A unique mix of heartfelt traditional pop songwriting, rootsy American rock and loud guitars from this established Power Pop icon.

12 MP3 Songs
ROCK: Roots Rock, POP: Power Pop



Details:
What can be said about Kenny Howes that hasn't been said?

He writes songs, makes and produces records, and jumps and kicks on stage. He's from the South, but now he's in the West. He embraces his influences yet redefines his own musical rules constantly. He continues to carry the torch for traditional power-pop and rock-n-roll while eschewing the trappings of the form.

A native of Florida, Howes cut his teeth on Beatles & Monkees records and began an on-again-off-again relationship with songwriting at the age of seventeen. He embraced the jangle revival of the late '80s, while maintaining an admiration for the melodic FM rock of KISS and Cheap Trick.

He spent the late 1980's and early 1990's in several legendary bands in Florida, most notably Atomic Opera, normaDesmond, and The Mustardseeds.

With the disintegration of The Mustardseeds in 1993, Howes began a solo career. Recruiting monster drummer Kelly Shane to join in, Kenny recorded and released the 7" single "Somebody" (1994) and the cassette tape nothing wrong with that (1993; re-released on CD in 1995). He played all of the instruments in the studio, with Kelly Shane on drums (Shane has played drums on every KH record to date, actually). They managed to get the songs to the stage as Kenny Howes & the Curious Yellow, which also included Bob Anthony (guitar), Chuck Vaughan (organ, later on bass) and Ben Pringle (bass).

In support of the aptly titled Kenny Howes' Second Album (1996) KH&CY did a bit of touring; but life goes on, and so in 1996 Howes & Shane relocated from Tallahassee, FL to Atlanta, Georgia. Once there, they recorded the album Back To You Today! (not released until 1998), and, after much headache and heartache, got it together and formed Kenny Howes & the YEAH! with Jason NeSmith (guitar) and Kyle Harris (bass).

This combo's noteworthy achievements include multiple trips up and down the east coast; opening slots for a slew of incredible acts in Atlanta; a memorable performance at Atlanta's Midtown Music Festival in 2001; a standing-room only show at Atlanta's Echo Lounge to support the Kenny Howes compilation CD The Right Idea, which ended in a surprise performance of The Who's Tommy in its entirety (2000); that same year, a trip to Los Angeles for the International Pop Overthrow festival; and, most importantly, the recording and release of their only CD, Until Dawn (2001), which involved pre-production in New York with famed producer Don Fleming.

Like all good things, this combo came to an end and a new version of KH&Y formed in 2002, which included Mark Bencuya (piano/organ), Lyle Bufkin (bass) and Alex McGill (drums). The group was very good but the local Atlanta scene, on which the band was concentrating, was growing stale. Needing a change, Kenny packed his bags and headed out - not without first having a Christmas show (Dec. 2002) including all members of KH&Y, past and present, on stage simultaneously! Two drum kits, two basses, etc...

Kenny spent the first four months of 2003 in New Orleans, LA; from there he relocated to southern California, where he is in the process of forming a new group; but before leaving Atlanta, Howes began recording his latest album, Lady Friend (released July 2004). The album took much longer to complete than expected due to Kenny's vagrant tendencies during those months; nonetheless, it is already being received as Howes' finest work to date, combining a gentle introspective side with the massive power-pop delivery and heartfelt songwriting for which he is known.

- David Davidson, Kenny Howes Researcher