A catalogue of 2012

It seems the days are slipping into years and I have found myself forgetting segments of time and certain memories.... Maybe this is what getting older feels like-the past getting blurrier and certain memories falling out of one ear as others are stuffed in the opposite ear....

I used to recount my life through individual ages and "eras", but lately it seems I can't pick up a photo album without finding a picture of myself doing something of which I can't remember in the foggiest.

So....in order to combat my growing dimensia, I've decide to make a list each year of the basic going-ons of the previous year so that I can recount memories like the Christmas we spent in the Everglades or when my son went a whole winter wearing shorts, or how exciting it was when I used to part my hair on the left, etc. etc.

So here it is:

2012 :
• During Christmas break, we took a road trip to Missouri where we celebrated Santas birthday with grandma and grandpa trice... Most notable memory of the trip: getting snowed in on a mountain pass in Idaho and spending New Years in a hotel playing the original Zelda on our new wii consul.

• Nicole surprised me on valentines day with a box of cheap chocolates and a pair of baby socks. I think she was trying to announce a major occasion in our lives, but I was too busy eating the socks (nothing gets in the way of me and my sweet chocolate).

• In march, we visited Southeast Asia for the first time where we helped the non profit "SEED" as they worked along livelihood/micro enterprise groups... Definitely life changing, although one of the greatest moments of the trip was fling Korean airlines....they loaded us up with champagne and sushi and then tucked us in and let us watch as many movies as we liked. Nicole likened it to being in an adult day-care and I agreed as I padded my face with a warm towel.

* In April, we invited a couple of Mira's friends over early in the morning, and serenaded her with birthday songs.

* June through August was spent constructing a tear-drop trailer (see earlier blog post) from scratch with my father in law (this was my birthday gift to myself)...we celebrated our achievement by camping on beautiful Trillium lake over Labor day weekend.

* October was a big month:  I launched my new small business (see upcoming blog post) making custom paintings for restaurants, by hanging a show in the Lovejoy Bakery.....Nicole and I launched our new RED on RED! album (a collection of the music we have worked on over the course of our marriage), and Nicole launched a new baby into this world....Charlotte Hamilton (Nicole's middle name) Kennelly.

* In December, we spent the month hunkered down in our hand-made bunker, waiting for the end of the world as the Mayan's predicted....of course, when it didn't happen, I ate all of our stocked food provisions, which happened to be all chocolate, which worked out nicely.

RED on RED! album released online for free!

This October, Nicole and I released our self-titled album "RED on RED!" online through bandcamp.  The album is a long time coming, but we are excited to have finished it and posted it up for free for all who are willing.

For those of you who don't know, RED on RED! began years ago while we were living in Montana.  While recording music under separate monikers, Nicole and I began to write and record music together in the old, brick community house we lived in in Dillon, Montana.

Not until a couple of years passed, did we decide to set aside our personal musical ambitions and give RED on RED! a go.....therefore, most of the music you hear on the album has been written or recorded from as far back as 10 years ago.

For those of you who may already know this story, take heart, the next RED on RED! album will not be so long in the making....we have currently begun recording with our friends at sound ghost studios and hope to finish a 6-7 song ep. by the end of spring.

Here you go.  Enjoy:

Ukes on parade!! (a RED on RED! instrumental)

Lately, Nicole and I have been trying to challenge ourselves to write more music, not just songs with lyrics....sometimes there is a marked difference in our lives between the two.

In this song (some things happening in the backdrop):

* Nicole and I are teaching our kids to tune the ukelele by singing "my dog has fleas"....just strumming the uke open like that makes a beautiful sound.

* We also have had many discussions about musical theory--especially in the context of classical music. The latest hot topic in our conversations is how classical composers will find a melody and repeat it/explore it consistently throughout the symphony.

* My kids are teasing my Mother's bijon frise during the recording (which often reminds of a circus act, with both of them circling and taunting the dog, jetting their hands in quickly for a pet or poke and out again before she can growl or bite their tiny little fingers....needless to say, my mothers bijon frise is not good with children.)

Enjoy!


Ukes on parade by ryan kennelly

PS.  I think I have come up with a title for this song: "the amazing, flying trapeze act of Baby Coda (the name of my mothers' dog)"

RED on RED! is back! (we promise)

Shewwww!! Its been a distracted and disheveled year. But Nicole and I are committed to finishing this project! So committed, in fact, we have begun to rearrange our work schedules to fit in more creative work time, as well as hiring someone to help us produce the RED on RED! album. The producers (wow that sounds professional??) name is David Atchata, he is a friend of ours, and he's holding us accountable on a short leash to get our RED on RED! goals accomplished. Sooooooo, here is another song I wrote for the project. I was thinking of who I was and where I was before I met and married Nicole when I wrote this....Enjoy! RED on RED! : She'll brake your fall. by ryan kennelly

RED on RED! song number 3.

Again, we tried to be subtle and simple on this one. Nicole wrote it while we lived in Montana, but we've spent the last week or so re-recording it with a ukulele.

We are proud to have this song featured on a compilation CD. Our friend/acquaintance, Breena Wiederhoeft is releasing her new graphic novel, Picket Line, with an accompanying compilation CD. She asked us to contribute, and we were honored. Find her here. She's pretty talented.

Falling (winter song) by ryan kennelly

FB friends go here- http://snd.sc/i5JZ4A

PS. You can download this track for free if you like, just look to the side toolbar. Thanks and enjoy.

RED on RED song #2

Most of the songs we recorded are less drawn out and orchestrated as the prior post. Our goal was to keep it as simple as possible and let the lyrics stand in the foreground.

This is good for two reasons: 1. Because it gives me the ability to highlight Nicoles voice, which I believe is way more accessible in its smooth, lucid tones than my scratchy voicebox. and 2. It gives me the chance to highlight Nicole's song writing ability, which, when put into motion, is pretty much infallible. Im constantly amazed by her ability to construct words and narratives and arrange them into intriguing, emotionally packed songs. The girl's a genius at it and it confounds me.

This song is entitled "Look at the sky", recorded a couple of years ago in the giant, spacious community house we lived in at the time. We could re-record it (and still might), but I find myself continually drawn back to this original "on the fly" take. (It might be good to hear some feedback--do you think we should stick to this recording or make another? BE HONEST.) Enjoy.

Look at the sky by ryan kennelly

FB friends go here: http://snd.sc/fGFq6Y

ITS ON!....RED on RED....IN ALL CAPS!!!!!

Its on! Nicole and I are approaching our 10th anniversary (April 22nd) like a freight train and we are more than half way done recording the album....Some old songs, some new. My hope and prayer is that this project and our anniversary rekindle things we lost along the way (the 7 year hump really does exist!).

To stoke the fire under our butts, I've decided to post a song every Monday for the next couple of weeks until we have finished it completely. Im pretty sure we can have this baby bagged and tagged before March rolls around....after that comes mastering and then figuring out how to distribute it. -CDs? -Vinyl? -MP3s?

Here is one of the songs I wrote. Its entitled "feather down" and, of course, its about Nicole (everyone go ahead and say AAAAHHHHHHH in a sappy, nasally way). The song is long, but when we send it to get mastered, we will have them cut it into two tracks. ENJOY> (FB peeps can view it here= http://soundcloud.com/tactilecollective/red-on-red-feather-down).

RED on RED--Feather down by ryan kennelly

Angels we have heard...

I know its late in the game, but if I still have to put up with Christmas commercials, then why not post one last christmas song dang-it!?

Here are some of our/my creative plans for 2011. Im excited, its going to be a good year....
1. Finish recording with Nicole and have CD's available by our anniversary in April.

2. Work with Nicole on an interior photographic mural for the Downtown pizzicato pizza store. These photos include close ups of different sidewalk textures gridded together.

3. Begin and finish a small series of Branded paintings by early spring so I can.....

4. Move the studio outside when the weather gets warmer, break out the oils and begin work on a series of screen paintings using portraits of friends, family, and loved ones.

5. Finish and blog a diary of my bus driving experiences.

6. Maybe, just maybe start a book I've always dreamed of writing.

7. Write a song every day of lent.

8. Lose 10 pounds and quite smoking (just kidding)

Anyways, here you go. Happy Holidays.
angels we have heard... by ryan kennelly

Ps. While searching vintage pictures of angels, I found some really groovy specimens. For example.....

RED on RED!

So Nicole and I have agreed (or at least I thought of the idea and she likes it enough to not say no--which is a good sign) to name the music we are working on together "RED on RED!". "Red room" has been taken (like a million times over!) and apparently the copyright in band names does not cover upper-lower case lettering and punctuation. Thus, while there are many "red on red"'s (still not equal to the vast amount of bands/venues named "red room"), there is no "RED on RED!" as I know it. Turns out the exclamation point is actually really vital this time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyways, if you dont know already, we held a photo shoot for the album this summer while visiting Montana and are delighted to have just received the photos on disc in the mail. The photography was done by our good friend Christina, find more of her work here www.patchworkphotography.com.

Here are some of my favorites.....enjoy.

New music this Christmas season.......

Well, I've been a pretty detached blogger these last couple of months. No worries though, after a short hiatus and change of jobs (for those of you who might not know, I've officially become a school bus driver) I again feel the creative juices flowing.
I've drafted up an "achievement list" ("goal lists" are such a 2010 thing!:) for this fall, winter, and spring, here it is:

1. This Christmas season I feel really moved to finish up the final LITTLE CZAR AND THE PSALMIST recording. Except for a redux of "songs of ascent", this is the pieta' of the project, the final culmination of me by myself orchestrating songs late in the night, pouring out my heart and soul in a condenser mic in our basement or linen closet. After this, I will tuck all 6 recordings away until their appointed time and begin work on other projects like......(see number 2)

2. Yeaaah! Nicole and I are getting geared up to finish recording and producing the songs we've written together. We are about half way done, and our goal is to finish it by this spring, so we can celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary by giving all our friends and family a free CD of our music. How egotistic of us, right? No matter, Im really elated over the material and it will be worth every penny....every free penny.

3. Last but not least, I have all next week off for Thanksgiving and my goal is to produce about 15 or 20 more branded paintings.....

Sorry for the lengthy text in this blog, but you've been faithful and barreled on through like a trooper. As a reward, I have posted an excerpt from the current LITTLE CZAR AND THE PSALMIST recording in process. Much of the material is centered around the Christmas season and the God becoming man event--this included. Enjoy (and if you skipped the text to listen to this, shame on you!)

Christmas czar 2010 by ryan kennelly

( FB friends go here http://soundcloud.com/tactilecollective/christmas-czar-2010)

OCTOPUSSY!!!

Soooo I've been a little lax this summer about blogging. What can I say, things have been happening...alot of busy things. Nicole and I are currently shifting our work schedules (for the better!) and I just got a new job as a school bus driver, which I am extremely excited about.

As fall is settling in, Im beginning to rewrite and underscore my creative list and should have more time to work on upcoming projects while both kids are in school all day.

Here are the two major things on my list this fall:

1. Finish recording, mastering, and pressing CD's for the music Nicole and I have been working on (which, by the way, we decided to name Red on Red!)
and
2. Work on a series of "branded" paintings with acrylic and found wood. For example......

I just finished this one today for a show at the BenjaminBenjamin gallery here in Portland (details here: benjaminbenjamin.com/page/2).



The artists reception is this thursday, October 7th, from 5-8pm. Come say hi....