Kenosha Kid
Athens, Georgia, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2005 | SELF
Music
Press
"Over the years, Nettles has dug out a corner for his brand of sometimes improvisational, always instrumental modernist jazz." - Athens Banner Herald
"With a vibrant, curiously uplifting album, Nettles seems increasingly more comfortable with his position as jazz ambassador and comes one step closer to teaching the world to swing. 4 out of 5 stars" - Creative Loafing
...the music is very considered, and well composed for a heady listening experience. a cathartic and empowering album." - Creative Loafing
"Throughout Kenosha Kid’s nearly 15-year existence, Nettles has written hundreds of songs, yet few resonate as profoundly as anything on Missing Pieces. The desire to overcome pain is universal. Transforming it into such moving songs is monumental. Nettles’ journey has been anything but easy, but as he shows in his own impenetrable and postmodern way, the only way out is through." - Flagpole Magazine
"Nettles’ compositions are melodic and organically unfold through clear forms and solid sounds... each track offering a distinct sonic and emotional universe brought into focus by a band that listens as hard as they play." - Staccatofy
“…eminently approachable and frequently thrilling… calls to mind Chicago post-everything icons Tortoise…” - Flagpole
“The voiceless excursions explore jazz, jam, psych, funk and rock territory with an infectious enthusiasm and instinctive creativity.” - GeorgiaMusic.org
“the sort of boundary-leaping creative jazz most listeners identify with the big-city scenes of places like Brooklyn, Seattle, and the San Francisco Bay Area.” - All MusicGuide
Discography
Missing Pieces [2019]
Outside Choices [2017]
Inside Voices [2015]
Land of Obey [2010] + extensive Bandcamp archive which houses over 40 live shows
Fahrenheit [2009]
Steamboat Bill, Jr [2008]
Projector [2005]
Photos
Bio
Based in the humid indie-rock haven of Athens, Georgia, Kenosha Kid has supplied the world with their own unique blend of modern-jazz-meets-college-radio for over a decade. In 2004, after several weeks study and improvisation at the Banff Centre for the Arts, bandleader Dan Nettles emerged with a flame of inspiration, a host of new collaborators and an invigorated sense of purpose: Build a scene, write for people you know, and listen to your creative heart regardless of music idiom. Returning to Athens, Nettles did just that, which became the beginning of Kenosha Kid.
Starting with the release of Projector [2005], Kenosha Kid has provided a steady string of content: a DVD/CD package featuring an all-new score for Buster Keaton’s silent film Steamboat Bill, Jr [2008], the vinyl release of Fahrenheit [2009], the creation of an extensive Bandcamp archive which houses over 40 live shows, the powerhouse twin sonic pillars Inside Voices [2015] and Outside Choices [2017], and now in February 2019 Missing Pieces, which features a striking two-guitar incarnation augmented by three-piece string section.
Nettles describes Missing Pieces as “a beautifully layered record with a sense of melodic longing and intriguing rhythms. Expressionistic, undefinable and ecstatic, it is instrumental music drawing from the gutters and ditches of many legitimate musical traditions including, and defying, jazz, rock and modern classical genres.” Joined by second guitarist Rick Lollar, electric bassist Robby Handley and drummer Marlon Patton (whose cumulative credits include work with Jimmy Herring, Lonnie Holley and Col. Bruce Hampton, among other Atlanta notables), Nettles conjures some of the most sublime melodies of his career to date. Each song is a distinct sonic and emotional universe, dreamed up by Nettles through a process of improvisation and experimentation, gradually brought into focus with the band. The melodies are haunting, the grooves are devastating, and the band continues to expertly serve jazz purists, indie-rock hipsters, and funk loving jam fans alike.
Band Members
Links
