December 8, 2007
With band and crewmembers after the last John Fogerty show of '07,
in Dallas TX:
L to R: Billy Burnette, Hunter Perrin, Matt Nolen, Leo Rossi,
David Santos, Trip Califf, Kenny
December 5, 2007
At the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville before tonight's
show with John Fogerty.
(all photos © Rick Malkin)
Ryan Smith from Shure Microphones interviewing me backstage at the Ryman
Auditorium in Nashville
with Ryan Smith of Shure Microphones
November 19, 2007
Here are some pics from today's recording session with Samantha Stollenwerck
With artist Samantha Stollenwerck
with producer Mike Bradford
November 7, 2007
Hi everyone.. I've been on a short promotional tour of the east coast
with John Fogerty promoting his new solo record, Revival, which
I played on. We're not only playing songs from John's huge catalog of
amazing tunes from his solo records and his days with Creedence Clearwater,
but we're also playing a lot of songs from the new CD. Last night we
played at the Orpheum Theater in Boston. That venue is intimate and
has tons of history.. In the past I've played there with The Smashing
Pumpkins, Melissa Etheridge and a few other bands. We'll be also touring
on the west coast and midwest starting Nov. 23, the day after Thanksgiving.
Here are some shots from a quick photo shoot I did last night for my
Vic Firth Signature stick. It's basically a combination of Vic's extreme
5B model and his Rock stick model. It has the length, thickness and
shaft of a extreme 5B, and the tip of a Rock stick. The shape makes
the stick feel very balanced. There's plenty of weight for heavy hitting
and yet it's thin enough to play with finesse, and softly. The thicker
neck and shaft allows the stick to last much longer when I'm playing
and the Rock shape head and tip creates a big sound when I hit the toms
and snare. I used to have a much heavier and thicker model, but when
I went on tour with the Smashing Pumpkins in 1998, I decided to redesign
the stick so I could play with more speed and still have power. This
stick is not too small or too big, it's just right. I have control when
I play very loud or when I play very soft. The stick does exactly what
I want it to do.
October 24, 2007
Today I recorded some songs with J.R. Richards, the singer from Dishwalla.
Here's a photo from the session.
Chris Chaney, J.R. Richards, me and Phil X
October 20, 2007
Photo from the Zach Hunter recording sessions this week at Ed Stassium's
studio in Bayfield, Colorado:
With Zach Hunter and Ed Stassium
October 16, 2007
Hey everyone,
I just got back from doing 2 drum clinics in Poland at a drum festival
that Wojtek from Ragtime Music put on. It's a 2 week event in three
cities. It's very unique and special. He has done this festival for
20 years except for when Poland had a very bad flood in the late 90's.
I believe he had to wait 4 to 5 years to do it again because the flood
ruined the city. The flood was so unexpected and so huge, the city was
suddenly under water. As I drove around the city of Opole, I could see
water marks 20 to 25 feet high on the buidings... . And apparently the
water stayed high for two to three weeks. This happened in the summer
in the late 90's when it was hot and muggy. The city lost all it's electricity
and people moved to the second or in most cases third story of any building
they were in or could get to. Food had to be delivered in boats to people.
The rain had come down from the mountains and filled a major river that
eventually overflowed way more than anyone had expected. Anyway... the
experience was amazing.. The Polish food, people and audiences were
amazing.
I was only in Poland for 2 nights..It happened so fast.. : ) On Nov.
11th I performed with John Fogerty in Atlanta and on the 12th I flew
to Chicago and then through the night to Krakow, Poland.. As soon as
I landed on the 13th, someone drove me 2 hours to Opole. I went right
to the performing center and spent 2 hours setting up and sound checking,
did a 2 hour clinic, 1 hour autograph session, had a
late dinner and finally got to my hotel at 12:30 am. The audiences at
Opole were so cool, enthusiastic and grateful..They applauded for over
ten minutes after I performed my last song "Straight No
Chaser".. It was hard to get them to stop. : ) That was the longest
applause I have ever experienced at a drum clinic... I applaud them
for being so into it.. : ) The next day I did interview and drove an
hour to another city where I set up, did a sound check and did another
clinic.. This audience applauded so long that I finally waved and I
left the stage. They wouldn't stop so I went back out to say thank you
and they wouldn't stop... so finally I played an encore. : ) That was
the first time I've ever done an encore in a drum clinic.. Crazy!!!I
applaud them also... My point is that I appreciate how much the people
in Poland love music, drumming and how much they enjoyed my drum clinic.
Very cool.
I'm now on my way to Durango Colorado where I'll record a record for
four days then head back to LA for sessions, a live show with Andy Walo
at La Ve Lee on Oct. 23rd, 2 days of rehearsal with John Fogerty, more
sessions and then the promotional tour on the east coast and west coast
Nov. 1- Dec. 9 with John Fogerty to promote his new cd. Hope you get
to see his show. It rocks.. : )
Bye for now.
October 2, 2007
Pics from the set of the Late Show with David Letterman tonight:
September 22, 2007
Today I'm at Long
View Farm Recording Studios in Massachusetts, working with a band
called 13 Yards to Victory, helping them arrange and record a song for
a web site called unsignedartists.com.
The sessions today are being filmed and in a few weeks from now there
will be five 5-minute episodes posted on that site so be sure to check
those out.
The band competed with 500 other bands and eventually won a place
on the Warped tour this year.
Long View Farm Recording Studios is the oldest recording studio in the
country. The big red barn where I always record was built in 1906. Long
View opened as a recording studio in 1974, and I first recorded here
in 1976, so I've been coming here for 31 years, which is a 'record'
for me : )
August 29, 2007
Photo from tonight's Boston Red Sox Foundation show and silent auction
in Santa Monica, CA:
With producer Loren Harriet and Leland Sklar
August 28, 2007
Hi everyone.. Since finishing the John Fogerty tour on August 2 I've
been nonstop busy doing recording sessions in LA and at Longview Farm
Studios in Massachusetts. I also have been doing live shows with the
Philip Sayce trio and with the BoDeans. Philip's CD will be released
soon in the USA as he continues to write and record new material for
that record. The BoDeans also have a new record coming out soon that
I recorded on. T-Bone Burnett produced and reworked some of the record
that Kurt Neumann had been producing in his home studio. The new John
Fogerty CD will be released October 2. The Puddle of Mudd single "Famous"
that I played on is #2 on the Billboard mainstream rock chart for a
second week.
August 22, 2006
Some photos from the recent BoDeans shows in Iowa and Wisconsin. Thanks
to photographer Valerie DeCleene!
July 28, 2007
Hi everyone.... Sorry it took me so long to write a new blog. Wow...have
I been traveling. Since I got back from South Korea in May, where I
learned 42 songs, rehearsed for 6 days and performed one concert with
Lee Seung Hwan, I finished making a killer record with John Fogerty,
recorded with Puddle of Mudd and with Gavin DeGraw, did a drum clinic
tour through South America for Tama Drums, played some one-off shows
with John Fogerty and on June 20 I flew to Europe to start a 6 week
tour with John Fogerty... I have been going non-stop and haven't had
one day off where I wasn't traveling or performing since June 17. I
am in Canada now..The tour went from Vienna, Austria to Montreal with
no days off and the tour has been making its way across Canada. We finish
in Vancouver Aug. 2. Europe was great with great audiences that came
to see us in pouring rain and sometimes hurricane winds. It was amazing.
5 to 10 thousand people in raincoats and umbrellas watching us play
rock n roll. How cool... We played a few huge festivals for 30 to 50,000
people. One festival had Pink, John Fogerty and Elton John... We have
been playing some cities in Canada that John has never been to and the
audiences have been standing and dancing for the 2 hour show. it's hard
not to like John Fogerty because almost every song was a hit and is
recognizable.
Here are some photos from the tour..
backstage after the show in Kettering, Ohio
June 4 - 9, 2007
I did three clinics in South America for Tama Drums - in Buenos Aires,
Argentina, Santiago and Concepcion, Chile. On June 4 I flew from LA
to Buenos Aires. As soon as I landed (7:30 AM) on June 5, I went right
to Manny's Music where my clinic would be held the next day. I spent
most of the day setting up, sound checking and warming up for the clinic.
The next day I performed a 2 1/2 clinic in a very cool, sold out room
where the acoustics were awesome. The audience asked great questions.
The following day I flew over the Andes Mountains, one of the most amazing
mountain ranges in the world, on my way to Santiago, Chile. The Andes
are like the spine on a human back, running north to south, separating
Chile and Argentina. I checked into the hotel, did a question and answer
session at a local music school and then went to the venue to set up
and perform a clinic for 600 people. The venue was a very cool theater
that looked like a House of Blues bar/club. The next day I flew south
to Concepcion, Chile. The more south I flew the colder it got. It's
the beginning of winter in South America now. I checked into the hotel,
did an autograph session at the music store that helped sponsor the
drum clinic, and then went to the theater to set up and do a sound check.
In the middle of my second song I broke the top layer of my 2-ply drum
head. That rarely happens. So I had to talk to the audience and answer
questions while I changed the snare head. At all three clinics I had
an interpreter speak in Spanish after I would talk. The next day I flew
back to LA to resume recording a new John Fogerty CD. I'll be going
back to South America later this year to do a clinic in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Here are some photos from clinics:
May 25, 2007
Photo from the session today with Orianthi for the soundtrack to the
movie "Bratz"
May 17, 2007
Photos from the Zildjian party at CenterStaging in Los Angeles.
Kenny with John DeChristopher (Zildjian Vice President, Artist Relations
& Event Marketing Worldwide)
Jim McGathey (Ziildjian Artist Relations Manager-East Coast), Kenny,
John DeChristopher (Vice President, Artist Relations & Event Marketing
Worldwide) and Paul Francis (Research and Design Manager)
May 13, 2007
Performing in Seoul Korea with Lee Seung Hwan was an amazing experience.
I loved Seoul because of the friendly, passionate people, the food,
the beautiful city and most of all the experience of performing with
Lee Seung Hwan and his excellent musicians at the Olympic Stadium. I
had to learn 42 songs for the 4 hour concert, with only 6 days of rehearsals.
I would never been able to pull this off if I didn't know how to write
very detailed charts with all the different beats, important fills,
tempo changes (sometimes 3 different ones in one song), dynamics, accents,
stops and starts etc. Because of my busy schedule I was only able to
write 15 charts before I got on the plane to Seoul. So I spent 11 of
the 13 hours flying to Korea writing charts... I got 33 done by the
time I landed. At that point I only had 35 to learn, but after I landed
I was given more tunes to learn and a few more 3 days later. : ) My
days were extremely focused and disciplined with at least 5 hours of
work by myself before an 8 or 9 hour rehearsal with the band. Every
night after the rehearsal, at about 3 am I would work for an hour to
get organized for the next day. The production for a concert like this
is huge. Being able to play the drum parts is only a small part of what
it takes to do a show like this. You have to listen and watch everything
as the concert is going on for cues and for any unexpected changes,
count off tunes, follow sequencers, follow Lee Seung Hwan for endings,
etc etc. The show was amazing despite the rain that unfortunately affected
a lot of technical aspects of the show (video screens, sound, wet stage
conditions etc). The audience was very passionate and went crazy for
the entire show. MTV Korea filmed the concert. Unfortunately because
of the rain a planned DVD of the show was not able to be made. I really
look forward to going back and having this experience again.. It was
one of the top 5 most amazing experiences I've had performing. Here
are some photos from the concert..
May 4, 2007
Hey everyone, I just did a short drum clinic tour in 5 cities through
California. I went right from a session in LA to the airport and flew
to San Luis Obispo to do my first clinic the next day at the Drum Circuit.
I was a judge at their annual Drum Competition, which I also did 2 years
ago. It was exciting to see all the drummers of different ages competing,
and this year’s attendance was double last year’s, which
was very cool. I did a short 30-minute clinic at the event, performing
6 songs. A beautiful city, great store and very cool people. I always
enjoy being there. After the clinic Paul Holdgate, the Tama rep for
the first 4 clinics, drove us 4 hours north to San Jose, and the next
day was a clinic at Jimmy DeGrasso’s Pro Drum shop there. They
also had a very good turnout, and everyone was extremely professional,
as they were at all the stores on the tour. It was great finally meeting
Jimmy DeGrasso who’s an amazing drummer himself, for the first
time . After that clinic we drove an hour to San Francisco and the next
day we drove over the Golden Gate Bridge to Zone Music in Cotati. I
had a wonderful experience there performing inside their store. It was
a really charming, intimate store to do a clinic in and was completely
packed. There were a lot of great questions from the crowd. Paul Holdgate
did an amazing job mixing me and my music. I always play along with
10 to 12 songs I have recorded with different artists, so I need a powerful
PA and monitors (for my kick drum) to make it sound great to the audience.
Paul is a musician and really knows how to blend my drums with the music.
I want my clinics to be like a rock show, an experience for everyone.
After Cotati we drove 2 hours to Auburn, near Sacramento. I spent half
the trip writing charts for a show I’m doing in Seoul, South Korea
next week, with an artist called Lee Seung-hwan. I’m trying to
learn 35 songs for a 3 ½ hour show, and I have to chart them
out ahead of time since there are only 6 days of rehearsals when I get
to Seoul. So I’ve been writing out charts in the car on this tour,
and in the hotels at night and in the morning. We're playing at the
Olympic Stadium in Seoul. Anyway, in Auburn the clinic was at Encore
Music, and it was the first drum clinic ever for them. It was very very
successful. They sold two drum kits that night, and one of them was
the one I played on. Paul brought in his own PA system, mics, and lights,
and did an amazing job of mixing once again. The next day I flew to
LA, writing charts on the plane the whole way. The clinic was at West
LA Music and was the kickoff to their "Drummania" month. We
brought in my Tama Bubinga Volcanic Fire kit, which I use for sessions
in LA. I was assisted by Aaron Vishria of Hoshino USA on the west coast,
and Russ Rosenfeld, the Tama rep in LA, as well as Mike Brucher, who
brought in my Zildjian cymbals, and the West LA pro staff and drum department
staff (thanks guys for all your help!) The clinic was held at an outdoor
venue across from the store. The audience asked great questons and someone
won my 5" x 14' signature Tama snare drum as a giveaway at the
end of the clinic. How cool.
I really enjoyed all the clinics on this tour, all the stores and the
personnel. Everyone did an excellent job and I appreciate everyone’s
professionalism as well as all the support from my endorsement companies.
I was very happy to be working with people and stores that are as dedicated
to drumming as I am.
Kenny with Jeremy Miller, drum department manager, and the West LA Music
drum crew
West LA Music clinic
West LA Music clinic
West LA Music clinic
West LA Music clinic
Encore Music clinic - Auburn, CA
San Jose Pro Drum clinic
With Jimmy Degrasso and Paul Batres of San Jose Pro Drum
Drum Circuit clinic - San Luis Obispo, CA
With Paul Holdgate (Tama rep) and Drum Circuit competition winner
Zone Music - Cotati, CA
April 6, 2007
Yesterday I flew to Jackson Hole, Wyoming to play with a group of cool
musicians for the last concert of the season at the base of the main
mountain. The band included Fran Sheehan and Barry Goudreau from the
original band Boston, Skunk Baxter from Steely Dan and The Doobie Brothers,
Chris Chaney from Jane's Addiction, James Montgomery from his band The
James Montgomery Blues Band, Johnny Winter, and Kevin Miller from Fuel
and his new band Foster Child. I grew up skiing and have skiied my entire
life but never in Jackson Hole. I was fortunate to have a chance to
ski with Micah Black and Brian "Menace" McGrath, two of the
world's greatest and craziest expert stunt skiiers. Amazing music and
amazing skiing and no broken limbs. : )
onstage with Kevin Miller in Jackson Hole, WY
skiing with Micah Black and Shawn Doyle
March 29, 2007
Philip Sayce and Peace Machine played in Tokyo March 27 and 28 to celebrate
Philip's new CD, Silver Wheel of Stars, which was just released
in Japan. Here we are at Tower Records in Tokyo. The CD will be released
in the US soon.. Check the News section of the website for updates.
L to R: Hiro Abe (WHD Entertainment), Roger Bueno, Philip Sayce, Kenny,
Mika Nakamura, John Greenberg (Philip's manager)
March 25, 2007
It’s been a while since I've done a blog.. here's what I've been
doing in 2007.
I have to start by saying I'm an Indianapolis Colts fan and have been
for about 18 years. WELL... YEAH.... they finally made it to the Super
Bowl and won!!! yee hah!!! I was there celebrating the game from the
40 yard line. : )
I've been mostly recording in Los Angeles. I recorded 2 more songs with
Avril Lavigne even though the album was considered finiished. I love
that she works so hard to write a better song even when her album is
technically done. That’s what happened on her last record, with
the song “My Happy Ending”. She had finished her record
and wrote a few more songs with Butch Walker, and that was one of them.
It came out so good it was added to the record.
I'm going to tour with John for about 7 ot 8 weeks this summer in Europe,
Canada and a few dates in the USA. I've also been doing some one-off
shows with John Fogerty in the USA and Canada this year.
I recorded three songs with an artist called MiG, which was cool. Great
songs and he sings amazingly.
I spent 2 days recording with Travis Tritt with one of the baddest-ass
bass players ever, Randy Jackson, producing.
I just finished recording for 4 days with an amazing new singer/songwriter
named Paul Freeman. Wow can he write great songs... killer!!!
I also recorded 2 songs for the new Puddle Of Mudd cd.. Wes can sing
his ass off. Amazing singer.
Also recorded 3 songs for the new Starting Line cd.
Besides playing some live shows with John Fogerty, I've also been playing
some shows with Philip Sayce an amazing guitarist, singer and songwriter
who plays with Melissa Etheridge. That’s where we met - when we
were on tour with Melissa.
As I write this I'm on my way to Tokyo tp perform and promote the latest
cd I recorded with Philip, Silver Wheel of Stars. Check the
News section my site because the Philip Sayce power trio plays almost
every month at Club La Ve Lee in Studio City, CA. We tear it up.
March 14-17 I flew to Myrtle Beach and was the guest drummer, performing
and teaching at a bass camp that the virtuosos Seve Bailey and Victor
Wooten have had for the past 4 years. Every night we performed a 3 hour
concert with about a 30 minute rehearsal. And each night there were
some amazing musicians who joined us, like Mike Pope (Chick Corea),
Frank Gambale (Chick Corea), Howard Levy (solo act, virtuoso harmonica
player and founding member of Bella Fleck and the Flecktones), and others...
I'll be doing a drum clinic tour for Tama drums in Northern California
on April 29, 30, May 1 & 2. So come and see me play some songs I've
recorded with many of the artists and bands on my web site. It’s
like Kenny’s juke box live. :)
The cities I will be doing the clinics at are:
April 29 San Luis Obispo, CA
April 30 San Jose, CA
May 1 Cotai, CA
May 2 Auburn, CA
May 3 Los Angeles, CA
In June I'll also be doing 4 Tama drum clinics in South America. Here
are the dates:
June 5 Sao Paulo, Brazil
June 6 Buenos Aries, Argentina
June 7 Santiago, Chili
June 8 Conceptcion, Chili
That’a it for now... I'm going to watch a movie and try and sleep
a biy more on this 11.5 hr. flight from LA to Tokyo, Japan..
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