A Conversation with Kevin Kinney – HuffPost 4.20.12

Mike Ragogna: Kevin, where did the idea for an album collaboration with your old pal Anton Fier come from?

Kevin Kinney: Quite honestly, I worked with Anton on my second drivin’ n’ cryin’ record,The Whisper Tames The Lion, and the experience was less than stellar.We were a young garage band in New York working with a serious musical producer. We were listening to a lot of Zeppelin at the time and thought this would be an amazing fit, but it was like going to graduate school without ever going to college, and we were so lost and confused. I liked the record, and a lot of drivin’ n’ cryin’ fans love it as well, but critically, its only contribution to the history of rock ‘n’ roll was that it entered the charts at #199 and pushed Pink Floyd’sDark Side Of The Moon off the charts for a week, ending its record-breaking run.

When I went to see Anton four years ago, he was playing in a Lower East Side room called Marion’s with Tony Scherr, and I handed him an album I had just done for a Dutch company, and when he called me back a couple weeks later, I was really excited about getting together and just working on some songs. We did that every Tuesday at his rehearsal space and it was a great experience…I was ready for that graduate school now. We co-wrote and arranged the songs for A Good Country Mile at this time and getting in the studio and assembling them was the next obvious step.

MR: What is the bigger picture regarding your new album A Good Country Mile?

KK: I still don’t know!! When I imagined what the big picture scenario for myself could be in New York City, it became an overwhelming challenge for me. I thought to myself, “Why are you going to try and break into THE most difficult music scene in the world!” As a fifty-year-old “Don’t you know who I think I used to be?” Southern legend-in-the-making, to try to break into a playground/workshop for the young and hungry is an insane challenge.

I played for eighty Mondays in a row at a bar on the Lower East Side, The National Underground, as part of an ever-changing group show called Shayni Rae’s Truckstop, and although I was well aware that this wasn’t going to necessarily garner an audience overnight, it was a humbling experience. But what I did get out of it is what New York City really has to offer: an opportunity to learn and play with some of the finest musicians in the world. Some nights, I would look back at the musicians I was sharing the stage with and be awestruck. Monday night is a great place to see the incredible in New York City. So I guess my overall big picture became, “Shut up and listen, I think you could learn a lot between this amazing drummer Anton Fier and these twenty-year-olds from Ohio, The Madison Square Gardeners.”

MR: Why wouldn’t New Yorkers know of you, especially after your time with drivin’ n’ cryin’?

KK: Southern bands had a longer, harder road back then. We were huge in the South, but major magazines would hardly recognize us. It was hard answering Skynyrd, Allman Brother questions all the time and I would just reply, “Right now, R.E.M. is the biggest Southern rock band in the world, so I don’t know what you mean by ‘Southern Rock,’ not to mention the B-52’s, dB’s, Flat Duo Jets…” There was definitely a recognized Southern Jangle art scene, but when it came to us, we were persona non grata, and New York is a very press-driven machine. I think for as open-minded as they are, they need to introduce you, and I still have not been officially introduced.

MR: Which songs are the most personal to you and why?

KK: I think off the new record, “Challenge” is the most personal. “Everything’s a challenge lately,I’m just trying to get to bed,two steps forward one step backwards,it’s a wonder I get anywhereand if you want to know my story,it’s probably a lot like yours,America in times a turninhold me to the god damn floor.”But at the end of the song, there is salvation and renewal and a vision of better tomorrow. Yay!

MR: What was the writing process like for the material?

KK: To me, songs always start with a good first line. After that, I just try and not disappoint it.

MR: What was the recording process like?

KK: This record began on two-inch analog tape machines for the drums and bass, and some guitars. But even when it moved to a studio with pro tools, Anton is very old-fashioned when it comes to recording–he likes a good take. Nowadays, there is an almost endless amount of performances you can add to the recording. As you know, The Beatles started with four tracks. So Anton likes to it all clean and tidy and not have a lot of post-production deciphering to do; everything had to make sense, and I think he did a fantastic job.

MR: Who are some of the guests appearing on A Good Country Mile?

KK: A lot of the people we met during our “Truckstop” residency: Aaron Lee Tasjan from The Gardeners; Eleanor Whitmore and Chris Masterson; the Duke and Duchess from Steve Earle’s Dukes; Andy Hess I met from Go’s Mule; and Tony Scherr is really amazing on this record — still does a residency with Antonnow at The Living Room on Monday nights

MR: When you look at what’s happening on the music scene these days, what are your thoughts?

KK: I love this era of iTunes. One of an artist’s biggest fears in the last eighty years was having your art discontinued. I know it’s a fun game for collectors, but as an artist, it really sucks. I still can’t find Mitch Ryder’s Detroit /Memphis Experiment, but once it finally gets on iTunes–BAM!–there it is, and I can buy it after having friends over, and we are turning each other on to new things. As far as the live scene, there is a CBGBs or a Haight Ashbury in just about every big town in America, thousands and thousands of bands on any given night as good as anybody. The hardest part about it is it can be exhausting trying to keep up. I think this a great era for music: hard times = good music.

MR: What advice might you have for new artists?

KK: Write what you know and tell me about yourself. If you grew up in the suburbs write about it. I won’t judge you, I just want to know YOUR story.

MR: What’s your touring like and do you think with this album, New York will finally know you?

KK: I don’t play Tuesdays in Salt Lake or Boise anymore. Other than that…CALL ME!!!

Transcribed by Howard Wuelfing