Review Fix Exclusive: Kenny George Talks ‘Borrowed Trouble’ And More

March 23, 2017 Patrick Hickey Jr. Music 0

Review Fix chats with Kenny George of the Kenny George Band to get an inside look at the band’s upcoming album “Borrowed Trouble.” Detailing their creative process and goals for the album, George lets us know exactly why it’s a special one.

Review Fix: How’d you guys get together?

Kenny George: 10 years ago I reached out to my drummer Bucky Brown when I moved back to SC from Alabama. I had a group there but I really wanted to start a group here at home to start playing out and putting a band behind some of the new songs i was writing at the time. So we brought in Center on steel guitar and I’d always wanted a steel player so it was a really great fit. Then over the course of the next few years the line up leveled out bringing in Brooks Andrews on bass and Scott Ranking on rhythm guitar and harmonies.

Review Fix: What makes the Kenny George band different?

George: I like to think our experience with other bands over the years, the amount of time we spend out playing with each other has allowed us to develop a unique sound that you don’t hear every day.

Review Fix: How was this album born?

George: We really wanted to get in the studio after we did the Gunshy EP and produce full length LP. I immediately started writing the songs after the Gunshy release and we started playing them on the road and letting the start to develop into whats on the record.

Review Fix: What was the creation of this album like?

George: On the Gunshy EP it was more of a collection of songs I had written over a period of years. With Borrowed Trouble I wrote these songs all together which i think helped with the flow and tone of the record.We spent a lot of time on the road playing these songs and tweaking them and getting them ready to go record and that really added some dynamics, life and texture to the tunes that wasn’t in the solo acoustic versions when i wrote them. So we started a kickstarter and our awesome fans and friends and family chipped in and got us back in the studio with our good friend Shawn Guess at THEDIGITALHALO. And we’d worked with him on our first record, so we all were a lot more comfortable with the process and just had a good time recording it. And we tracked out bass and drums live on this record to kind of bring more a live feel as opposed to layering tracks.

Review Fix: Any fun stories or wild moments?

George: Too many to remember. When you play as much and the variety of places we play. We’ve been really lucky to get to play on some good bills with amazing bands that we look up to and those are always my favorite nights. When you can play a show and be a fan. That’s the best.

Review Fix: Why is this album a special one for you guys?

George: It’s personal for the whole band i think. The subject matter is very road heavy and influenced by what do as a band. And I feel like we really buckled down and worked hard to develop our sound for “Borrowed Trouble” and tried to challenge ourselves more and make sure we were growing as band.

Review Fix: How does this album disrupt the musical landscape?

George: I’d like to think that it does some different things with what folks might consider to be “standard country instrumentation,” telecasters and steel guitar and harmonies. The pedal steel doesn’t sound like your typical bar room country. It really gives the record a specific feel.

Review Fix: Who will enjoy this album the most?

George: I think there is something for everyone on the new album. A lot of the songs are about the road life but i like to think a lot folks can relate.

Review Fix: What are your goals for the album?

George: I’d like to see it expand the bands market and fan base and help take us to some new places.

Review Fix: What song is the standout on this album? Why?

George: I really enjoy the song “The Tilt.” It’s where I got the title for the record from. It was the last song i wrote for the record and it was quite cathartic  to finish that song.

Review Fix: What’s next?

George: We have some great shows and events planned for the release of Borrowed Trouble  and we are just gonna do our thing and get back on the road try to grow the band more and keep playing music and trying to grow as a band.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13870 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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