by Tom Baldino
Sonny Kenn, a resident of Red Bank for many years, moved to the West Coast of Florida in 2017, and after coming back periodically over in the ensuing years, they came back permanently last fall. Sonny is known for his music by people far and wide, but not everyone knows he is an accomplished artist, and has been so his entire adult life. I became aware of his art at an event similar to this, held in the old Asbury Park, Where the Music Lives space, where we purchased a photograph of Sonny Playing with Rob Paparozzi by John Cavaanugh. Fast forward a few years and we purchased the first Gicilee (a high-quality painting copy) of the original “Guitar Galaxy,” Sonny did as a wedding present for his wife Lorainne. Both hang prominently in my house, and bring back good memories of the many times we have worked together over the years.
On this Sunday afternoon, surrounded by his artwork and many of his most significant guitars, Sonny with longtime band members Chris Plunkett on bass and vocals, and Vic Bayers on drums, entertained the room with music and stories. He strapped on his white Stratocaster and they opened with “Route 66,” a song written by Bobby Troup, after traveling what author John Steinback referred to as “the Mother Road.” It later spawned a TV show of the same name, that many of us grew up watching. Next up was a song made popular by Jimmy Reed, “Big Boss Man.” Sonny talked about his roots, coming from a family where his father played Country Western guitar. Later, he would mention that his painting, “Vintage Red,” has his father’s tortoise shell pick on the table. He reminisced about listening to all the hits of the day on an Emerson radio, like the one pictured in his “Time Burst” painting. Then he launched into the guitar riff of Bill Doggett’s “Honky Tonk,” and the audience instinctively began clapping to the beat, until the band joined in! Sonny then spoke about his most recent work, “The Birth of Rock ‘n Roll,” which was only finished the night before. It’s an abstract work of his artistic interpretation of how the Blues begot Rock n’ Roll, while it’s visually stunning, Sonny coined his own one-word description of it, “soarable.” They then launched into Eddie Boyd’s “Five Long Years,” which was given the reverential treatment it deserves, with a little T Bone Walker thrown in for good measure. His comments reminded me of Willie Dixon’s famous quote, “The Blues is the roots, all other music is the fruits.”
Sonny followed this up with a discussion on his use of slides, the most interesting being the neck of a one hundred plus year old bottle that was found buried in the ground! This led to his painting “Slide Show,” which features a dozen or so examples displayed in front of some foam sound baffles for a great contrasting effect. He played some slide notes to demonstrate, then the band broke into the Robert Johnson classic “Walking Blues,” followed by Elmore James “Shake Your Money Maker,” quite the demonstration.
Sonny then picked up what looked like a white Fender Telecaster, but boy did it have a story to tell. JSJBF member, and leader of The Incinerators, John Fernandez found a 200-year-old chestnut mantel and had three guitar bodies cut out of it, two Telly’s and Strat. He kept one Telly, gave the other to Sonny, with the Strat going to Garry Tallent of the “E Street Band.” Sonny proceeded to explain how his was built, but suffice it to say the finished product sounded great on songs like Asleep at the Wheel’s “Let Me Go Home,” the Mose Allison tune,“ I Don’t Worry About A Thing,” and what is arguably the first Rock n’ Roll song, the Jackie Brenston, or as Sonny correctly pointed out, Ike Turner song, “Rocket 88.”
Next, Sonny went my favorite guitar, which is also featured in the “Time Burst” painting, the J. Backlund JBD-100 custom. Sonny ordered this from the Chattanooga luthier, and it seemed like he was never going to get it. He found out that in the interim, Joe Walsh of the Eagles had reached out to have one built while they we in the process of building one for Sonny, and they finished that one for Joe so he could take it on tour! Sonny eventually got his, with a great story to go with it! He proceeded to show us that it sounds as good as it looks, on Hank Williams “Honky Tonk Blues” and Link Wray’s classic “Rumble.” If you haven’t seen it, the PBS Independent Lens series special, RUMBLE: The Indians Who Rocked the World, I highly recommend it.
To open the second set, Sonny spoke about the inspiration for the painting “Good Vibrations,’ mentioning the influence of Brian Wilson. He told the audience how the song “Then I Kissed Her,” was a response to the Ronettes “Be My Baby,” before the band did a fine take on this Beach Boys classic. Next, Sonny called up Jerry Gaskill, who filled in for Vic at our Holiday Party, to take the throne for a smokin’ version of Dick Dales surf classic “Misirlou.” Next up to fill the seat was Bobby Boyd, who played on Sonny’s last collection, “Saturday Night at the Silhouette Lounge,” which I reviewed when it was released. They played the title track as well as the tune “Funky b 5,” which was highlighted by Bobby’s drum solo. Vic returned for another tune from the CD, a beautiful balled called “Does She Think of Me.” An older composition of Sonny’s, “Brand New Blues,” sounded fresh and vibrant in the band’s capable hands. They closed with the Santo and Johnny instrumental, “Sleepwalk,” and when they weredone, everyone in the room knew they had been part of a special performance. Sonny’s final words to the crowd, asked them to remember in these turbulent times, “the art and music communities provide good in the world, you just have to look for it.”
You can learn more about Sonny, his music and art by going to www.SonnyKenn.com