Joey Kenig sits in the dual zone of being based around two places at once, St. Louis, MO and Ely, MN. I met Joey through mutual friends, Catching The Westbound. I was fortunate enough for Joey be one of the co-performers at my album release show at The Wolf in May of 2016. To setup that date, I corresponded with Joey many times through email and we met and talked. Joey is a great conversationalist. He can get you talked and I always enjoy running into him at an open mic or somewhere. And, if you get the chance, play music with him. Joey has a great musical ear and is adept at musical conversations as well.
Joey has a cool musical style that is varied and authentic. He has an album, Raw Honey, available through CD Baby. Listen to his song “The Dog And The Fish” and read the story.
Joey Kenig Tells The Story
“The Dog and The Fish” was written several years ago on a hot, sunny, windy day on the campus of Oklahoma University. My daughter Zane was a ballet performance major at OU and I was visiting her, waiting outdoors (sitting on a bench) while she attended a class. I’ve learned over many years to trust my creative impulses and not get hung up editing or questioning my sanity while writing, so when somewhat silly images came to mind, I simply put them down. The lyrics suggested the melody, and the arrangement took shape once I’d concocted the ridiculously simple chorus.
I don’t know what the song is about, except maybe the beauty of idiosyncrasy and how friends can be so different from one another and yet share a deep and abiding love – of one another and of life.
I’ve played this song for many audiences, but the first was a group of kindergarten students for whom Zane and I presented a program on the story of Hannukah. We (impulsively) used the tune as an instrumental prelude to the program (I played it as the students walked into the room and took their seats on the floor). Then we taught them the chorus, and once they’d learned it, we sang the whole song. It was an immediate hit, I think because kindergarteners don’t often ask themselves, What is this song about? or concern themselves with whether it’s cool to sing a silly song.
Joey Kenig Links
- Buy Raw Honey