Kenny George Band

Head downtown to Sky City on Broad Street this Friday night and catch the talented, brilliant and easy on the ears Kenny George Band as they record both audio and video of their live performance for a live album expected to be released this fall.

The five-member group will be performing songs from their 2014 album, “Gunshy,” as well as the upcoming 2016 unnamed release.

Kenny-GeorgeThanks to Kenny George’s mature approach to songwriting and the band members’ obvious gift for crafting stunning tunes, KGB appeals not just to country fans, but to all music lovers. It may be a well-worn phrase, but this is seriously a show you don’t want to miss.

Kenny George and his band are no strangers to the local scene. The band members are all from the Aiken, South Carolina, area and have been working together since 2007. Though their music is firmly planted in the country genre, the KGB combines elements of contemporary rock and traditional folk in an array of clean, melodic and soulful songs that are timeless and truly Southern.

For folks who want to know what they’re in for, the Kenny George Band website hosts a fine selection of the band’s work and they are well worth a listen. The featured tracks offer multiple examples of the talent exuding from this band, instrumentally and lyrically. Kenny George’s lyrics shoot from the hip and straight to the heart without pretension, and seemingly without effort.

Simply put, the Kenny George Band is the real deal. From twangy pedal steel to loose and wide rhythms, strong and clear vocals and catchy beats, the band delivers a phenomenal package.

And though the band offers plenty of toe-tapping and hip-shaking sounds for folks who want to dance, such as “Not Slipping Away,” “Pocket Full of Habits” and “Gunshy,” they offer some mellow and mournful heartache, too. Songs such as “Falling Down” and “Picket Fences” churn with emotion, their sparse arrangements call to mind the simple beauty of alt.country rock artist Ryan Adams. And, like Adams, Kenny George’s lyrics paint sharply focused pictures without the excessive sugary pop and frat-boy language so common in other contemporary country music.

However, it is during their live performances that the Kenny George Band really comes alive; spontaneous high-energy jams allow each band member to feed into the musical frenzy and take the crowd along with them for the ride. Frontman Kenny George said, “We really love playing Sky City. Every time we’ve played there we’ve had a really good time and it’s really good sound. In fact, the sound is incredible — (Sky City’s owner) CoCo is an amazing sound guy!”

The Sky City show — which will also feature supporting performances from Travelin’ Kine and Capital City Playboys — has been on the cards for a while.

“We’ve been talking about doing a live record for a long time,” Kenny said, “so we’re going to record the show and take some of the old stuff, some new stuff and some unreleased material that we do at live shows to release online.”

IMG_97084181715119The band has enjoyed a steady climb toward commercial success, experiencing the surreal growth that comes with touring and recording. Among the more memorable events was being snowed in at Zac Brown’s Southern Ground recording studio in Atlanta in February, 2014.

“That was a great experience — being from the South, I’m pretty sure none of us had ever been snowed in anywhere and seriously, where better to be snowed in than in Zac Brown’s house?”

The Kenny George Band’s success has been a gift for the songwriter, yielding not only more gigs, but more inspiration and material.

“I’ve been writing more songs about being on the road,” Kenny said. “It’s the best part of it to me. I really like going to new places and meeting new and strange people.”

The live album from Friday night’s show at Sky City is due to be released online in the fall of this year and initially will be only available digitally, though an EP might make an appearance down the road. The band plans to release another album in 2016 featuring even more new tracks.

In addition to the show Friday night, the band is looking forward to booking more shows across the country.

“We’ve been playing two, three or more shows a week, every week for a while,” Kenny said. “We really love playing live — we are very proud of our live shows, it’s just a different experience. That’s something we want to be able to capture, and we want to share the experience on a larger scale.”

Join in the KGB experience Friday night at Sky City at 1157 Broad Street, downtown Augusta. Doors open at 8 p.m. and cover is $5. For more information, visit skycityaugusta.com or check out the band’s Facebook page at facebook.com/kennygeorgeband - MetroSpirit

Blurring the line between country and alt country, Aiken’s Kenny George Band seem to swear allegiance to both sides of the coin and its works well for them. That’s the attitude displayed on the group’s latest, the 7-song EP, “Gunshy”: Country music is as country music does, whether it’s by the book or off the map. Embracing the genre’s classic emphasis on brooding love songs along with current Nashville-style gloss, the band also detours into alt country style introspection with smart lyrics, eschewing the whole barbecue and monster trucks imagery that has built the current cash-making contingent of Music City. Singer and guitarist Kenny George has a lucid and penetrating voice- think the soulfulness of a Jason Isbell mixed with a little hard-boiled Zac Brown on its edges. The rest of the band is a real-deal country machine, keeping the proceedings authentic and professional throughout.

First track “Pocket Full of Habits” is a moody, almost tense folk affair. It’s a muted alt country travelling song and it serves to remind the listener that yes, this is traditional music, but don’t get too comfy in that rocking chair, Gramps. “Last Stop Birmingham”, with its perfect steel guitar, is pure country, done the old school way. “Not Slipping Away” has fiddles that time travel it straight back into the better days of country with substance. The mournful and rolling pedal steel in “Sad Country Songs” is perfectly evocative of its title. The well-written title track goes for a commercial sheen and could probably be a mainstream hit, if it gets on the radio. “Hard to Think About” could fit right in on a Drive-By Truckers or Jason Isbell record (that’s an awesome thing to do, by the way). The record ends with “Shouldn’t Have Let You Go”, another laid back love song. It’s a great, catchy straight-up country tune.

Like most country, the songs here are mostly love-songs.When you are writing songs about relationships, you had better bring something new or excellent to the table and the Kenny George Band can do both. They take the best parts of country’s legacy and throw in George’s personality to give it a tweak in a modern direction. The band incorporates a lot of feeling into the production, and they never sound like this is some contractually-obligated, phoned-in affair. If you love country but are dying to hear something a little less Nashville, look no further.

Recommended if you like: Jason Isbell, Zac Brown, Ryan Adams - SC Music Guide

Gunshy, the debut EP from Aiken’s Kenny George Band, is coated in a thick layer of Nashville spit-shine, but it feels miles removed from the Music City machine — a credit to the group’s warm and welcoming execution.

The outfit specializes in a brand of country music that has gone the way of the dwindling caribou in recent years. The focus here is on sincere, well-crafted songwriting rather than chasing some bulls#!t idea of what it takes to become a macho country badass. Bereft of such posturing, Gunshy is dominated by lovesick laments, but like Merle Haggard said, there ain’t no shame in a mixed-up mess of a heart.

What: Kenny George Band
Where: Blazing Copper, 812-814 Harden St.
When: Saturday, June 28, 9:30 p.m.
More Info: blazingcopper.comOpener “Pocket Full of Habits” is a sparse locomotive of an outlaw strummer. “Not Slipping Away” is a fiddle-driven, toe-tapping ode to infatuation. Pedal steel lines run like teardrops down the up-tempo waltz of “Sad Country Songs.” The lovelorn dirge “Shouldn’t Have Let You Go” harkens back to ’90s hitmakers like Tim McGraw.

These sounds aren’t revolutionary, but Kenny George and his backers deploy them with utmost sincerity. It’s not so much that these players are taking some ham-fisted stance against the endless party that consumes a large swath of modern country, much of which has more in common with Van Halen than George Strait; they simply operate as if the genre never took that odd left turn in the first place.

In a time when country’s mainstream increasingly seems to have lost its way, Gunshy is a welcome sprinkling of genuine Southern soul. - Free Times

Back in January, when Atlanta came to a standstill after two inches of snow, the Kenny George Band was nestled in at Zac Brown’s place.

As champions of Southern Ground Social Club’s Open Mic Showdown in November, the alternative country/folk rock band from Aiken had won two days of recording time at Southern Ground Studios Atlanta, along with an opening gig at the club in Senoia, Ga.

Southern Ground Social Club is a restaurant and live-music venue that features performers from Brown’s record label but opens its doors to all once a week on Open Mic Night. Contestants vie to win a guitar signed by the Zac Brown Band, recording time and a gig.

Kenny George Band guitarist Michael Vincent Baideme learned about the contest from fellow musician Will McCranie and suggested giving it a shot.

“We went down and ended up winning our round the first night so we went back and we made it to the finals,” said Kenny George, vocalist and guitarist in his namesake band. “After the finals, we found out we were actually “co-winners” because the girl we were competing against had a record deal that prevented her from working with other producers so we ended up winning the two-day recording session by default.”

By default or design, on Jan. 29, the Kenny George Band was powered up and wired for sound when Atlanta got slammed. Snowed in, they recorded for three days instead of two in a studio at one of Brown’s houses.

“There is a big red barn out back where Zac has all his guitar cases, gear and light boards from their first record,” George said. “It was really neat to see, and in the actual studio there is a custom echo chamber with all of Zac’s retired road guitars on the walls too.”

In addition to the one-of-a kind echo chamber, there is also a live room, custom built for artists to play together and an isolation booth where members can play separately for optimal sound, he said.

On May 9, the band played at Sky City in Augusta for their Gunshy CD release performance. The group was finishing Gunshy (produced by Shawn Guess of Aiken) while competing in the open mic contest, too late for tracks recorded at Brown’s studio to be on it. But George said fans will be able to hear the latest songs at several local performances.

The band will perform at 10 p.m. Friday, June 20, at Stillwater Taproom as well as at 7 p.m. Saturday, June 21, at Jessye Norman Amphitheater as part of the City of Augusta Summer Concert Series. Farther out on the calendar, they’ll open for American Aquarium on July 24 at Sky City, and for Montgomery Gentry on Sept. 19 at Lady Antebellum Pavilion. Visit mgentryevans.com for show details. - The Augusta Chronicle

The Kenny George Band’s own star continues to rise. Playing the Rock ‘n’ Roll Savannah Marathon is sure to be another highlight. - Do Savannah

With hints of a Wilco and Whiskeytown funneled into a semi-bygone outlaw spirit... - Freetimes