New gig – Blog Moving!

Hi everyone – 

 

Just a quick update to those of you still reading this blog. I’ve moved! You can check out the latest on my official website itskenton.com.

 

If you’re in LA Monday, September 17, check me out at Hotel Cafe, 8 pm!

 

🙂

 

Kenton

Show #2: Stir Cove

Now that tour has been over for a while, I’ve had a chance to recollect my things…and realized I had all these posts I didn’t publish! Apologize for the deluge of updates, but I promise to keep things up-to-shape whenever I can. From my second show:

Show #2: Stir Cove in Council Bluffs, Iowa Just got off stage. Haven’t had internet for a while, so everything’s a little backlogged. My twang is finally going away! Seems like time on road is isolating my speech patterns – thank goodness. I can’t imagine what my friends would say if I came back all Nash-vulled out. My choir teacher used to talk about how great Iowa is. I wanted to see it real bad. Only problem is – we only spent time at Harrah’s Casino, so I didn’t really get to see anything but gambling. I’ll be honest. I don’t gamble. It’s not really a moral thing, I just don’t trust myself with money anyway, why bother throwing it down the drain? Speaking of drains…Iowa needs a BIG one. The entire lower garage of the casino is submerged by the Missouri River – it’s gotta suck for business when everybody has to be shuttled due to the fact their cars don’t do well underwater. On with the show. This is the first outdoor show I’ve ever done. It was blazing hot! Someone said it was in the hundreds. So it wasn’t really a choice that I skipped my formal look. I wore a T-shirt with my black vest. Felt very Jonas Brothers…but I can see why they do it. Then, of course, the sun was in my face, and I couldn’t see my pedal at all, so I wore shades. And turns out, so did the audience! Guess wearing shades, T-shirt, is totally fine outdoors. Maybe indoors too…very tempting not to dress up. Anyway, it turned out to be a great show. During soundcheck, @suzwhatev tweeted about “the opening band” sounding good during warm-ups! Stir Cove (the venue) tweeted back, saying it was all one person lol. I finally fit all my songs in – except I cut Angel halfway through. It’s not a good idea to do a slow song in scorching heat: everybody wants to fall asleep – including me. After the show, I met a good number of people over by merchandise, but more that that, I met the little buggies by the lights! There were so many bugs out there, just swarming around. Luckily, I only suffered one bug bite, and I don’t seem to be allergic, thank goodness. It’s a great night to be in Iowa, and now on to Chicago – for a day off! xoxo=<3, Kenton

Show #1: Tulsa, OK – Cain’s Ballroom

 

 

I have to say, I was nervous about this first show. It had been awhile since April, and I haven’t performed these tunes since. My friend Quin and his family drove all the way from Oklahoma City just to see me – it was so sweet! We went to Joe Momma’s, this Italian restaurant down the street, and I even got a cup!

The crowd at Cain’s Ballroom was GREAT. I had so much fun conversing on stage that I ran out of time! Couldn’t perform Anthem, but I got to debut my newest song “Believe In,” which everyone really dug. I’m so excited to work on the song as soon as I get home. Seriously, I had people come up to me asking “WHERE CAN I BUY THIS SONG??” Made me very proud and THAT much more motivated.

And the best part – we’re hanging backstage in our dressing room, and I meet this guy named Taylor or something. He looks so familiar until I realize – it’s Hanson! They are the nicest guys in the world, and will be playing at Sunset Junction in LA soon. Guess who’s going to be there?

Back on the road, feeling the heat. This heat will eventually eat me alive.

❤

Pre-Show Stop: Nashville

Because Ben’s bus left from Nashville, I decided to spend 4^th of July in Music City with my very good friends Street Corner Symphony. Seriously – SO proud of them. And I couldn’t describe how many times we all expressed how good it felt to be reunited. The fireworks were BOMB. Literally I thought at one point we were in the middle of a war. No offense to those who have been at war – but seriously, it was frightening!! I can’t imagine what 4^th of July must be like to those suffering from PTSD.

Watch the video here: 

I then got to visit Doug and Cassie for a bit before leaving on the bus. All in all, it was exactly what I needed to remind myself why I love musicians, and why I love life. Specifically, mine.

-KC

Ben Folds Tour: West Coast Edition

When I first headed out on tour with Ben Folds in April, I thought that those four shows would be the coolest week of my life. And up till now, it’s definitely been one of the coolest. I got to see so many new places, meet so many different people, and shared my music with  a bunch of new ears – my music! But never did I think that immediately after, I’d get the opportunity to head back out again – this time with Ben’s band!

I’m headed out to Nashville to meet up with Street Corner Symphony and a few other friends for 4th of July, then it’s out on the road – 1st stop, Tulsa OK. Give me a shout-out if you’re coming to a show! I’ll be blogging, Vlogging (kentonchenmusic), tweeting (@itskenton), and Facebooking as much as I can, and posting all the links on this blog!

Here’s the shows I’ll be playing:

7/7    Cain’s Ballroom      Tulsa, OK

7/8   Harrah’s                    Council Bluffs, IA

7/10  Crossroads               Kansas City, MO

7/13  Ogden Theatre         Denver, CO

7/14 The Great Salt Air    Magna, UT

7/15  The Cosmopolitan  Las Vegas, NV

7/16  Rialto Theatre         Tucson, AZ

7/18   Marquee Theatre   Tempe, AZ

7/20  House of Blues        Anaheim, CA

7/21  The Wiltern             Los Angeles, CA

7/22  The Warfield          San Francisco, CA

Hope to see you out there!

KC

Found this review on my Blacksburg show:

Found this review on my Blacksburg show:

http://blogs.roanoke.com/cutnscratch/2011/04/ben-folds-review-bonus-kenton-chen-shows-chops-amusing-lyrical-sense-in-opening-slot/

Do you think that disarming is a good or bad thing for me?

KC Travels: SoCal VoCals Senior Sendoff

Heading off to the VoCals Senior Sendoff concert. Just a year ago, I was being sent off – I still remember it like it was yesterday.

Here’s my senior sendoff song with the VoCals, my original song Elena:

It’s going to be great to see the VoCals again – to reminisce of old times, and to send Kelley and Rachel of the Backbeats off into the real world. Michael Coverley and I got into the group together, and I remember auditioning Olivia Peet into the group. What a ride it has been!

I think it’s times like these that are important: to reconnect with your roots and remember who made you and what makes you a decent human being. I still go to the same salon with the same haircutter since college, and today I visited her and my favorite Korean BBQ place near campus. No matter where I go in life, these small shops will always hold a big place in my heart.

Can’t wait for the concert tonight. Gotta run or I’ll be late!

Do any of you have places you like to visit to remind of your past?

Tour Review: Part 2

I’m so sorry I haven’t been able to post! Very exciting things going on – visited my hometown, filmed a PSA (with Young The Giant in it too!) and then visited Ridgeview High School to do a short clinic and performance. Videos to come soon!

Let me just say – tour has been amazing. And the best part, while I was out in Richmond, I was picked up for another tour! I will publish dates very shortly – all on my Facebook page facebook.com/itskenton.

I’ve also synced all my pages together now, for streamline processing:

facebook.com twitter.com youtube.com /itskenton .bandcamp.com .wordpress.com

Please – subscribe to my twitter, Facebook, and youtube to stay connected with me as a go on tour in July!

❤

-KC

Tour Review: Part 1

Sorry I haven’t been able to post very much…I’ve put up a lot of videos, I hope that’s good for now! Going to edit the videos from today very shortly.

 

Wow. I have been able to watch Ben up-close and personal, hung out with him a couple of times, and still my jaw has rug burns from gaping so much tonight. He’s AMAZING -his presence, his technique, his charisma, all on top of the fact that he’s an incredible person. There’s a reason why The Sing-Off works so well – because Ben and the other judges are such genuine and supportive people. I’ve been able to witness it first-hand.  And Sing-Off fans, if you are reading this, you have got to go see Ben in concert.

I am ridiculously blown away and continually dumbfounded that he – with his at-times unfathomable talents – sees something in me –  silly little suburban-raised choir geek. The way his music touches people; now that’s inspiring. And I get to watch it 2 more times this week. Boy, I feel lucky :).

 

Criss-cross means love,

Kenton

 

Visiting Nashville!

Some footage of my visit to Nashville – prior to leaving for tour….it’s so different out here, but I love it!

Catch me on my tour with Ben Folds!
4/10 – BOONE, NC (Appalachian State University)

4/12 – BLACKSBURG, VA (Virginia Tech)

4/13 – NORFOLK, VA (The Norva)

4/14 – RICHMOND, VA (The National)

visit benfolds.com/tour.html for more details. See you there!

 

-KC