[Laughing} I've been playing guitar for about 28 years and lap steel for, well, I'm not exactly sure. There have always been musical instruments around and I've always been interested in them.
I played in my father's band for years and then got to play bass for Buddy Guy. I was eager to play, I was good on bass, and I had a sense of what was expected of me, so it worked out. Then Buddy told me to focus on what I really wanted to do, which was play guitar. And that's what I did.
Do you still play trumpet and piano?
Piano, yes, definitely. Trumpet? Maybe. [Laughing] I've been pretty busy with a lot of other things since high school, so it would probably take some effort.
You have been busy since high school! Broadway? Africa? And, then there are all your experiences just playing clubs and festivals. Where do you want to start?
We could start with Broadway. I was in a play by Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes called Mule Bone in 1991. The play was a great experience. A friend of mine from New Orleans, Dawn Griffin, heard about the production and thought I'd be a good fit. I didn't have any acting experience, but I could sing, so I thought I'd give it a shot. Again, the experience was fantastic! I learned a lot of the discipline from the other cast members and it helped me stay on top of all that was required of me during the show's run. With Hurston and Hughes responsible for the play, and the music by Taj Mahal, I think I was very lucky to have that opportunity.
Africa...
In 1993, I got to participate in a sort of P.R. junket to Africa with the U.S. State Department. I never really thought of going before that, or rather, I never thought I'd get the chance to go to the land where all our roots are. I may be part Cherokee and Irish, but there's a part of me from Africa, too.
We toured through eight countries and I don't know how many villages while we were there. In the villages, you were immersed in the culture. I was enormously touched by the people I met; their sincerity and openness was incredible. Of course, the trip and the people struck an even deeper chord with me afterward. Just a month after we left Rwanda, the massacre of almost a million began. To think that some of the people I stood alongside, shook hands with, sat down to eat with, people who played their music for me...to think they might not exist anymore, that's some deep realization there, you know...that a slight shift in time would have meant I might have been witness to many deaths.
Article comments
1 - Pico
Being from Kenny's neck of the woods, I enjoyed reading this interview, he seems to be so down to earth.
I also realized a big goof on my Studebaker John review from a couple of week ago, implying that like John, Kenny could play guitar, sing, compose and play harmonica. But I didn't realize he could also play paino, trumpet and bass, too! Very informative piece.
-P
2 - Connie Phillips
Congratulations! This article was an Editor's Pick this week.