Musical artist
Kevin Yates McKendree (born April 27, 1969)[ 2] is an American electric blues pianist, keyboardist, guitarist, singer, and songwriter. In addition to having a lengthy and varied career as a session musician , McKendree has released two solo albums.
Life and career
Born Kevin Yates McKendree ,[ 3] in Nuremberg , Germany,[ 2] he is a self-taught pianist and guitarist, initially utilizing the playing of Little Richard , Ray Charles and B.B. King as inspiration. When he was 17, he became a professional musician and worked around the Washington, D.C. area playing alongside Big Joe Maher , Tom Principato , Bob Margolin and Mark Wenner. However, he also worked as a piano salesman to supplement his income.[ 4] He relocated to Nashville in 1995, and secured a job backing Lee Roy Parnell as part of his band known as the Hot Links.[ 5] McKendree co-wrote and co-produced the instrumental track "Mama, Screw Your Wig On Tight," which appeared on Parnell's 1997 album, Every Night's a Saturday Night . The piece was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1997 for Best Country Instrumental .[ 1] [ 6]
In 1997, McKendree toured with Delbert McClinton as his band leader,[ 1] and played piano and Hammond B3 organ on McClinton's albums Nothing Personal (2001) and Cost of Living (2005), both of which won a Grammy , and Room to Breathe (2002) which was nominated for a similar award.[ 5] Also McKendree worked in the recording studio backing a diverse array of musicians including Anson Funderburgh and Seven Mary Three (The Economy of Sound , Orange Ave. ), as well as issuing his debut solo album Miss Laura's Kitchen in 2000.[ 1] His association with McClinton ended in 2011 allowing McKendree more flexibility. He worked with Brian Setzer , John Oates , T. Graham Brown , Tinsley Ellis , The Knockouts , Hal Ketchum , and George Thorogood (2120 South Michigan Ave. ) amongst many others.[ 5] His work with Tinsley Ellis has had him playing on, and occasionally producing, several of Ellis' albums, including Fire It Up , Kingpin , Hell or High Water , Moment of Truth , Speak No Evil , The Hard Way , Speak No Evil , Get It! , Midnight Blue , Tough Love , Red Clay Soul , Winning Hand , Ice Cream in Hell , and Devil May Care .
In 2005, McKendree issued his second album, Hammers & Strings .[ 7] AllMusic noted that it was "a set full of boogie-woogie piano (even on non-blues tunes), blues ballads, and New Orleans -style R&B, this is a delightful outing."[ 8] In the same year McKendree played on Brian Setzer's album, Rockabilly Riot Vol. 1: A Tribute To Sun Records .[ 9] [ 10] In 2008, McKendree contributed to Randy Houser 's debut album, Anything Goes , playing Wurlitzer electric piano and Hammond organ .[ 11]
More recently, McKendree has focused on songwriting and production work in his own recording studio, The Rock House, which is based in Franklin, Tennessee .[ 4] [ 5] In 2013, he engineered Sean Chambers ' album, The Rock House Sessions , which was recorded in his own studio.[ 12] [ 13]
McKendree performs regularly, most recently playing in the Mike Henderson Band at the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville.[ 14] [ 15]
Grammy awards and nominations
Discography
Year
Title
Record label
2000
Miss Laura's Kitchen
East Folks Records
2005
Hammers & Strings
Powerhouse Records
[ 7]
See also
References
^ a b c d Zac Johnson. "Kevin McKendree : Artist Biography" . AllMusic . Retrieved November 3, 2014 .
^ a b "Kevin's Page" . Reocities.com. Retrieved November 3, 2014 .
^ "Kevin McKendree" . Discogs.com. Retrieved November 3, 2014 .
^ a b Nik Rodewald (June 26, 2012). "Sideman Spotlight: Kevin McKendree" . Bluesrockreview.com. Retrieved November 3, 2014 .
^ a b c d "Kevin McKendree : Bio" . Kevinmckendree.com. Retrieved November 3, 2014 .
^ Kimmy Wix (January 6, 1998). "There's No Grammy Like A Country Grammy" . Cmt.com. Archived from the original on January 15, 2014. Retrieved November 3, 2014 .
^ a b "Kevin McKendree | Discography" . AllMusic . Retrieved November 3, 2014 .
^ Scott Yanow . "Hammers & Strings : Overview" . AllMusic. Retrieved November 3, 2014 .
^ "Kevin" . Theblackberryjam.com. Archived from the original on November 10, 2014. Retrieved November 3, 2014 .
^ "Kevin McKendree Biography" . Last.fm. Retrieved November 3, 2014 .
^ "Randy Houser : Anything Goes : Credits" . AllMusic. Retrieved November 3, 2014 .
^ "Band" . Seanchambers.com . Retrieved 14 November 2018 .
^ "The Rock House Sessions - Sean Chambers - Credits - AllMusic" . AllMusic . Retrieved 14 November 2018 .
^ "RealTracks Artist Bio: Kevin McKendree" . Pgmusic.com. Retrieved November 3, 2014 .
^ "Bluebird Cafe" . Bluebirdcafe.com. Retrieved November 3, 2014 .
^ "Kevin McKendree | Artist | GRAMMY.com" . www.grammy.com . Retrieved August 19, 2023 .
External links