Just thought it was about time to give you all an update about my health. I have been in the hospital since the Friday after Thanksgiving in Oakland, CA after a pretty nasty fall down a steep, rocky hill. I was rushed by ambulance to Marin County General’s ER and ICU and moved over to Kaiser Hospital in Oakland to have major surgery done to my left hip.

The injury count at this point is:

• Fractured left scapula
• Fractured C6 vertebra
• Two fractured ribs
• Broken hip socket
• Fractured pelvis
• Collapsed lung
• Damaged kidney and liver
• And all the other lovely little things I picked up in the hospital… I.e. Staph infection and pneumonia

I won’t be able to walk without assistance for about 2 months but all things considered, it could have been much, much worse.

As bad as that all sounds, I’ve really come to appreciate my family and friends that have been visiting me, taking care of me, offering words of encouragement, etc.

I was initially roommates with a man who was very rude to the staff and extremely negative, in general. This guy had no one to take care of him or even visit. His own father barely stopped by during the week we were roommates. He would curse and complain about his situation but failed to see that he was a direct product of all of his own negativity. I guess what I’m trying to say is to treat the people around you with as much love and kindness as possible. Let them know how you feel about them and hopefully it will all come back around in a time of need.

So thanks everyone who has reached out to wish me well! I will be back to my goofy, dancing self as soon as possible!

K

It’s been a really busy year with all the shows, trips and events and I decided after a particularly hectic month that I needed to scale back for a few weeks. It’s been nice, too for a couple of different reasons: 1) My little break has given me some time to recuperate and reassess my goals for the rest of the year, 2) I’ve been writing new songs that I would have never written had I not been able to lay low, and 3) I’ve reminded myself how fun it is to jam with my friends and just PLAY. In fact, right at this very moment I’m sitting in a bar by myself in downtown San Diego getting ready to spend the next four hours messing around with cover songs I may or may not know but only being concerned with having fun. Yeah, I needed that break.

Well it’s showtime. See you soon!

Ode to a Focus

Goodbye Focus. You were always so good to me and without you, I would have never gotten to where I am today (literally). Thank you for all of the good times, for never failing me when I needed you and for never causing me too much trouble in terms of maintenance and upkeep. We all have our flaws- yours included a broken rear window, a key lodged in the trunk keyhole, a malfunctioning A/C system and all sorts of leaks and wear and tear. You always looked young and hip, despite having a few miles on you before I got you. Lord knows I put on my fair share of miles after I got you. As for me, I wasn’t the best to you. I should have washed you more. I should have paid better attention when you needed more oil or fluids. It took me two months to replace one of your windshield wipers and looking back on it now, I wish I had taken you for a few more joy rides. You never complained that I pounded on the dashboard when the mp3 player I installed wasn’t working. You never complained when I drove home from the gym at work without taking a shower first. You had all sorts of beverages spilled on your floor mats and yet, you were always so graceful about it. When we moved to Normal Heights together, you got picked on more than ever. I feel responsible for how badly you were treated out there every night but you stood strong and resolute. In fact, you wore those marks like proud battle scars. So I take consolation in the fact that we both loved each other for who we were.  I hope you also take consolation that I got a car dealer to buy you for $800 less than what I bought you for in 2004 which was a ridiculous deal. I know you’ll be going to greener pastures (or as they call them, “wholesale dealers”) in a few days and I hope you can forgive me for not seeing you to your end. If I had my way, I would have. But the way things were going at the negotiating table made it almost impossible to leave with both of you. I can only hope that your next friend treats you better than I treated you because I know you’ll treat them right.

I’ll never forget your beautiful heart and soul and all of our adventures together. I hope that we meet again someday (but hopefully not in some kind of collision). Maybe then, we can go to the beach or drive through the mountains one last time.

You will be missed. Gone but not forgotten. Always in my heart. Goodbye my friend.

2001 Ford Focus, April 2004- May 2011

So instead, I just want to say thank you to everyone who was so gracious to the four of us over the last week. Thank you to Jonathan (@jonnykdesigns) for making us the great tour shirts and also allowing us to play at his house in LA. Thank you to Navi, Shayna, Jessica/Keven for letting us crash at their places so we didn’t have to stay in hotels (or worse, in the van) every night. Thank you to all of the great venues that let us share our music with the people that came to see us. Thank you to Lou Evans and Jaden La Rue for helping us get shows in San Francisco and LA. Thanks to Jude for helping us with transportation. It was definitely the way to do it.

Thank you Rob and Isaac for a great bunch of shows and all the fun we had on the road. It’s so much of a treat when we not only we like each other’s music but also each other. I had as much fun singing along offstage as I did onstage with those guys. I think we all did and that’s why the shows were so fun. And not to mention all the crazy singing we did when we weren’t even around a stage. I’m secretly hoping that we can do this again soon. Australia?

Lastly, but definitely not least, thank you to Travis for being our driver. I can’t even remember how many times I thought to myself “Thank god we have Travis helping us out” over the course of the last week. At least twice. Plus 500. He was as much of the tour as we were, with his steady driving abilities even on two hours of sleep or introducing us to AMAZING mexican food (La Super Rica, we shall meet again) or his goofy ET impressions during “The Bicycle Song”. Travis was always the guy saying “what can I carry to the venue” when we were all exhausted from the trip (even though he did 95% of the driving and 2.5% of the sleeping). Without him, I think we would have killed ourselves. Literally.

Thank you everyone for making this tour such a success! Here’s to hoping I see you on the road again soon!

Kenny

PS. Keep an idea out for videos and pictures!

Instead of rehashing everything that I’ve been putting out to the world about these guys, I thought I might do something a little more personal here.

Jeff “Jefe/Glue” Johnson

Jeff was the first member of the band that officially joined. We met before around the music scene when he was playing in various other bands but never really got together to play music. One day, “Doktor” Dave Sawyer and I were talking about bass players and my interest in starting a band and he suggested Jeff. I didn’t really think anything of it because I wasn’t prepared to start practicing with a band so I just kinda moved on.

A few months later, I found myself accompanying Brenda Xu in her band and lo, and behold, in walks Jeff as the new bassist. After playing a few shows together, it became obvious that Jeff would be a great fit for my band. The guy’s mind is always going to places I would have never even imagined and his playing and joking around reflects that! As if this doesn’t sound enough like a couple’s autobiography, after one rehearsal, we went to eat dinner at a local restaurant and the owners thought we were on a date. But that’s an entirely different story that Jeff tells much better than I do.

Rodney Jones

I met Rodney at the Asian Cultural Festival of all places. He was playing drums with our mutual friend Terry Matsuoka and when I first heard him play, I immediately knew I had to talk to him. Started listing people he’s played with and the kind of gigs he is used to, I was almost too intimidated to ask him if he wanted to try sitting in with me. After getting together a few times, I knew his addition to the band would make us a band to be reckoned with. Rodney is one of the busiest musicians I know yet somehow he makes time for me. To me, that is an amazing testament to the friend that Rodney is.

Keith Adams

Even though Keith has been with us for the least amount of time, I’ve known him the longest. We met in college when were both studying music at UC Davis. Since then, he has played shows with me around Davis, CA when I was trying to figure out if being a performing singer/songwriter was something I wanted to do. Some of the earliest songs I wrote, Keith was there to help me refine them. We’ve even written a few songs together that we have a laugh about.

When I found out that Keith had moved back to the San Diego area, it was an easy decision to make. We got together once again to work out my new songs and within a few days, Keith was up on stage with us. He has quickly become an essential ingredient to the music we make lending not only his impressive guitar playing but also his creative talent as well.

I hope you will make it out to see us perform soon! Like I said, it is a huge thrill and honor to play with such talented musicians. Check out the show schedule to see where we’ll be next!