I have a lot of sessions coming up in LA, Nashville and the east coast. And I'm continuing to do live shows with the BoDeans. Thanks for reading and I'll try to write more often in future months.
Bye for now,
Kenny
September 21, 2004
Hey everybody. I am still on tour with Melissa Etheridge and enjoying every minute of it. It looks like the tour is going to end October 30 in Tucson. But I immediately start a drum clinic tour thru the entire country of Canada November 1 - 13. 12 cities in 13 days. The cities and the stores are listed on the News section. I've also been doing sessions in LA, Nashville and New York and will continue to do sessions for the rest of the year whenever I can. I have decided to complete my home studio by upgrading it with gear that will allow me to do some of my sessions from my studio. When the studio is complete I will tell you all about it. That's it for now.
June 15, 2004
I am writing to you as I am being driven from the Indianapolis airport to my home in Bloomington, Indiana. I was just in LA recording and I took the red eye from LA to Indianapolis to have one day at home before going back on tour with Melissa Etheridge.
In Dec. 2003 I finished up a tour with Michelle Branch and on Jan 5, 2004 I started rehearsals in Los Angeles with Melissa Etheridge for her “Lucky” tour. We rehearsed most of January and part of February and started doing TV and live promo for Melissa's new album called “Lucky” in February.. I played on 4 or 5 tracks on the CD. I can't remember exactly. : ) I was on the first single “Breathe” and am on her new single called “This Moment.” The funny thing is that while “Breathe” was getting air play on the radio, another song I had recorded with Michelle Branch called “Breathe” was also getting airplay. : )
The Melissa tour has been mostly smaller venues in the USA so far, like clubs. We did a portion of the tour from February until May 21st. Now we are doing larger venues in the USA and will be going to Europe in July for 3 weeks and then back to the states and Canada starting in August.
On my days off, while I have been on tour, I have been doing drum clinics across America, and also recording records for other artists. Some of these artists have been John Fogerty, Alanis Morrisette, Avril Lavigne, Hilary Duff, Samantha Moore, Fan 3, Ashlee Simpson, Kelly Clarkson, Pat Green, Zack Hunter, Betty Dylan, Koshi (lead singer for a very famous Japanese band called The B'z), Gratitude, John Waite, Wonderdrug and on and on.
I hope you all have a great summer and once again I will try and up date everyone more often.
August 7, 2002
Hi Everyone!
I have been on tour with Melissa Etheridge all summer in the USA and Canada. She rocks hard, therefore I get to do the same. The tour started June 7 and ends Sept. 7th in San Diego.
It's a bus tour, which is fine with me. I get work done driving down the road after the show. I am always the last one to go to my bunk. It's hard for me to slow down after playing a 2 hour show. After the show I usually eat, watch some TV and then start working on all kinds of business/music stuff. On my days off, I have been doing recording sessions, drum clinics and master classes. I love to stay busy, so I try and book my self solid. I LOVE IT. : )
In the fall, I will be doing more sessions in places like LA and Nashville, drum clinics in and out of the country, some private teaching, and other
business related stuff.
If I haven't answered your emails, I apologize. I do read them all, but I have been so busy, that I haven't been able to answer all of them. It's great to hear from you. : )
March 4, 2002
Hi everyone!! Sorry I haven't given you any road notes since 12/01. I have been real busy as usual.
In Dec. I finished the drum tracks for LeAnn Rimes record and also recorded one song for an upcoming Michelle Branch record that won't even be finished until later this year. While she is on tour promoting her very successful debut record, she has decided to record songs whenever she has time for her next album. Her current record which I also played on, is still doing great. She's only on her second single from that record. The first single was very successful called "Everywhere." I also played on that. The amazing thing is that when I recorded the record that's presently out she was only 17 years old. : ) She is extremely talented and a very cool person.
Around the same time I also did a new arrangement of a Jewel song that's on her current album. Sometimes record companies and artists like to redo a song on an album even after the album is already released, if that song is picked to be a single.
In January I continued to do percussion on LeAnn Rimes' record and started a Joe Cocker record. The cool thing was all these records (LeAnn Rimes, Joe Cocker, Michelle Branch, and Jewel), I recorded in the same studio in LA called Henson studios. I love it there. I would go between studio A, B and D at Henson studios. My drums never left the building. : ) My drum tech would keep moving my drums from one room to the other, back and forth, back and forth. I have been making records there for 15 years. Wow, I'm getting old. Or maybe I started recording there when I was 12 years old. : ) yeah that's it....
In February I went to NYC and did a live show with a cool group called M2M and then back to LA to finish Joe Cockers' record and record 2 songs for LeAnn Womack. After that I went to Nashville to record with Kain and Abel, back home to record a song for a new group called Silvercrush.
Then I went back to LA to do a live show with John Fogerty at the LA Forum. There were five bands on the bill. Sheryl Crow, John Fogerty, Stevie Nicks, Billy Joel, and The Eagles. That was very cool. It was part of a Coalition that Don Henley is putting together.
While I was on stage doing sound check at the Forum with John Fogerty, I got a phone call from a producer friend of mine from Nashville, asking me if I could get to Nashville the next day to record one song with Trick Pony and Willie Nelson for Trick Pony's new record. I had to first find out if it was possible to get a flight to Nashville from LA in time to make the session. It was crazy trying to figure all that out while on stage, but that's the way it goes. You never know when you will get a call to work. Anyway, I did the show at the LA Forum, went to the hotel, packed, slept for 90 minutes and went to the airport. I slept on the plane to Dallas and then to Nashville and made it just in time to record one song. : ) Crazy, but fun.
Next week I will do the rest of Trick Pony's record in Nashville after I perform at a drum festival in Columbus Ohio at the Columbus Percussion
Center.
After Trick Pony, I will fly to Minneapolis and record for 2 days with Kurt Newman from the Bodean's and then fly to LA to start rehearsing for a live record I will be recording with Melissa Etheridge. I'm really looking forward to that. After the live record I will go into a studio and record more songs for Melissa's record and then in June I will start a US tour with her. June - Sept.
Meanwhile, I am booking more sessions in Nashville and LA. I will try and keep you posted. So until then, seeeeeeeee yaaaaaaaa.
December 4, 2001
Hi everyone! I'm presently in Los Angeles recording a record with Joe Cocker. I will take a break and fly to Warsaw Poland for one show with Joe on Dec. 8th, and then fly back to Los Angeles and record a LeAnn Rimes record for 8 to 10 days. The plan is to finish Joe's record early next year.
I was on tour this summer for 8 weeks in Italy with a huge Italian artist by the name of Vasco Rossi. We played only stadiums. The attendance was 50,000 - 120,000 people every night. Everything about that tour was fantastic. The tour ended in July, and I then went on tour with Joe Cocker from Aug. 1 - Nov. 4. On days off I did either drum clinics or sessions through Canada and the USA.
Immediately after the Joe Cocker tour I flew to Nashville on Nov. 5 to do the Country Music Awards with Willie Nelson and Sheryl Crow. From Nashville I flew home and that same day I drove to Ann Arbor, Michigan to start recording a record with Jody Raffoul. After that session I immediately started a 5 day drum clinic tour in Athens, GA., Birmingham, AL., PASIC in Nashville, Louisville, KY. Indianapolis, Indiana.
I celebrated Thanksgiving at home, but had to spend my 3 days off unpacking and repacking for the rest of the year. I left home again on Nov. 25th to Banff, Canada to teach and perform at the Banff Center of the Arts ( Nov. 25- Dec. 1). I flew to LA on Dec. 1 and started Joe Cocker's record, which is where I am now.
Prior to all these tours I made a lot of records from January to May. Some of the records I did were, Alice Cooper, Meatloaf, Melissa Etheridge, Mick Jagger, Willie Nelson, Black Lab, Tyoshi Nagabuchi, Andy Griggs, Lennon, M2M, Berger, Hank Jr. Tribute record, ZZ Top Tribute record, Wendy Page.
I wish everyone a great holiday and I hope to see you all out there somewhere. : )
11-4-2000
I wanted to let everyone know that I will be doing a drum clinic that will be web cast on Nov. 28th (Tuesday) at 6pm Pacific Time. Go to www.bennettdrums.com. For further information about this web cast go to www.bennettdrums.com or call Donn Bennett's Drum Shop 877-269-0000 (toll free), or 425-747-6145. The web cast will be sponsored by Shure, Vic Firth, Remo, Zildjian and Modern Drummer Magazine. Meanwhile, I am still on tour with Joe Cocker and will also be performing on Late Show with David Letterman on Nov. 15th with Ricky Martin.
10-28-2000
I'm still on tour with Joe Cocker, and I just recorded in Nashville for two days (Oct. 23 and 24) with Andy Griggs, for his new album. I drove from Knoxville, TN on Sunday night Oct.22nd to Nashville after I played a show with Joe. After recording with Andy Griggs, I met up with the tour again and we did shows in New Orleans, Austin and now I am in Dallas. After the Dallas show we drive to Houston. I'm going to do a photo shoot for Tama in Houston during the day, and then do a show that night with Joe Cocker. The tour is going great. I love playing Joe Cockers music because the songs are great and stylistically very diversified. Nov. 7th and 8th I will be doing clinics at Daddy's Junky stores in Rhode Island and in Boston with bass player Steve Bailey. I love working every day, so this schedule suits me fine.
Hope you get to see the Joe Cocker/Tina Turner show somewhere down the road. Bye for now.
9-20-2000
Today, Sept. 20th we (Joe Cocker Band) joins the Tina Turner tour in Boston. This tour will go until Dec. 6th. We had 2 days off in Boston, but I went to Nashville to record with a band called Trick Pony with Johnny Cash as the special guest. I think Waylon Jennings may come in and overdub on the same song also. I keep a set of drums, and lots of other gear in Nashville, for sessions. see ya.
9-14-2000
Hi everyone. I just finished the summer tour with John Fogerty in LA on Sept. 10th and flew right NYC to do my first show with Joe Cocker on Sept. 12th and another one on the 13th in New Hampshire. I had no rehearsals, just one sound check on the 12th. Yee ha. Good thing I can read and write music. :-) I had some board tapes also, but because I am so busy I spent a lot of time writing out the charts on airplane flights from one gig to another. The show is a blast to play, and the musicians are great. We will be part of the Tina Turner tour starting in Boston on Sept. 20th. bye for now.
8-30-2000
The European tour with John Fogerty was amazing. Every night we played
for at least 70,000 people, and every night it rained except for 2 shows.
:-) We are now back in the USA touring as the headliners. This weekend
i will be performing with John Fogerty in Chicago at the World Theater
(Sept. 1), and in Houston at Ariel Theater on Sat. ( Sept. 3rd). Starting
Sept. 11th I will join up with the Joe Cocker band and be part of his
tour until Dec. 6th. After doing some solo dates with Joe, we will join
the Tina Turner tour for arena shows in the USA. I just did 3 drum clinics
at Daddy's Junky Music stores in Hartford, CT., Portland, Maine, and
Manchester, New Hampshire. I thank everyone for making it a lot of fun.
Great stores, great employees, and great audiences. I apologize if i
haven't answered your emails. I am swamped these days with studio work,
touring , clinics and just regular life stuff. :-)
7-25-2000
Cologne, Germany
We (John Fogerty Band) just played in Belgium tonight. We drove 3 hours from Cologne, Germany on our tour bus, did the show and drove back to Cologne.
7-25-2000
Werchter, Belgium
I'm really looking forward to the concert this evening! I hope to see
you there...
May 3, 1998
Just played my first gig with the Smashing Pumpkins last night at The
Metro in Chicago, opening for Cheap Trick. It was great. It was Billy,
D'arcy, James and me. The other 4 people (2 percussionists, keyboards
and violin) will join us for the rest of the tour. I leave for Europe,
Asia and Russia for 2 months starting tomorrow.
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