FFWD Weekly
Copyright © 2000. All Rights Reserved

Music by Martin Kemp What makes a musician tick? And what sort of juicy tidbits of information are going to surface when they talk about their career? Especially when the musician is as established and prolific as Kieran Kane? One revelation that surfaced during a recent telephone conversation with the Nashville-based singer-songwriter is that he seems to live in a universe where there are 40 hours in a day. Otherwise, it would be difficult to explain the sheer number of projects he has on the go. In the past few months he has released several albums, including 11/12/13 , an album recorded live in Australia with label-mate Kevin Welch. In addition there’s an album with Jamie O’Hara, as the O’Kanes band, and his own brand new CD, The Blue Chair. Besides donning multiple musical hats as both artist and producer, Kane’s artistry stretches beyond music, into the realm of paint and canvas. One of his paintings (The Blue Chair) shares both the title and the cover of his latest release. With another three or four albums in the works, Kane says he manages his time by finishing a project, forgetting about it and moving on. "If I just sat around to dwell on what I did, it would keep me from moving forward," he says. Another bit of information gleaned from Kane has to do with the darker side of his life – an incident he divulges only after endless haranguing. He’s been on Hee Haw. Yes, the sordid truth is out, as he talks about performing the tune "Honeymoon Wine," an 18-year-old song that also appears on The Blue Chair. "I did Hee Haw in the early ’80s – I have a video of it actually," he says. "They asked me to do the show, and I didn't want to do it. But finally I did, and was actually glad. "One of the reasons I chose the song "Honeymoon Wine" was because the band that played on Hee Haw were, with all due respect, old-timers. I mean I'm an old-timer myself, so I can say that. They were the guys who had made a lot of the old shuffle-swing records that I loved, back in the early ’60s. And I chose that song because I thought it fit them so well, and it did." Lately however, Kane has been participating in projects that are somewhat, um, calmer. He refers to The Blue Chair as being a lot more "relaxed" than past projects. "I was actually trying to make a record that was just overall a bit more laid back. I hesitate to say this, but I almost refer to it as my easy listening record," he says with a laugh. Influenced heavily by the likes of Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald and other jazz vocalists of the ’50s and ’60s, The Blue Chair has a country-swing feel that winds its way through the recording. A mellow tribute to past eras, it is an album, according to Kane, "that could be played by the band in your living room, and it wouldn’t be too loud." Despite the multitude of projects and concerts under his belt, Kane acknowledges that his albums will likely never be picked up by mainstream country radio, particularly given his habit of incorporating different genres of music into his country sound. "First of all, I'm much too old for mainstream country radio," he says. "And there's something that goes on in mainstream country radio that makes all the records sound the same. There's really no room on mainstream country radio (for anything) that's even sonically different. Forget about themes – if it doesn't sonically fit a particular mould, they won't play it." And that’s the thing about Kieran Kane – he simply doesn’t fit any mould (he’s been on Hee Haw for crying out loud). And that’s what makes him an artist.

| Back To This Issue Table of Contents | Back To Main Index |