Out West Again

Well, I’m heading to the West Coast again. It’s been a while since I’ve been back there with my solo project. I'm looking forward to a week of Pacific Coast hospitality. When traveling with SCI, this was one of the first places I played on tour. I remember coming down into the Bay Area after a grueling, 26-hour drive from Boulder. It was like wandering into Wonderland. Everything was green, lush and so foreign to my cold Colorado winter.

I had never been to the Pacific Coast before and I was amazed at this land of the counter culture, Haight-Ashbury and the roots of the “Jam” culture. I had never seen a Whole Foods, met a vegan or walked through giant redwoods. And driving on Route 1 was spectacular, but always a bit unnerving, while at the wheel of a 32-foot ski bus named Bussy. That time was an awakening for me, not just musically, but also personally.

We played many cities and venues in those early tours, from San Diego to Seattle. It was a blast to leave my day job and join forces with this super vibrant, energetic crew of freaks. With Kristen the “merch goddess” and JonO our sound man, we traveled the West trying to convert young open-minded people to our musical style.

In the next few days, I’ll be posting on Facebook about my memories from early SCI gigs in each of my West Coast stops on this KHB tour.

I Hope you can tune in.

Kyle

Lots of Great Music and Not Much Sleep

Damn...this was a serious summer. SCI rehearsals and shows in June and July (which were sooo much fun). Then I was out with my band for a spell, traveling around the festival circuit. And, in between, I was invited to participate a few unique lineups including a super group with Bill Kreutzman, Steve Kimock and George Porter. It was a lot of great music with not much sleep, but maybe its better that way. On the beer front, it was big year as well. Kyle's Brew Fest sold out again and was another successful benefit for Conscious Alliance. The beer I made with Boulder Beer, Hoopla Pale Ale, has been getting a lot of great reviews from all over the country. Get it while you can! Also it was fun to add my new Brewru Experience at festivals, discussing beer and brewing with fans - trying to connect the dots between my passion for brewing and my love of music.

And now I am psyched to be home with the fam for a few weeks. While at home, I‘ve been forcing myself to dig in a bit and do some more writing. As inspiration, I have been playing through the Beatles songbook. Man, they were great songwriters. Some of those chord changes come out of nowhere and the modulations are seamless. The melody drives everything on that stuff. Listening to this music gets my mind thinking in different directions.

So this fall is mostly chill. Though I do head out for a long weekend with my band September 8-11 in the Midwest. We are going to hit some new towns as well as a couple of festivals. The Macpodz will be joining us in Cleveland and Kalamazoo. I dig their stuff and I think it will be a good musical combination. Also, we are playing one of my favorite breweries: Bell's. Yes! Great beer, great music. Yum.

And, of course, SCI is about to rev-up again for another big run of shows in December. And this time it’s a real tour. Like “get-on-the-bus-and-roll-” style. It's going to be awesome! Stay tuned for more on this on upcoming blogs

But for now, I’ll just enjoy the last weeks of summer. Sitting on the porch, drinking a beer and writing songs.

See you out there.

Kyle

In case you missed it, I did a "remix" of an argument we had on the road this summer. My band, KHB, had just finished a gig deep in the mountains of West Virginia. So at 4am we started driving around looking for our hotel. Tensions started running high as we came to the conclusion that we were hopelessly lost. I recorded some of our banter and then auto-tuned it and added music. Check it out (Beware it does contain some “moonshine-induced” mature language).

[soundcloud width="100%" height="81" params="" url="http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/22167316"]

Split Universes

Here I am sitting at home again after a few whirlwind weeks. It’s so wild to go from being a musician on stage in front of lots of people one day, to doing dishes and laundry the next. Quite the dichotomy going on in my life. Honestly though, I really enjoy the split Kyle universes. At times I am able to be home and spend time with the family, but I also get the release of playing music. And for me it's not necessarily just the playing of my instrument, but it's the addiction of performing on stage. I find sometimes I miss the energy I get from being in front of people. Yeah I know, kind of weird, but it's like I was wired to be an entertainer. Even from a young age I was a clown. From performing as a magician at the family dinners, to doing local musicals and TV shows. I always wanted to get up into the lights. And at age nine I decided that I wanted to be a “rock star." I would practice singing in front of the mirror with the brush and even pretend to answer questions from Rolling Stone. But at some point I realized I needed to actually play an instrument to be a rock star and since I was already taking piano lessons at that time, that made the most sense. Certainly not as cool as guitar, and definitely not as rocking, but I enjoyed it. And I got attention…ahh, I guess that’s what it was all about.

So I dig this strange life. And I am able to balance “dad” with “stage guy” pretty well now. Although sometimes I still find myself singing in the mirror with a brush, but at least this time I am doing it with my daughter.

I am heading out to my favorite coast again with my band, KHB. We are hitting Bellingham, Seattle, Portland and Lake Tahoe, this Thursday through Sunday. It’ll be nice to get on the road again and play some club dates (and drink great beer!). See ya in the Northwest this week! Also, I have included a link to a tune, "Rosie," that was played for the first time at the SCI Winter Carnival shows. I did a bit of a remix to it and added some new elements as well. Check it out, I hope you enjoy.

[soundcloud width="100%" height="81" params="" url="http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/12788650"]

Hoppy Holidays: #1

So here we are at the final keyboardist. As I look at this list I see so many amazing players. And although I had to choose the ones that made an impact on my playing I have so many more that I admire. From Red Garland and Brad Mehldau to Chester Thompson and Matt Rollings, there are so many great musicians out here. And, of course, my college teacher ,Greg Hatza, had a big influence on me and helped me get started on my journey so many years ago. And I thank him for that... #1: Herbie Hancock

So yes, every keyboard player is expected to cite Herbie as an influence. And with good reason, he is sooo the man. I first found him in college after my piano professor turned me on to Speak No Evil (a Wayne Shorter album). Of course I had heard of Herbie from the Eighties hit “Rockit,” but the earlier Miles Davis side of him was so was so soulful. Every note had so much feel and intention. And although in college I was studying all the greats, such as Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea, Bud Powell, etc., I kept coming back to Herbie. The live Miles Davis 1964 discs Four & More + My Funny Valentine were constantly playing in my room. It was, and remains to be, one of my favorite recordings of all time. There is great compositional improvisation on that record, so much musical intuition between the players. It wasn’t until later that I discovered the Headhunters' records. This was another level for me as well. Not only funky playing, but also that tone coming from the Rhodes was something I had to have. Herbie’s feel is always at the center of his playing whether a piano, Rhodes or Clavinet. He was a great inspiration for me.

Hoppy Holidays 12/10 Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom | Denver, CO – KHB feat. DJ Logic & Liza Oxnard w/The Nu Classics plus signature beer by Kyle and Boulder Beer 12/11 Hodi’s Half Note | Fort Collins, CO – KHB feat. DJ Logic & Liza Oxnard w/the Nu Classics plus signature beer by Kyle and Boulder Beer 12/12 Avery Brewing Co. | Boulder, CO – KHB plus signature beer by Kyle and Avery Brewing and much, much, more! – SOLD OUT!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hmVHhH96es&fs=1&hl=en_US]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76uSD1-u34Y&fs=1&hl=en_US]

Hoppy Holidays Countdown: #4

In anticipation of Hoppy Holidays, I will be counting down the top five keyboardists whom have had the most influence on my playing. I’ll post a different artist every few days between now and the first day of Hoppy Holidays: Friday, December 10th. I am often asked to name the most influential keyboardists in my life. I usually just rattle off my favorites from then and now, but I wanted to really take a look at who influenced my playing. I didn’t want to select just keyboard players that I admire and study, but those that have made an impact on my performance and writing. So I scanned my iTunes library and dug up my old cassettes from the basement and this is what it came down to…

#4: Brent Mydland

I remember being freaked out about the name “Grateful Dead,” I always imagined a heavy metal band of sorts, but once I listened to what they were doing, I had more respect for the music. My brother had this great soundboard tape and the keyboards were super high in the mix, perhaps to the detriment of the blend, but it did give me a chance to check out some of his work firsthand. It was kind of like a personal keyboard lesson. And it was great to hear someone up close, acting and reacting to what was going on in the music. I remember checking out the whole “China Cat Sunflower” into “I Know You Rider”-sequence many times. There was such good listening going on from everyone on stage. The music seemed like a big conversation and Jerry’s melodies would weave through bass and keys lines so seamlessly. I’d never heard a piano player on up-tempo, almost-bluegrass-style tunes before, it was an eye-opener. It was in Brent’s playing that I understood how improvisational music could be brought into the rock realm. Basically, it was through him that I really started getting into the Jam scene.

Hoppy Holidays 12/10 Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom | Denver, CO – KHB feat. DJ Logic & Liza Oxnard w/The Nu Classics plus signature beer by Kyle and Boulder Beer 12/11 Hodi’s Half Note | Fort Collins, CO – KHB feat. DJ Logic & Liza Oxnard w/the Nu Classics plus signature beer by Kyle and Boulder Beer 12/12 Avery Brewing Co. | Boulder, CO – KHB plus signature beer by Kyle and Avery Brewing and much, much, more!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQY1ZXznyZQ&fs=1&hl=en_US]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYjMCSlA6AU&fs=1&hl=en_US]