K&K's Artist of the Month: Kevin Johnsrude
February 2003
Kevin
Johnsrude plays both guitar and bass. He is The Nettles’ Rhythm Monster,
using elements of Celtic music, American Oldtime, world music, rock, jazz
and funk to “drive the band wherever it wants to go.” Kevin proves that
for guitar-players there is life beyond boom-chuck.
Originally trained in classical piano, Kevin fell in love with the guitar and developed a distinctive guitar style influenced by traditional music, jazz, funk, rock, world music, soul and even techno. While willing and able to treat sweet traditional tunes with the gentle respect that they deserve, Kevin can drive a raucous fiddle tune into total dance frenzy.
Kevin's playing runs the gamut from fast and hard-driving to wistful and spacious. And when the jamming starts, a polyrhythmic guitar style combined with keen harmonic intuition propels the improvisation of Laura and company into the stratosphere.
“I like The Nettles,” says Kevin, “because we play traditional music from Ireland and around the world but we keep the music fresh. Our music remains true to its roots but we add something new to the music each time we play it. Traditional musicians can and should improvise to keep the tradition alive.”
Kevin also plays banjo, using the K&K Hot Spot. He says, "I haven't been happy playing banjo into a mic and I haven't been happy at the prices most folks charge for banjo pickups. Then I [found] the K&K Hot Spot Universal Transducer. It was a great price so I thought I'd risk it. Bang! It was amazing how hot the Hot Spot's signal was! Best of all the sound wasn't brittle or quacky so there is absolutely no need for me to use a preamp on this little guy."
The
Nettles
"Progressive and exciting Celtic music"
www.TheNettles.com