KEITH
KENNY: Bringing The
Blues Into The 21st Century
by Phil Rainone
Keith Kenny has been developing his own special
brand of blues/rock/ acoustic singer songwriter tales since
he was in his teens. I first saw him play about five years
ago at a charity fund raiser at Todd’s Dugout in South
Amboy. There, and every time I’ve seen him play since,
he can change from whiplash speed-of-light guitar playing
to searing, heavy duty chunks of riff rock, and still other
times, acoustically delicate as anything Neil Young could
conjure up. Blend that all with Keith’s humble, focused,
and heartfelt manner, and you have the ingredients for a
life-long musician, and someone who deeply cares about his
music, family, friends, and a passionate world view. Keith
released his new ep "Evil Fuzz Magic" in May,
and we caught up with him and his bassist and collaborator
Jon Luberecki for this interview.
Q: Where did the title of your new
album, “Evil Fuzz Magic” come from? Also, who
drew the figures of the monsters on the front and back covers?
I thought they were cool.
Jon: I pulled it from “Naked Lunch” by William
Burroughs. The words stood out amongst all the lunacy of
that book and I felt it carried a strong and ominous connotation.
I really liked the sound of it and all the things it could
stand for. I brought it to Keith as a possible title over
a year ago and it withheld the test of time. I like when
people come up with their own interpretations of anything
artistic or literary so I can’t really tell you exactly
what it means. All I’ll say is that you could take
it in a psychadelic direction.
Keith: The monsters for the front & back covers were
done by our drummer Ian. He actually saw an advertisement
in a magazine and drew the models as skeletons instead.
Jon brought over a rough sketch of it and I immediately
hung it on the wall in the studio. There was something about
the title of the EP and that sketch that seemed to compliment
each other. We are really happy with how it came out.
Q: How does this album differ from your past work?
Jon: The line-up has changed for one thing. This EP was
recorded with new drummer Ian Luberecki. Ian’s my
big brother and I hear all of the music he listens to and
visa versa. Playing with him is about as natural as it gets.
Still, we all throw new things at each other constantly.
It’s simultaneously a competition and a group effort
I think. Keith also picked up the electric guitar more as
opposed to the acoustic during our sessions. We wanted to
rock harder and louder and Keith just got into electric
all over again. The biggest difference between “Limit
is the Sky” and “Evil Fuzz Magic” is that
“Limit” was entirely written by Keith. I just
came in and made up bass lines for it mostly all in one
day. The “Evil Fuzz Magic” project grew out
of the three of us playing together.
Q: What inspires you to create your music?
Keith: It’s hard to pinpoint that really. It seems
that creativity comes in waves. Some days you have it other
days you don’t. I’ve found that the most important
thing is to realize when you’re doing something good
and record it…. It may never happen again. When you
know that you are forcing it, you might as well just quit
for the day and take it easy. Since we’ve built our
studio it has been such a luxury to record things as you
feel them.
Q:
The rhythm and vibe of “All the Right Things,”
on the new album, which I think is one of your best songs,
sounds like it may have been inspired by Dylan’s “The
Times They Are A-Changin.” I remember when we did
an interview about a year ago; you had mentioned that you
were listening to Dylan’s “Nashville Skyline,”
if I’m not mistaken. Has any of Dylan’s music
rubbed off on you, and how you approach writing songs?
Keith: You almost nailed it, the song is actually inspired
by “A hard rain’s a-gonna fall” by Bob
Dylan. Jon & I saw him at the First Energy Park and
it definitely had a big influence on the song. I found that
when listening to a lot of Bob Dylan I started to get a
little more clever when improvising lyrics, finding rhymes
a little easier and having a few more words to mess around
with. I’ve turned into a huge Dylan fan.
Q: “Evil Fuzz Magic” is a five song
EP that I think is one of your best so far. Do you have
any plans to put out a full record anytime soon?
Keith: You can never really tell what is going to come
next with music, all I know is that we are going to keep
playing together and we’ll be recording all of our
sessions. Whatever comes out of it will probably end up
going into the production of something new.
Q: Who else played on the album, and will any of
them be touring with you?
Keith: On the EP is Jonathon Luberecki on Bass and Ian
Luberecki on Drums. The EP would have never come out the
same without these guys. Jon is always bringing awesome
ideas to the music (like the drums and percussion at the
end of “All the Right Things” which he played)
Ian brought so much to the table with backup vocal ideas
and his ear for mixing. Everything about the collaboration
on this work was about the three of us sitting in a tiny
room. We definitely plan on touring together to promote
the release, as much as possible, wherever possible.
Q: A few years ago you had the opening slot for
The Asbury Music Awards, and you also won Top Acoustic Act.
What was it like opening the awards show, and later on getting
the award?
Keith: It’s really nice to be recognized for something
that you love to do, and playing the awards show definitely
meant a lot to me.
Q: I remember seeing you for the first time at a
charity fund raiser at Todd’s Dugout in South Amboy
about five years ago. You had played a really intense, jaw
dropping set that included originals like “Neck Hurts,”
and a nasty, rockin’ cover of AC/DC’s “TNT-
Dynamite,” if I remember correctly. How your live
has shows evolved since then?
Keith: The show these days is incorporating a lot more
of the trio and the jams that happen between us. We like
to let some of the older songs breathe a little bit and
have some room for exploring. After you play a tune too
many times it can start to lose it’s flavor, giving
it a little unknown helps keep the music fresh and the crowd
interested. When I’m doing solo shows these days I
find myself using much less of the Loop Pedal sound and
sometimes just making up songs on the spot. The goal is
really to just keep getting better as a musician and a performer,
hopefully that comes through with time.
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Q: You had mentioned about a year ago that you were
starting to play around the Philadelphia area. How has that
helped your stage performance and writing? Where will you
be playing in the next few months?
Keith: All the places that you take your music to help
mold what you do on your instrument. You go new places,
see new things, new feelings, all that good stuff. You can’t
beat traveling and playing. Philadelphia has a great music
scene and so far our music has been well received. We just
keep on plugging along.
Q: You’ve performed as a solo artist and
with a full band, sometimes both at a show. What advice
do you have for anyone who is starting a band, or looking
to go solo?
Jon: If you want to be happy playing original music for
a living and for fun never forget why you started playing
an instrument in the first place. Also, dedicated musicians
are as tough as anyone I’ve ever met. You have to
be.
Bonus Question: Steven Van Zandt (E-Street Band member),
once said that, “Music is a religion- karaoke is a
cult.” -Which I totally agree with. But there are
a lot of well-known artists like Springsteen, and Dylan
that have Karaoke versions of their music out there. So,
with that said, do you think someday when we walk into a
Karaoke bar we’ll be able so find, along with the
afore mentioned musicians, a list for The Songs of Keith
Kenny?
Keith: Although I hate karaoke, I think it would be hilarious
to hear a few tipsy people belt out a Keith Kenny song.
It’s not my number one priority at the moment though.
Keith Kenny will be appearing at Sullivan Hall
in NYC on Wednesday, June 30.
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