Blood Brothers

By MATT WAKE
matt@bootlegontheweb.com

When Kenny Floyd decided to keep his band a drums and guitar duo after the departure of longtime bassist Ronnie Blanton, he had no idea the configuration had become such a trend.
“A friend of mine asked me if I had ever heard of The White Stripes and I said no,” Floyd said. “He asked me if I’d been living under a rock. I was wondering if you could still be a band that way. What it all boils down to is do you write good songs. If you do, then you’re a commodity. If you don’t then go be a cover band.”
To pull off a two-piece, inter-band ESP is a must. Fortunately for Floyd, he shares the same blood as his drummer, Greg Floyd. The two brothers grew up in an Anderson home saturated with music. Greg Floyd grew to love drummers like The Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Chad Smith and Carter Beauford of The Dave Matthews Band. Meanwhile, Kenny gravitated to the music of Jimi Hendrix and Prince.
Based in Charlotte, N.C., Kenny Floyd has reaped a loyal fan base with his powerful pipes, solid songwriting and sweaty shows. The tone of Floyd’s warm baritone isn’t dissimilar from a pair of ’90s belters, Darius Rucker and Eddie Vedder. In 2006, Floyd released his third solo record, “Water.” The disc places his ample vox amid alt-rock riffs on “Go 4 Me.” “Flat Bed Truck” is a bar room rocker that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Kid Rock or sober-period Aerosmith album. On “Falling N Love,” classic rock accompaniment supports a “la la la” chorus; after an organ breakdown, Floyd squeezes a Bic-lighter worthy guitar solo. “Water” closes with “Unattended,” an acoustic number featuring a chord structure reminiscent of “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door.” The track’s earthen production is ideal for Floyd’s voice.
According to Floyd, the band’s next release will be a live record. Among the new songs likely to make the platter: “Can’t Let Go,” a furious tune about a human addiction; and “We,” an acoustic photograph.
When writing his material, Floyd starts with an emotion, then develops lyrics and music to illustrate the vibe.
“Music is the soundtrack of your story telling,” Floyd said. “In my opinion, all musicians are story tellers.”
Earlier this month, the Floyd brothers played a series of shows in London, England. Floyd compared British music fans with their Yankee counterparts.
“We’re rockers; In the States I feel we’re a little more scrutinized,” he said. “In England, we’re a little more accepted. It’s the same situation with Billie Holliday and Jimi Hendrix. They went over to England and played their hearts out. When they came back to the States, they hit it big.”





Kenny Floyd mixes original and popular music with own twist
By Michael Knox
mknox@independenttribune.com

CONCORD " Kenny Floyd sat in his dorm room at the University of South Carolina in Columbia nervously strumming his six-string Gibson guitar as he waited to head out on to the football field.

Already promised a spot on the football team if he showed up, Floyd was nervous and played a song in his room while he tried to relax.

He would never make it out onto the football field that day. And nothing would ever make him happier. Because on that day, Floyd realized how important his music was to him.

A Charlotte resident, Floyd plays in the area on a regular basis and just completed a show Friday night in Salisbury at Club Zidis.

The show is just a part of Floyd’s journey which began back on that day in his dorm room. Floyd remembers it well and how much it changed his life.

He said he was just playing a simple tune and singing, with the door to his room opened when a woman dropped by. She stopped and started listening to Floyd play.

“She called her roommate and said, “You’ve got to hear this guy sing,” the 31-year-old Floyd said. “Before you know it, I’m singing and I’m playing the same two songs over and over again.”

Before long more people started stopping by to listen and Floyd smiled as he made a decision.

“I don’t think I’m going to be a football player anymore,” he said.

That day Floyd began his musical career. He formed a band and started playing at other colleges.

His band, Shades of Grey, eventually broke up. During that same time, Floyd had started an internship with the management company for the band Hootie and the Blowfish.

“I learned so much,” Floyd said. “It’s the actual foundation how I run my business.”

Floyd said the training he learned has helped him build his career. Now he performs more than 200 shows a year.
As the Kenny Floyd Band, he’s already released three CDs and is currently preparing for a London tour at five venues.

He eventually wants to sing the national anthem at a NASCAR race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway or during a Carolina Panthers football game.

His band has opened for the groups Cowboy Mouth, Lost Prophets and Hoobastank. They even opened for the band Cracker, playing in front of 28,000 people.

Floyd has managed to develop a full-time music career, living off his performances, but for a while he doubted himself. He made the mistake of listening to people around him who doubted his abilities, Floyd said.

He was living in Columbia, S.C., but moved to Charlotte, where his brother, Greg Floyd, had moved.

“I left Columbia without a dollar to my name,” Kenny Floyd said. “I had more debt than money.”

Starting over
Floyd put his music career on hold, listening to the people who told them there was no way he could make it.

He became a waiter at an Olive Garden in Rock Hill, S.C., making the drive to work every day. He’d work the morning shift and then sleep in his truck. He paid a waitress to come to make sure he woke up for the evening shift.

“There was no music,” Floyd said. “I quit. I was done. I hadn’t touched my guitar for two or three months.”

By 2003 though, Floyd had been hanging out with some friends playing open mic night.

“I knew I had to get back into it,” he said. “My awakening was getting back on that stage.”

Floyd said some of his influences include Jimmy Hendrix, Prince, Aerosmith, Counting Crows and James Taylor.

“I paint pictures, but I paint them on a rock ‘n’ roll canvas,” he said. “Or at least I try.”

Putting his own spin on things
Fans of Floyd don’t think he has to try too hard when it comes to making music.

During his performance at Zidis, Floyd was joined by his brother Greg on drums and Ronnie “James” Blanton on bass guitar.

The three had the crowd whoopin’ and hollerin’ and dancing about, with fans jumping on the stage to sing with the band.

At one point, Dawn Hager, 22, of Salisbury, jumped on the stage and grabbed Floyd’s hat, dancing about in the crowd.

After the show she said she had met Floyd about seven months ago during another performance at Zidis.

“He’s genuine,” she said. “Everything he sings sounds like it comes from the heart.”

She’s already been to five of Floyd”s shows since meeting him.

“Anybody that enjoys rock ‘n’ roll will enjoy his music,” Hager said.

Hager said when Floyd’s fourth CD comes out she’ll make sure she grabs a copy.

“Anything he’s ever done is awesome,” she said. “He’s got a one-of-a-kind voice.”

With Floyd’s voice, he has a tendency to mix things up during a show, weaving original songs with covers. With his own twist, of course.

At one point he covered the band Rusted Root’s song, “Send Me on My Way,” but mixed it with his song, “Cry Out Loud.” He followed with the Beastie Boys tune “Fight for your Right (To Party).”

But Floyd added his own twist, shouting, “Mom’s just jealous because it’s Kenny Floyd!” rather than using the Beastie Boys name.

Michelle Wagoner, 21, of Rockwell, said that’s one of the band’s talents, weaving music together with its own twist.

“One night he played “Sweet Home Alabama” with a reggae beat, with a bunch of rednecks and he pulled it off. They were cheering. It was great,” Wagoner said. “One of these days they’re going to be playing for a crowd of tens of thousands of people and rock the house.”

Creative Loafing-Charlotte
Bell-bottom blues
Lenny Kravitz & Kenny Floyd salute classic rock
By Samir Shukla
Published January 11, 2006



There's comfort in being retro. There're also rules. To turn your retro vibe into a lasting musical statement and style, you must have some element of originality, flair and musical know-how. The trick is to avoid crossing the line where the rock & roll salute crumbles into tepid imitation. Any would-be classics-miner should create a joyous, complex reinterpretation of music that has become a part of the pop-culture pantheon.



Enter progressive retro-funk rocker and soul man Lenny Kravitz. What's that you say? Aren't progressive and retro contradictory? Not really. Kravitz has managed to bring his own personality into his retro shtick.

Kravitz has long lurked in other musicians' shadows - especially Prince's regal, monomaniacal, purple one. In Kravitz's early Romeo Blue period, he positively aped Prince's persona. But Kravitz has produced a stack of subsequent music that, in the end, bears his own Afrohippie signature even as it flirts with sounds from the Al Green, Curtis Mayfield, Hendrix and Zeppelin catalogs. It only makes sense that this 1970s-loving style hipster would be opening for original '70s rockers Aerosmith at Bobcats Arena this Thursday.

Charlotte musician and South Carolina native Kenny Floyd is also a retro rocker of sorts. His new album, Water, overlaps with the style of his hero, Lenny. Floyd's songs, like "Flat Bed Truck," "Just Friends" and "Go 4 Me," show kinship and retro-bonding with early Kravitz (not to mention a thing 4 Prince-like titles). Floyd's ballad, "Just Friends," could have come from the Kravitz songbook.

It's obvious Floyd loves not only classic rock & roll, but musical freethinkers as well. He puts those elements to work on Water, an amalgam of rock, pop and metal. Floyd's vocal sound straddles between those of Darius Rucker and Eddie Vedder, but with a hint of soaring falsetto. Like Kravitz, Floyd fills his good-time music with funk and classic-rock riffs. Whether he's playing originals with his band or rocking a bar doing covers on an acoustic guitar, Floyd manages to create a party atmosphere without the aid of mack-daddy sequined duds or flashy sunglasses. (Floyd resembles George Foreman - the provenance of his recent Halloween costume - more than any Hendrixesque sex god.)

You can catch Floyd on Jan. 13 at Boardwalk Billys and the following night at Galway Hooker in Lake Norman. But these back-to-back gigs are rare: "I have chosen to only play one full band show a month at [local bar] Tipsy McStumbles. They are one of the few venues that I know of that ... allow us to play 100-percent originals. You just can't beat that."

There are times an independent musician begins to lose faith after repeated setbacks, but Floyd carries on. "A co-worker told me, 'Kenny, you being a musician is a blessing not a curse.' I let him hear some of my work from my college band, Shades of Grey. He told me, 'You don't belong in an office setting; you need to be out making music.' That is one of the things I use when I feel like I want to quit."

When queried about the dearth of black rockers who have succeeded, Floyd is blunt: "The only time someone's race or ethnic background seems to come into play is when you talk about the marketability of music. I think there are black, Asian, Indian, fat, skinny, tall, short, rich, poor and all other kinds of rockers out there. The industry chooses what they think people will like enough to produce a profit. I have no control in that. I am who I am. I have dealt with various blatant racist situations throughout my musical career. I don't focus on those isolated instances. I am there to play my heart out, so that is what I do."

Retroman Kravitz has experimented with his music, but never strays far from his template of Hendrix, Beatles and 1970s funk-rock. Indeed, his long-shelved Funk opus, recorded in New Orleans in the late 1990s, is finally on the front burner for release. Kenny Floyd is a likeminded compatriot, donning his cowpoke hat and strapping on his geetar to ably lay down tunes that stand the test of time. Kravitz may be critically maligned and mocked, but his perseverance and good tunes have swelled his legion of fans. There's no reason why a songcrafter the caliber of Floyd, from Charlotte, can't also reach arena-rock heights.

"You don't like me, fine, you don't like the music or styles I play, fine," says Floyd, "but neither of those are valid reasons Charlotte, NC, should not have one of the strongest music scenes on the East Coast. We have the talent. Most importantly, we have the support of the people."

To push Water, Floyd is planning a springtime tour with local band Extra Medium. He's also done a music video for "Go 4 Me" that's awaiting editing for airplay. A huge fan of Aerosmith and Kravitz, Floyd dreams of the day his band can share that bill: "Well," he says, "a man can dream, can't he? I would flip a wig on that stage."



Lenny Kravitz opens for Aerosmith on Jan. 12 at their sold-out show in the Charlotte Bobcats Arena. Kenny Floyd plays on Jan. 13 at Boardwalk Billys and Jan. 14 at Galway Hooker in Lake Norman. For music and more details, visit kennyfloyd.com and cdbaby.com.


The Upstate Teen Magazine
By Curtis Plummer
7th grade McCants Middle School

Kenny Floyd has been playing profes-sionally, depending of course on your definition
of professional, since he was three years old. A photo on his website
shows Floyd holding a guitar and putting on a show for his parents. He
says that gig only paid in grilled cheese sandwiches. However, on the cir-cuit
he has been officially out there since 1994. When Floyd performs he
treats it like he is going on stage in front of friends more than fans. Being
blessed with an enormous number of friends and fans, he considers it a
privilege to go on stage and perform for them. It wasn't always like that
though. The main reason he started was for the Girls!!! Imagine that. He
played football as a ?walk on.? Before his first practice he found himself
picking the guitar to pass the time. A girl walked up and asked if she could
sit and listen, naturally, he said of course. She was so impressed she
called some of her friends and they called friends. Before he knew it he
was asked to play for Sorority Night. It doesn't take a genius to figure out
what happened next. You're right, no more football.
Kenny now has four people in his band: Greg Floyd, Kenny Thomas, Mike
McLester, and Kenny himself. His latest CD is titled ?Water,? and can be
purchased at Rainbow Records. Kenny graduated Hanna High in 1994
and chose to attend University of South Carolina. Graduating with a BS
Degree in Communication, Kenny is proud of the fact that he has followed
in his family's tradition by attending USC. His favorite teachers were Mrs.
Gamble and Mrs. Emory. He says they both awakened his mind to poet-ry
and short stories. Giving him the opportunity enter into and create his
own world. Kenny is grateful to his fans in the Upstate. They have helped
him realize his dream. There were times when a traditional job would have
been much easier to attain, especially when he was rejected, only that
made him work harder. He says if he could do it all over again he would
choose the same path of music. If he could thank one person for his suc-cess
his first reaction was his parents, especially his dad for teaching him
to play the guitar and helping him keep his priorities strait. But then on
second thought ?without a doubt it would be God. With him, all things are
possible.?





Kenny Floyd - Water

South Carolina singer songwriter Kenny Floyd has a new CD on the way. This month Elevate takes some time out and happily introduces you to " Water" Ten brand new tunes recorded at Modern Music Studios in Columbia, SC. by the Kenny Floyd Band.

Keeping with the tradition of; " I can't believe that's him singing this song" school of vocalists, comes the class of 2005 featuring Mrs. Floyds baby boy. If you haven't heard Kenny before be prepared for the unexpected. He looks more like a young George Forman and vocally sounds note and pitch perfect to a version of your favorite 80?s shake your teased hair to the heavens rock band front man.

The Kenny Floyd Band features Kenny Thomas on Bass, Greg Floyd on Drums, Mike McLester on lead and rhythm guitar and of course Kenny Floyd on vocals.

" Water opens with the cut "Go 4 Me." An uptempo piece that starts the CD off well. With a tribute of sorts to Axel Rose's " Welcome to the Jungle" intro scream, Kenny ushers in his latest work in a true rock fashion. Fortunately for the listener that's just the beginning, there are nine more songs to follow!

Kenny has a strong singing voice and style that bespeaks his love of high-energy rock and roll flavored with country influences that have that 80's and 90's style and swing. I can picture fans of the band jumping up and down at gigs with their hands in the air and their heads banging back and forth calling out for more!

The Kenny Floyd Band is a talented and fundamentally tight group of musicians showcasing their sound on this project and Kenny, has written some of the best musical hooks committed to disk in a long while, including the instantly accessible "Flat Bed Truck"


"Flat Bed Truck" is an almost perfect "singalong" party starter and the best cut that "Water" has to offer. A great mix of 38 Special and Lynard Skynard this one will have you singing the praises of a three foot lift and hoisting a cold one in no time!

The second cut on the CD "Brother Sunday" opens with a killer music intro and a very cool guitar run provided by Mike McLester.

"U and I" sounds like a "Journey" outtake cut from the "Escape" album era and has a great hook worthy of the 80's classic rock band.

The really outstanding songs on the CD Kenny has packaged together "Flat Bed Truck", the haunting "Just Friends" and "Rescue Me" are fun, beautiful, and wistful respectively. All those songs have in abundance of what Kenny will be best known for in my opinion , writing one hell of a hook.

All in all "Water" is definitely worth taking the time to jump in and get a little wet!

Dempsey Gibson