The Official Mike Keneally Website

THE KENEALLIST: Get Wing Beat Elastic on Bandcamp Friday!

The Keneallist!

Jeez it’s almost September!

Hi, to all of you! Hi, additionally, specifically, to those of you who signed up for The Keneallist at the Dreamsonic tour merch table this summer – it’s extremely great of you to join us here.

Hi, also and finally, to everyone who’s been coming out to the ProgJect shows that have been happening in the US over the past few weeks. Man these shows have been fun. As was the ArcTanGent festival with Devin in the UK, which was, like, a week ago or something. I’ve been traveling like crazy and have utterly lost track of time and place.

All the shows have been great though, and as always I’m very grateful to be able to go to a bunch of places and play music for people – it’s a true privilege.

GIT READY FOR WING BEAT ELASTIC ON BANDCAMP THIS FRIDAY

WING BEAT ELASTIC

Listen, this Friday is BANDCAMP FRIDAY again, when the artiste (moi) gets 100% of the income!, and we’re adding a new title to our Bandcamp page. It’s WING BEAT ELASTIC – REMIXES, DEMOS AND UNHEARD MUSIC, an album of music related in various ways to the Wing Beat Fantastic album what I wrote with Andy Partridge.

WING BEAT ELASTIC is concocted from a variety of sources: demos that Andy and I made during the writing process (including a version of “Your House” where Andy and I trade off the lead vocal); additional music recorded during the WBF album sessions (including an eight-minute instrumental suite, heavily acoustic piano-focused, called “Wingbeat Fantasia,” which is really nice); and some special remixes, including a clutch of highly entertaining ones by Scott Chatfield and Mike Harris (aka The Glimmer Twins) which offer a highly creative, trippy and forensic examination of what exists on the multi-tracks of the parent album – I especially love the mash-up they did of “Land” and “That’s Why I Have No Name.”

I also did a pretty psychedelic deconstruction of “Bobeau,” executed in various hotel rooms while I was on the road with Satriani, which highlights the maddeningly fantastic drumming of Marco Minnemann. Rounding out the album is a beautiful remix of the title song from WBF by acclaimed Northampton-based producer Mark Vidler of Go Home Productions.

If you haven’t heard this release yet, please check it out! 

A NEW COLLABORATION WITH MARCELO RADULOVICH, called MONDAY

A NEW COLLABORATION WITH MARCELO RADULOVICH, called MONDAY

Marcelo Radulovich, a San Diego multi-instrumentalist who I’ve known for almost forty years and is one of the most creative and visionary artists I know, was an immensely important part of my Wooden Smoke album, creating many of the background environments that were so crucial to that music. Twenty-two years on, we’ve collaborated again on a new 24-minute instrumental collection called MONDAY. (This is the opening salvo of an ongoing collaboration, as we also have an album of songs with vocals in the works.)

It’s very hard to know how to describe MONDAY. At first we were thinking that it’s our ambient album, but that’s really not an accurate descriptor. We both play multiple instruments on it, and multiple moods are generated. You should really just listen to it. I love it. It also premieres as a new BANDCAMP FRIDAY release this very Friday.

I’M ON A NEW ALBUM BY RAFA BONILLA, CALLED ALMA MATER

NEW ALBUM BY RAFA BONILLA, CALLED ALMA MATER

I’m on a song called “Answer to the Ego” on the new Rafa Bonilla album. Rafa is a phenomenally talented guitarist and this collaboration was born in kind of an unusual way… I’m gonna let Rafa tell the story:

“It was January 8th 2019. I met Mike Keneally in Joe Satriani G4 guitar camp, and as his student, after the class time I requested for him to write a random kinky melody on my guitar, and after that, unusual chords to fit that. And that’s it. From the genius and his generosity he gave me a song on my guitar. After that I started to work on an arrangement for it with my dear friend Ethan Weissman, and after some suggestions from Ethan, the song was born. We submitted the song to Mike later asking for his approval, and why not a solo to finish it?”

“That process took a lot of time, but those pandemic times were strange and beautiful to make weird music, and this song is something I am very honored to help make. For me that moment was just amazing from a creative, human, and musical perspective. A highlight in my journey!”

I too am honored that my random scribble on Rafa’s guitar has been fleshed out by Rafa and Ethan into a substantial composition, with some amazing playing on it. I was humbled to contribute my solo. Please investigate the song, and Rafa’s entire, excellent album

MORE LIVE SHOWS A-COMIN’: PROGJECT in the US, ONE SHOT DEAL at the POTATO, DEVIN TOWNSEND in AUSTRALIA

PROGJECT

The ProgJect US tour picks back up on Sep. 7 at Sweetwater in Ft. Wayne, IN, and continues until early October. There are more new dates being added even at this late date, so please continue to check our tour page for the latest info. Lots more ProgJect to come next year, including plans currently underway for Europe and Japan.

One Shot Deal

I’ll be a special guest with Joe Travers’ FZ unit One Shot Deal for three nights at the Baked Potato in LA, Oct. 25-27. I sat in with these folks at Alvas earlier this year and totally loved it, and this three-night run will be quite the celebration. Links to all the shows are on the Baked Potato calendar page.

Devin Townsend in Australia

And then, for my final live appearances of the year, I’ll be doing four gigs with Devin Townsend in Australia. This will be the end of this year’s Devin touring cycle, which has been such a fulfilling ride. Those of you reading this in Australia, please make it your business to get to one of these shows…this is a really special band and you should see us while you have the chance.

And then I’ll go home for the last six weeks of the year and just sit there and ruminate over the prior six months of incessant traveling and playing and think to myself “wow that just happened.”

THANKS EVERYONE!

Love,

Mike!
Wing Beat Elastic

THE KENEALLIST: Scambot 2 & Inkling on Bandcamp Friday!

The Keneallist

Hi! I very much hope you’re well!

And now –

SCAMBOT 2/INKLING ON BANDCAMP THIS FRIDAY, AUGUST 4

Scambot 2 & Inkling

This coming Friday is the first Bandcamp Friday for a few months, and we’ll be expanding our Bandcamp catalog with the addition of (tympani roll……..) the Scambot 2 and Inkling albums from 2016! Well I guess I already said that in the headline, so I probably didn’t need the tympani.

This will be the first time that the album Inkling has been available for streaming online anywhere ever ever! Both albums also include the usual exhaustive booklets and liner notes.

These titles will now join our old pals Scambot 1Songs & Stories Inspired by Scambot 1, and the Scambot Holiday Special in our Bandcamp inventory of exciting Scambot-oriented material.

As it happens, and if you’re feeling particularly Scambotty, I recently did a deep think-slash-talk about the entire Scambot saga with my bud Chris Siebold for his YouTube channel, and you can see it right dang here if you’ve a mind to.

As you may recall, Bandcamp Friday is the day when Bandcamp doesn’t take a percentage of income from downloads and all the proceeds go to artists/labels. We at Exowax Recordings appreciate Bandcamp doing this (and you for choosing to buy this Friday)!

DREAMSONIC HAS ENDED AND THE PROGJECT TOUR IS ABOUT TO BEGIN

THE PROGJECT TOUR

The Dreamsonic 2023 tour of North America ended a few nights ago (I played in Devin Townsend’s band on this tour, we were the middle act between Animals As Leaders and Dream Theater).

It’s not easy to express what a powerful experience it was for me, both musically onstage every night and also as a member of a traveling community. It was heavy in unexpected ways and the bond that formed among all the bands and crews was strong. And it was just amazing fun. I want to express extreme gratitude to everyone who was a part of it, came to a show, or helped to make the whole thing happen.

(I had a mailing list at the merch table during Dreamsonic and as a result, this is the first Keneallist a number of you will have ever received. Welcome, and thank you for signing up!)

I got to spend two entire days at home and I loved those days a lot. Now I’m sitting on Joe Travers’ couch in LA and today was the first day of rehearsal (or at least the first one I was able to attend) of the new lineup of ProgJect, and I’m really thrilled to report that we’ve got something special to offer at these upcoming shows. We’re playing in the USA starting in a few days and stretching into October a ways.

New dates are being negotiated, but this here is the tour schedule as it currently sits, twirls its computer chair around and reaches for a Cheeto.

ProgJect for the upcoming tour consists of Jonathan Mover, Ryo Okumoto, Marc Bonilla and our new bassist, the most eminent and wonderful Ric Fierabracci. I showed up at rehearsal today expecting it to sound good, but man it went way beyond good, this band is sounding just ridiculous. Mover says things are looking good for us to make it to Europe in 2024, which is exciting news.

Meanwhile, I didn’t think it would be possible for me to be as jazzed as I am to be going immediately out on the road, after having just spent seven weeks touring, but the vibe of the band has filled me with a legitmate glee to get out and play this classic progressive music for people. Hope you can make it out, you US residents you!

BUT THERE IS YET MORE DEVIN TO COME

If you have looken at the ProgJect tour itinerary of which I have just spaken, you’ll note a gap of some girth between Aug. 13 and 24. That gap exists because I have to leave the ProgJect tour for that moment, fly over to the UK, and play with Devin Townsend at the ArcTanGent Festival in Bristol.

Devin Townsend @ the ArcTanGent Festival

The festival takes place Aug. 16-19 at the idyllic Fernhill Farm; we’re headlining on Saturday the 19th. is very highly regarded (it’s won awards and is warmly spoken of by festival cognoscenti) and my senses are abuzz with anticipation to perform there. Look here’s the lineup, and all the other information you need is at that site too. 

When I’m done there I get on another plane and get back to the rest of the ProgJect dates in the US. I’m a ramblin’ guy!

And then in November we’ve got four Devin dates in Australia. Been a number of years since my last visit to Australia (I was with Satriani at that time) and I’ve loved it there since first visiting it with Steve Vai in the ‘90s. Here are ticket links for the Australian dates as well as ArcTanGent.

A BOUQUET OF LINKS

Quickly now, because I need to sleep!:

1 There was a good piece with me in the June 2023 issue of Vintage Guitar magazine.

Vintage Guitar magazine

At this page there’s a short video of me playing some of “Celery” to promote the article, and this here’s a link to a pdf of the article.

2   I played on Steve McAllister’s beautiful new album I Hope You Are Okay. Here is a wonderful review of it, and here is where to get it. Dave Gregory plays on it too and it is marvelous, intelligent pop music.

3 I played on Mats Oberg’s stunning new release Visa från Inneröra. I appear on his delightful composition “Dream Loops.” Mats’ genius is of course on full display and his writing and playing is just as awe-inspiring as ever. It’s a privilege to be on his new album, which you can sure find here

4  Jeez, speaking of privileges: Anthony Garone asked me if I would join him in interviewing Derek Shulman, Kerry Minnear, Gary Green and John Weathers of Gentle Giant, on the occasion of the release of Steven Wilson’s remix of the glorious Interview album. There really aren’t words to capture how eagerly I accepted that invitation.

Gentle Giant

What a true honor, and what a truly spectacular band to whom I’ll always be grateful, and you can watch our discussion here.

5  The immensely charming Hammond Chamberlain has interviewed me once again for his excellent Beyond the Playlist podcast.

6  Listen to this podcast also! It’s an interview I did alongside the legendary Art Tripp while at 2022’s Zappanale, supplemented by a lot of really good music.

7  I did an interview with the boxing website The Ringside Report! I’ve never boxed but they must know that I’m a boxer at heart. Read the interview, during which we discuss nothing about boxing, here. It’s actually a really good little interview, I dug the questions.

8  And final! A review of The Thing That Knowledge Can’t Eat from good Pete Pardo at Sea of Tranquility.

The Thing That Knowledge Can’t Eat 

AND NOW TO BED

Actually, first I’m gonna post a couple of phone videos I took during the Dreamsonic tour to my Patreon page, and THEN to bed. Either way, good night!

Love,

Mike!
Scambot 2 & Inkling
Exowax Recordings
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THE KENEALLIST: A whole lotta Dog for Bandcamp Friday!

Good day to you!

This Friday is Bandcamp Friday (the one day per month when Bandcamp doesn’t take a cut of any income, it all goes to artists/labels), and the title we are adding to our Bandcamp library this month is 2004’s Dog.

This particular title has never been available for streaming on that demon streaming platform we all know so well – despite our repeated attempts to get it on there, along with a few other missing titles – so for those of you who’ve been desperate to stream Dog, it shall be now streamable for you on Bandcamp.

But there’s more!

Caution! The links to the  Dog (Deluxe Bandcamp Edition) won’t work until the clock strikes midnight (PDT) tonight, ushering in Bandcamp Friday (and Cinco de Mayo!).

Goodness gracious, there’s more! This is not your standard Dog! This is Dog (Deluxe Bandcamp Edition), which has been fortified with 34 additional tracks. THIRTY-FOUR. A bunch of these tracks are audio from the DVD that came with the Dog Special Edition CD/DVD set (a limited edition which is now out of print). Six of the tracks are from a live show at Victor’s in San Diego, and six were played live in the living room of Chatfield Manor.

There is also documentary audio, from the Dog studio sessions, of me doing a vocal on the blistering, unreleased 18-second-long punk-metal workout “Lizard Tongue” (while the rest of the band cracks up in the control room). There are demos of Dog material, including full-band early versions recorded at a studio in Santa Monica, and a recording of “Splane” made in a hotel room during a Taylor Guitars clinic tour. There’s DVD menu music, and a 2 and ½ minute edit-collage of Dog songs that featured on keneally.com at the time of the album’s release.

Finally there’s a lengthy interview, featuring Claudia Russell of San Diego’s Jazz 88.3 FM asking me a bunch of excellent and very specific questions about the songs on the album. Re-listening to that interview today gave me a very enlightening perspective on my mindset at the time – in retrospect I’ve come to think of Dog as a dark album, thickly colored by my feelings in the aftermath of the 2003 Baghdad invasion, but in listening to myself talking about it all at the time, I realize there was a lot more lightness in my intentions.

Enough of this dimestore psychology! My point here is, there is much exciting bonus listening for you in this Dog (Deluxe Bandcamp Edition).

Taking a break from the Dog sessions outside Jeff Forrest’s Doubletime Recording Studio on December 7, 2003 are (l. to r) Nick D’Virgilio, me, Bryan Beller and Rick Musallam.
Taking a break from the Dog sessions outside Jeff Forrest’s Doubletime Recording Studio on December 7, 2003 are (l. to r) Nick D’Virgilio, me, Bryan Beller and Rick Musallam.

For those who download the album, you’ll also receive two separate additional downloads containing all the original album artwork, plus a plethora of era-specific promo graphics to enhance your enjoyment. And all the lyrics will be on the Bandcamp page (even the original album didn’t have those!), so this will be a truly deluxe event for Dog lovers. We hope you enjoy the living heck out of it! Woof!

SAN DIEGO MUSIC AWARDS – LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD!

SAN DIEGO MUSIC AWARDS – LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD!

On April 25 I was privileged to receive the Country Dick Montana Lifetime Achievement Award at the San Diego Music Awards. It was an extremely humbling experience. You can see it for yourself right here if you’re inclined. That’s the livestream of the entire awards ceremony, nearly three and a half hours worth, which was held at the very lovely Humphrey’s by the Bay in San Diego. At around the 1:53 mark you’ll see Brendon Small’s speech inducting me, then a short film about me and then my acceptance speech.

I was legit overwhelmed but I managed to find things to say. Around the 2:33 mark you’ll find the two songs I played with Larry Grano and Rick Nash, “Hallmark” and “Rosemary Girl.” Many friends and loved ones were at the event and it was a very special freakin’ night for me. My genuine thanks to Kevin Hellman and the San Diego Music Awards for this extremely significant honor, and thanks to Scott Chatfield for taking the photos which decorate this section of the Keneallist (I thank him for much else besides that in my acceptance speech!).

ME GUESTING WITH ONE SHOT DEAL AT ALVAS SHOWROOM ON MAY 12

A little while back, Joe Travers started a Zappa cover unit called One Shot Deal, populated with amazing musicians that he used to play with in ZPZ – Ben Thomas, Scheila Gonzales, Jamie Kime, Pete Griffin and Billy Hulting.

I think Joe might have named it One Shot Deal because he wasn’t sure if they were going to play more than once, but they’ve continued gigging and audiences have been ecstatic. I’ve been excited to finally see them, but instead of sitting in the audience for this gig on May 12 I’m going to have to watch them from my place onstage, because I’m going to play the entire show with them as their special guest.

This is happening at Alvas Showroom in San Pedro, and I just went to their website to share the ticket link with you here, but now I see on the website that the show is sold out. Well then! If you’ve already got a ticket, see you there!

DREAMSONIC 2023 – NORTH AMERICA TOUR WITH DEVIN TOWNSEND, DREAM THEATER AND ANIMALS AS LEADERS

DREAMSONIC 2023 – NORTH AMERICA TOUR WITH DEVIN TOWNSEND, DREAM THEATER AND ANIMALS AS LEADERS

I still feel like I’m recovering from the European Devin Townsend tour, which was really just amazing, and soon enough I’ll be getting back on the bus for the next round of shows, as the middle band of three bands on the DREAMSONIC 2023 tour. Animals As Leaders start off the evening, then us, and finally Dream Theater. Epic nights of music will be ensuing. I’m immensely happy to be a part of it.

This is the inaugural run for this annual Dreamsonic event which Dream Theater has dreamed up and it’s just a dream for me to be a part of it. I promise to never write anything like that last sentence again! Anyway if you’re a North American I hope you can make it to one of these shows. Here’s ticket links to every dang show on the tour. It’s going to be bigger than really huge.

SOME MORE PRESS FOR THE THING THAT KNOWLEDGE CAN’T EAT

I remain very grateful for the amount of coverage the new album continues to receive!

The Thing That Knowledge Can’t Eat - Mike Keneally

SIGNING OFF

See you all soon and thank you again and always! Oh and I’ve also been working on a whole big bunch of new music lately (by myself and with others). So there’s that! More of which later!

All right, now have yourself a fine meal and pat yourself on the back, you did great today.

Love,

Mike!
Exowax Recordings
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