If you are here you may know that for over the last 30 years I have been associated with the band, Iron Maiden- primarily as Steve Harris' bass technician and live keyboardist, though in a few different positions in early days.
Surprising to many, as the band is English, I am a 5th generation Northern Californian- though I do share a possible heritage with the weary traveller perched in the shot above; my grandmother's mother and grandparents were Baslers, from Basel, Switzerland, where this pic was taken. Though, generally, it is expected I am an Irish-American, with family ties to Boston. (Really?! My surname is Kenney, and as a kid I was a freckle-face strawberry... ;-)
I started playing music with trumpet at age 7. My first guitar came at 11 and I had a band playing locally the next year. I switched to bass the following year to play with local legend Freddy O'Quinn, Jr. and received a firsthand education in what we called 'soul' back then, while immersed in the British Invasion and the Summer of Love.
Between Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones (RIP) and Steve Winwood I found that I didn't have to just play any one thing, and tried anything I could get my hands on, while developing a bad case of GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome)- a condition that still exists today. ;-) I have to mention the impact that hearing Jeff Beck had on me back then. We had heard nothing like it before. Enter, heavy...
I played in numerous bands up and down the West Coast, got into college radio, worked at Tower Records and finally ended up in L.A. There, amongst many other things- including working for several of the top studio synth players in session with the absolute biggest names in the biz. [I gave a synthesizer lesson to Quincy Jones once.][!]- I made the connections to be offered the opportunity to go to London for the first time, to work with a sound company that was on tour with a new band called Iron Maiden...
People sometimes make a big deal that I played Eddie in their first video.
Surprising to many, as the band is English, I am a 5th generation Northern Californian- though I do share a possible heritage with the weary traveller perched in the shot above; my grandmother's mother and grandparents were Baslers, from Basel, Switzerland, where this pic was taken. Though, generally, it is expected I am an Irish-American, with family ties to Boston. (Really?! My surname is Kenney, and as a kid I was a freckle-face strawberry... ;-)
I started playing music with trumpet at age 7. My first guitar came at 11 and I had a band playing locally the next year. I switched to bass the following year to play with local legend Freddy O'Quinn, Jr. and received a firsthand education in what we called 'soul' back then, while immersed in the British Invasion and the Summer of Love.
Between Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones (RIP) and Steve Winwood I found that I didn't have to just play any one thing, and tried anything I could get my hands on, while developing a bad case of GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome)- a condition that still exists today. ;-) I have to mention the impact that hearing Jeff Beck had on me back then. We had heard nothing like it before. Enter, heavy...
I played in numerous bands up and down the West Coast, got into college radio, worked at Tower Records and finally ended up in L.A. There, amongst many other things- including working for several of the top studio synth players in session with the absolute biggest names in the biz. [I gave a synthesizer lesson to Quincy Jones once.][!]- I made the connections to be offered the opportunity to go to London for the first time, to work with a sound company that was on tour with a new band called Iron Maiden...
People sometimes make a big deal that I played Eddie in their first video.