1. Hello Kenny Bird, welcome to KICKACTS.Tell us a little bit about yourself.

Born and raised along highway 60 west in a town called Corydon Ky, 3 brothers and 1 sister,my father started ( Brantleys Pest Control ) in 1969 an is still working in it today at the age of 80.  My friends, family and roots come from that little town and I’ll never forget the good times I had growing up there.

2. You perform a very popular weekly show at En El Rio’s. Tell us about that and how it all got started.

I had a couple friends who learned to play guitar when they where only like 13 and they liked for me to sing ( Only Make Believe ) by Conway Twitty, and from then on my name became Kenway Birdy. I knew from a early age I could make people laugh and enjoy themselves when they heard me sing. En El Rio let’s me do it any way I want to and believe me , I don’t like rules when it comes to being a entertainer. Anything goes, it’s always the peoples show and the people make the show. I’m just there to say it out loud and entertain. Always do your best to read the crowd and keep them smiling and laughing and you’ll always have a good show.

3. Who are your musical hero’s?

 Conway Twitty, Randy Travis , Hank Williams , David Allen Cole , Merle Haggard , Travis Tritt, Waylon Jennings . Willie Nelson, George Jones and of course the king Elvis Presley.

4. Any advice for someone just starting out in the music business?

I think to be a big player in the business you must put on the kind of show that is fun for everyone there. The kind of show that they tell others about and sing the songs the people can relate to. Remember their looking for something different and entertaining. Always and I mean Always bring your ‘A” game. Never stop once you start a song , no matter what, your best times can happen by accident .

5. You’re a natural born entertainer but do you have any other hobbies too?

I’ve been traveling the roads on a Harley since 1995 with good friends. I collect guitars, ride horses, enjoy making music and helping others learn to play guitar .

6. Do you remember your first real time performing in front of an audience?

The first time I ever played live was so great, people who knew me all my life was surprised to see what the kid could do. I was probably around 17 or 18 on my first gig and there were only like 12 people there that night but we all knew each other. Believe me Chuck, I gave them all I had and they loved it. So we got to go  back in like 2 weeks, and the house was packed.  That was a big deal because the owner couldn’t serve the drinks fast enough and hired a waitress which was the first time we ever saw that, because he never had one. Entertainment just got very interesting for me, I did’nt realize the power I had to keep a crowd entertained until that night. What A Night It Was.

7.Tell us about the first concert you went to.

I think it was a Bob Seger concert in the late 70s I always feel like there’s so much more I should do on stage after watching a great show like Bob Segers.

8. What can the people expect at “Kenny Bird’s Big Show” at En El Rio’s?

 I’ve always said , When you come to see a Kenny Bird Show, you’ve come to see a guy who loves to entertain and he never leaves home without his “A” game. It’s always the peoples show. What ever makes them laugh, what ever makes them remember something about the show. What ever it takes to make them want more. I respect the people and I listen to what they want to hear, so I’ll do what ever I can to see they get their fix. I guess my answer to your question would be, One heck of a good show.

9. If you could perform with one entertainer, wether they are alive or deceased… who would it be and why?

I would have loved to be on stage with Elvis Presley. He’s always been a favorite of mine.  He got away with anything on stage. he was a great entertainer and the crowd cheered him on until he couldn’t sing another note. Who wouldn’t dream of being apart of something that great? He invented a style of singing, moves, and his clothes, which will be around til the end of time. He said once that if his singing sucked, at least he looked good in his outfit. I believe that to be what helped set him apart from other musicians. I love to dress up when I go on stage, I know the people like it , cause they ask where I got my clothes at. Dressing up for a show  shows people you came to have a good time, and believe me, I do.

10. Is called “shout it out Loud”. It’s where you get to talk about what ever you want to talk about. So go ahead Kenny and “SHOUT IT OUT LOUD”.

Thanks for tha interview Chuck, I really can’t  think of much to add to what I’ve already talked about. Hope your magazine is a big success and if there’s anything else I can do just ask.

Thanks
Kenny Bird!

1. Hello Travis, welcome to Kick Acts. Tell us a little about yourself.

Sure, I’m currently a student at ISU studying the most random mix of disciplines, theater and geology. Music is my first love however. I started playing in high school and actually started out on the drums and later moved to guitar and other instruments. These days I play out two or three times a week and give lessons on drums and guitar. When I’m not playing or studying, I’m outside. I’m always hiking, kayaking, camping, or down with whatever the boys are doing that weekend.

2. The “tree song” is a catchy tune. What was the inspiration for that one?

A couple of years ago I got very interested in the art of story telling. A good friend of mine, who is a professional story teller, really started to rub off on me. I loved watching how he could keep the attention of an audience with the use of different characters and doing things as simple as changing the pitch of your voice. The art of it just seems magical to me. My style has always been that of the story and when I started getting influenced by this style specifically, I decided that I wanted to push the story telling genre in my own music and thus the cautionary tale of a boy that climbed too high.

3. If you had to pick your # 1 song writer or story teller of all time, who would it be and why?

Paul Simon has always stuck with me through all of my musical phases. His music has been a strong influence for me. This is a man that has had an amazing musical journey that spans and connects so many generations and a great role-model for someone like me that is putting around with my own musical career.

4. Where can we find you on the web and do you have any CD’s out?

You can find me on facebook and myspace of course and soon on reverbnation.com. As far as having CD’s out, I usually just make my own in my room and give them out for free at shows or to friends. I love to record a few songs that I’ve recently written throw a CD together and hand it out to anybody that will listen. I am currently in the studio recording my first “official” solo album that is tentatively set to be released in August of this year.

5. We ask everyone this question and it always brings out some cool answers. Worst gig of all time?

That is a great question! I’ve done shows that have had bar fights, drug deals, racial outbursts, fires, and so on. But, the worst gig of all time, my band was playing in this little run down bar outside of Terre Haute. The night was going good until we had a request for a slow song, which we did. No big deal, right? Wrong! When we started to play, a very run down 60+ year-old woman came up with her mullet-toting son and thus began a 4-minute long sexual, grinding session that sent the band into a series of laughing/crying/gagging. A gig with incestuous overtones just takes the cake.

6. Best gig of all time?

Best gig…I would have to say was a frat party I played last year. It was an end of the year beach party which I played solo with my acoustic. I was skeptical about it because a frat party didn’t seem like the place for a singer-songwriter but this was by far the most responsive crowd I had ever played for. I actually led a sing-a-long that was so loud the cops came! I made some lasting friends in the fraternity and they’re actually bringing me back for more parties which I’m very much looking forward too.

7. Are you familiar with folk singers like Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez, Harry Chapin, John Denver, Bobby Gentry or OZZY (LOL)? If so, what are your opinions of them?

I am familiar with them and have high opinion of them all. Nothing says “solid folk singer” like biting the head off a bat! I love the genre and all the artists in it. I don’t think any other genre of music contains quite so much variety in sound and subject matter.

8. Ever been to Haight Ashbury? If so, what was it like? If you haven’t been,why not?

Have I ever been? Maybe…I have no clue what that is. You caught me, I am not hip.

[Editor: It's the birth place of the 1967 "Summer of Love" movement and  folk music, songs like, "San Francisco ( Be sure and wear  flowers in your hair)," The Mama's and Papa's.etc...]

9. So, according to your Myspace page, you’ve been in college far longer than you should have been. What’s up with that and what is the best way to prepare mac & cheese?

I can’t stop learning. I started out as a theater student and after taking many additional classes in music and anthropology, I started my second degree in Geology which I’m nearly finished with. It’s a vicious cycle because I feel there are many other things I will end up studying! As for the mac and cheese, I wouldn’t know. That’s high class college food and I’m on the ramen diet.

10. # 10 is called “Shout It Out Loud”. It’s were you get to talk about whatever you want to talk about. So go ahead Travis, and “SHOUT IT OUT LOUD”!

STOP TEXTING AND DRIVING! FOR REAL PEOPLE!

1.Hello and welcome to Kickacts Buzzkill Mofo’s. Who are we talking to and
tell us about the band and how did you come up with the name and where can
we find you on the web at?

ans. by Gina, Helson Management

Band members are as follows: Matt Allinger – vox
Shane Holt – guitar, backing vox/harmonies
Travis Beals – bass
Jeff Bockhold- guitar, backing vox
Steve Nelson – drums, backing vox/harmonies
The band started out as a 4-pc in Sept. of ‘08 and started playing out the end of
Jan ‘09.  Matt, Travis and Jeff used to play with Wasted Dayz, Shane toured with
Loveletter Effect, and Steve played with Undone among others. Jeff was brought into
the band summer of ‘09. Steve came up with the name by researching 90’s
catch-phrases and found the title to be ironic and humorous. The rest of the band
had no objections so the name was born. It seemed other bands were either “classic
rock” -covering the 70’s and 80’s –or “new rock” –covering the 2000 to today–so
we thought we would capitalize on the forgotten 90’s. Steve manages the Myspace site
( www.myspace.com/thebuzzkillmofos ), and I manage the Facebook site. Myspace has
the most info on it.

2. So, what do you think about the current music trend of today with acts
like Taylor Swift to Avenged Sevenfold?

Steve: I think it is based more on looks instead of talent. Basically i hope this
decade will be more like the 90’s where the talent was more important than a certain
look. The 80’s focused more on the look, and I feel the last decade did too,
although I’m very excited that A7X has brought my favorite drummer in the world –
Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater–on board.

(editor) Hold on here….We got to stop for a moment and put this car in neutral … “The 80’s focused more on ‘the look” and the 90’s on “talent”???  Did I read that right? I was around and playing in the 80’s and there were a lot of amazing and talented guitar players from that time. It wasn’t all about “the look”. I can easily name probably twenty  guitar players from the 80’s that could play and play well. I might be able to name two 90’s guitar players, one being Jerry Cantrell and the other one is not Dave Navarro…

In fact, I posted this question on a popular message board. Here are some of the responses…

well yes the 80s had great guitar players, but it was also more about the look than at any other point in time, ever where as the 90s was about the music, not about the look i think this is what he meant…he probably should have used a different word instead of “talent” to explain what he was trying to say because the 90s didn’t have as much talent as in the 80s. from “Heenan Snuka”

The 90’s “anti look” was as much a look as the 80s with flannel jeans, unwashed hair in the face and looking at their shoes while playing. It was just a reaction to the glammed up look of SOME of the 80s metal bands. And the talent level went way down un the 90s, most of those guys can’t play a guitar in standard tuning at all. It’s Drop D and the bottom 3 strings, played with index finger primarily and no solos. Not exactly inspiring. It’s funny how those guys always made lame excuses for not soloing like it was too indulgent and such. Fact is they never progressed on the instrument enough to be ABLE to play solos.a lot of grunge bands were glam a few years before. Two I can think of are Nirvana, who did it kinda halfassed but did have the Aquanet thing going on, and Alice in Chanis, who looked like Poison in 1989. Go see “Exposed” on the main page and you’ll see them and bands like Pantera all glammed up.Not that I blame them for doing what they had to to be successful, but I bet they had no clue that the then-infant Internet would blow their grunge street-cred covers one day. Nirvana being the most sainted band of grunge and its “honesty”, it just kinda cracks me up. I dig Nirvana, but the Exposed section of Sludge blows the whole myth the later grunge kids bought that they were revolutionaries. They were trend jumpers, which is fine, but cop to it and admit your grunge gods have feet of clay. Doesn’t mean they didn’t write some cool songs, but the sense of superiority is funny. from “lerxstcat”

Lerxs hit it right..Many of the 90’s band’s were guilty of “the look” and their playing and songwriting ability was mediocre.. I laugh my ass off when these band’s attempt to act like their look and music were genuine when it was nothing more than part of the trend and it reminded me of what the Sunset Strip would look like after the water got shut off..Also many grunge band’s were doing the glam thing before they changed over when the trend started to end..from “Luminiferous”

and one more…

I don’t really give a shit about guitar solos. All I know is no one in the 90s put any effort into their presence and personality (well, Manson I guess) that intrigued me enough to want to hear more of their music. from “HMJ”

(editor) OK, I think my friends have made some fine arguments here and in the court of Rock and Roll, I believe the 80’s have won on talent. So let’s put the car back in drive and keep going :)

Jeff: There is a lot of cool stuff going on right now.  However, the most
interesting things are a little under the radar and have to be sought out. Blogs,
myspace, internet radio, etc, are  the best places to find new music. Mainstream =
Lamestream. (<— good point…editor)

3. You guys play alot of 90’s grunge music. That was a period of gloom in
the music world thanks to Cobain and every other flannel shirt wearing
band out of Seattle. Everyone seemed down and depressed. So does the band
take antidepressants before each show to get through it?

Travis: Grunge was only one genre of music that was popular in that decade.  We
cover a wide range of genres from the 90s, grunge included, of course.  I wouldn’t
be surprised if a few of us are taking anti-depressants recreationally, but not
because of the music we’re playing.
Jeff: Well, we try to cover the whole spectrum of the ’90’s. So, we try to balance
out the “grunge” with some r&b/hip-hop, ska, and some pop-rock.  We like to put out
a party vibe and stay away from anything too depressing…

4. Tell us about your best gig so far.

Jeff: There have been a few stand-out shows where everything came together, but
anytime the crowd is really into it, it’s a good show.

Steve: That would have to be the day after Christmas at the Cantina in Tell City
because it was an assholes and elbows kind of party.
5. And one the same ticket, how about the worst gig in your life so far
story?

Steve:Possibly the Calumet in Jasper. We didn’t even make enough to pay for the PA
because it was a huge venue w/ only a handful of ppl and it wasn’t promoted
properly. It was …crickets…crickets…crickets….

Jeff: I try to block out the bad ones

6.I see where you guys are playing Casino’s. I see a lot of professional
bands do that too. How are the crowds? Do they treat you or receive you
differently than say, a gig in a local bar?

Shane:. i personally thought the crowd was just as cool and responsive as a bar or
anything like that. it was a good time!
Travis:  The only casino we’ve played thus far had a crowd similar to what we’re
used to. However, the atmosphere lent itself to more listening rather than dancing
and going crazy for the music.

Jeff:  It is definitely a different atmosphere.  You get a mix of people, some are
just there to gamble and don’t pay much attention, and others are there for a night
of entertainment who really want to see a show.

Steve:Good but different crowd. Casino, you are playing for the ppl getting drinks
while gambling. They might stay for a couple of songs, but… the ppl that were
hanging out gave us a good reception. We had our “fans”, but the majority are using
us for background music.

7. Are you guys currently working on an album or planning to in the near
future?

Travis:   There are a few original projects going on behind the scenes by a few of
the members, however, the mofos project, being just cover songs, has no album in
it’s future.

Jeff: The short answer would be that we are a cover band, so I don’t see a “Mofo’s”
album in the works. However, for most of us, this is the first serious, full-on
cover band we’ve done in a while.  We all cut our teeth in various original
projects over the years and that’s kind of how we all knew of each other to begin
with. I think everyone still has their own separate projects, so there could be 3-4
different albums in the works at anytime

Steve: They’ve already been recorded once! With us being a cover band, we are
basically just having fun playing the stuff we love listening to. There will not be
a Mofo album so if you wanna hear us, you gotta come see us live.

8.Tell us something about each of your band members that we wouldn’t
expect to hear.. Like your hobbies or something like that..

Shane:  well, i love to play video games, specifically survival horror games like
silent hill.
Jeff: I’m an information junkie, and I hate reality TV, except for the news, which
is close to being a game-show/popularity contest/rumor mill these days…

Steve: I  am in the works to run for President. I can’t be any worse than those
other guys lately. …And I like peanut butter.

9. What are your goals for the band? Are you looking to tour the United
States or just keep it local until the wheels fall off it?

Shane: my goal is to be booked all year around with this band, which we pretty much
are! so i guess im pretty set. :)

Jeff: You always have to start local and just see what happens from there, but
again, being a cover band kind of limits your options in that reguard.

Steve: Personally would like to see a mixture of the two. would like to tour
regionally until the wheels fall off.
10. # 10 is called “Shout It Out Loud”. It’s were you get to talk about
whatever you want to talk about. So go ahead BuzzKill Mofos’, and “SHOUT
IT OUT LOUD”!

Jeff: Buy local, bottled water is a scam and a poison to our environment, and the
record industry as we’ve know it is dead.

Steve: STEVE NELSON FOR PRESIDENT 2012 …and Chinese food rules!
Bonus Question for Gina the Band Manager:

This one is for you..
I noticed you are a band mom and there is another band mom in the
band too. Nothing wrong with that, or a band dad for that matter, my
parents supported me too but they weren’t “a part” of my band.They showed up
for gigs every once in awhile.. So are you a “Joe Jackson” type of
manager where its all business and nothing else or are you a band mom that
brings them water to the stage and takes up for them when the business turns
bad? (here’s an example. I few years ago I was running sound for a young
band and the lead singer/guitar player was up there being rock n roll with
all the expensive gear his parents bought for him and right in the middle
of his set when the chicks were really digging him he says over the
mic..”mom, would you bring me a bottled water”..and she did..In an
instant, he lost his street cred and any chance of getting laid from
that gig. His rock n roll card should have been taken away at that
point..lol) So are you moms’ a Joe Jackson type, or the other type or maybe a
somewhere in the middle type?

OH DUDE! I’m gonna HAFTA be long winded in order to straighten THIS out!
LOL

We are moms because we have given birth to their sons! Marcy is the
23-yr-old WIFE of guitarist Shane, and they have a 3-yr-old son together.
I started out as “the drummer’s girlfriend”, then graduated to manager
(story to follow), and we now have 6 mo-old twin boys together. Do we LOOK
old enough to be their MOMS?! LOL

Just to cover everyone’s personal lives: Jeff is getting married to Sarah
in October, and Matt and Travis are single. I have a Facebook picture of
the “band wives”.

So originally Steve was trying to book for the band, but he’s a bit of an
asshole so, one day, I wore a low-cut top and walked into a place I was
familiar with, and got their first gig. Since then, Steve would make up
the press kits, but have me do the talking. So I unofficially became the
manager. After the first year, the guys came to rely on me, and I earned
enough respect to where they decided to pay me a %. So now I am officially
the manager and have them pretty much booked solid for the rest of the
year. I do their promo photography, and stuff like talk to the magazine
guy! :-)

I don’t get to go to many of the shows now b/c we have my 3 kids from a
prev. marriage plus the twins so you can imagine how hard it is to find a
Sat. nite sitter for 5 kids!

I’m not all business. I guess I’m a paid monogamous groupie! I DO get the
guys water, collect the money at the end of the night, get people on the
dance floor if the crowd is shy, take some action photos (as does Marcy),
and am guaranteed to go home with the drummer! Steve and I have also
invested alot of money into this band by purchasing our own huge ass PA
and a trailer to haul it in! That’s how much we love this shit!!

To be fair to you, I am older than the band members (by 2 or 3 yrs) and
with the way they act sometimes, I do have to assume the mom role!

(editor) Oh man do I feel like a dumb ass..I usually do a lot of homework on the bands but I only
assumed the same last names meant “moms’ of the guys in the band not wives or girlfriend’s :(, …so I will
gladly eat the crow sandwich for this mistake of mine..I busted the guys in
band balls about 90’s being talented and 80’s being looks and it looks like
you busted mine about band mom’s..lol…:(

In closing, these guys got a lot of good things going for them. I hope we all had fun busting each others balls here but these guys are booked solid at a lot of really great places to play too so if you get a chance, Check them out!!

chuck