Latest / The Scene Projects / Kenneith Perrin on Katmandu Campground, Touring Insights, and the Life of an Independent Musician

Transcript

Kenneith Perrin on Katmandu Campground, Touring Insights, and the Life of an Independent Musician · The Scene Projects

• 0:18
  Welcome in to another exciting episode of the scene.
• 0:20
  I am your host Bubba Sartz, and with me today, soulful r and b singer, my friend, Kenneth
• 0:27
  Perrin.
• 0:27
  Kenneth, welcome back to the show.
• 0:29
  Thank you.
• 0:30
  It's good to be back.
• 0:31
  Appreciate it, Bubba.
• 0:33
  Yeah.
• 0:33
  It's it's absolutely my pleasure when you mentioned wanting to come in and kinda redo
• 0:38
  yours.
• 0:39
  You know, I I'm not necessarily gonna go back and pull the old one down, but I figure we can
• 0:43
  give a little revamp and especially now that we've had an opportunity to meet in person and
• 0:49
  to have you up around my hometown in Deadwood, South Dakota and to have you perform at
• 0:55
  Kathmandu Campground during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.
• 0:58
  Not your typical rally music for sure, but I know that Lynette sure loved having you, and it
• 1:05
  was a great time to just be able to to relax with you, you know, somewhere where I'm very
• 1:11
  comfortable.
• 1:11
  So we have your backstory.
• 1:13
  We kinda know where you're coming from and everything.
• 1:16
  But tell me a little bit about, you know, since the last time we talked.
• 1:19
  Oh, jeez.
• 1:20
  It was probably back in February or March.
• 1:22
  It's been a busy summer since then.
• 1:24
  So give us a quick recap of the summer, and then we'll pick it up from there.
• 1:28
  Yeah.
• 1:29
  Sure.
• 1:29
  No problem.
• 1:32
  Wow.
• 1:33
  Since then, I've been on tour currently am on tour, the second leg of the Melodic Heart and
• 1:38
  Soul Tour.
• 1:39
  So that's been a lot of fun exploring some different cities, different venues, and just
• 1:44
  getting to meet a lot a lot of cool people like yourself in person.
• 1:48
  And also have released a new single called giving you giving you all.
• 1:55
  It's currently doing really well on radio and continues to get heavy rotation, which is
• 2:02
  something that I've really never had before.
• 2:03
  It's, like, the first time.
• 2:05
  So it's just a good feeling to be able to release something, put it out there, and have
• 2:11
  people really, really, really like it just based on audio alone.
• 2:16
  No videos, no gags, no gimmicks, or anything like that.
• 2:19
  Just strength of the of the song itself.
• 2:21
  So really excited, man.
• 2:23
  Really excited.
• 2:24
  Yeah.
• 2:24
  That's that's great.
• 2:26
  I'm I'm really proud of you and happy that things are happening for you.
• 2:30
  Obviously, you've been in this music business for a long time.
• 2:33
  You've seen it change a lot as as we all have.
• 2:37
  And now getting to you know, you've just stayed on your grind.
• 2:41
  You you have continued to, you know, perform and write and release new music, and it's not
• 2:47
  easy.
• 2:48
  And, obviously, we talk about it a lot here on the scene projects, the struggles of the
• 2:54
  independent artist in the in the age of streaming and everything that it does.
• 2:58
  But radio is still very much alive.
• 3:00
  And and it's yeah.
• 3:01
  I I think maybe a little bit easier than than in years past to to kinda crack into radio
• 3:08
  because you have a lot of you know, there's still independent stations that are out there.
• 3:12
  But I think that the major players are maybe paying a little less attention to it as they
• 3:17
  start to dedicate more into, you know, streaming or wherever their attention has gone
• 3:22
  and their money to.
• 3:23
  Let's not forget Payola.
• 3:24
  It it is not just a thing of the past.
• 3:27
  It's still very prevalent, although under maybe another name.
• 3:31
  It's really great to see someone like yourself who's an independent artist just continue to
• 3:36
  have success and to build on that success year after year.
• 3:40
  Thank you.
• 3:41
  Thank you.
• 3:42
  Thank you.
• 3:43
  So, Kenneth, what did you think of South Dakota?
• 3:47
  I loved it.
• 3:48
  I loved it.
• 3:48
  I loved it.
• 3:49
  Probably one of the purest places I've ever been to just in terms of, like, the nature, the
• 3:57
  people, the food.
• 3:59
  Everything is, like, homegrown.
• 4:01
  Everything is fresh, and everything is just just very kinda easygoing smooth.
• 4:08
  I mean, if you wanna go to a place and just destress and not worry about anything, that is
• 4:16
  the place to go to for sure.
• 4:18
  For sure.
• 4:19
  And I I really had a a great time.
• 4:21
  Really enjoyed it.
• 4:22
  And Day at Wood City is really fascinating because of the history.
• 4:26
  There's so much there to do.
• 4:28
  I mean, I was just there just pretty much, like, for one day, but I wish I could have
• 4:33
  spent a little bit more time because there's so much to do, so much to visit, the different
• 4:38
  arenas where performers perform.
• 4:40
  That was interesting to see, and appreciate you kinda giving me a quick tour during that time.
• 4:45
  That really helped out quite a bit because, otherwise, it's just me and friends just kinda
• 4:50
  walking down the street and really not knowing, you know, what we're looking at or where we're
• 4:54
  going to.
• 4:54
  So, but yeah.
• 4:56
  No.
• 4:56
  No.
• 4:57
  Amazing city.
• 4:58
  Amazing, amazing city.
• 4:59
  So yeah.
• 5:00
  Yeah.
• 5:01
  And and one of my favorite weekends there is coming up here in October, the Wild West
• 5:05
  Songwriters Festival.
• 5:06
  The whole town is just full.
• 5:08
  There's actually two concurrent, festivals that are going on at the same time.
• 5:13
  One of them, the Wild West Songwriters Fest, which is kinda sponsored Edward Chamber and is
• 5:18
  an official event.
• 5:19
  And then we have the Trails of Tales event that happens down on Lower Main Street.
• 5:24
  So you literally have the entire of Main Street.
• 5:27
  There are there is live music everywhere, a lot of, you know, kind of not necessarily cowboy
• 5:33
  music, but it's it's guitars and singer songwriters and that vibe.
• 5:37
  It is by far my favorite weekend in Deadwood.
• 5:40
  I think it's the best weekend and the best events that they put on.
• 5:43
  It might not draw the most people because you're not really bringing in the headline acts
• 5:48
  and it's, you know, shutting down Main Street where you're walking up and They have several
• 5:52
  events during the year where they close that street, put a big stage down at the lower end,
• 5:57
  and then it's it's, you know, ten, fifteen thousand people with their chair set up and,
• 6:02
  you know, drinking open container and and taking in the music.
• 6:05
  This one is a little bit different than that, but for me and what I love, obviously, the
• 6:10
  independent musician and the grind that that is, I absolutely love this weekend.
• 6:16
  You you're gonna meet so many people, other artists, and really is a great networking
• 6:21
  opportunity, but we're it it builds in the audience every single year as well.
• 6:26
  And there's, you know, a 100 to 200 people at most of these, you know, kinda writers rounds
• 6:31
  that they're doing and really blessed to be a part of it.
• 6:33
  I think we're going to be a bigger part of that with the scene project this year and doing more
• 6:38
  in person interviews and and really having that to bring to the table.
• 6:43
  And, it's just it's a great vibe, Kenneth, and you got to see, the Deadwood Mountain Grand and
• 6:49
  the big stage up there.
• 6:50
  That's where they kinda do the end, their their big ending performance in concert and announce
• 6:56
  the winner of their regional songwriter contest as well.
• 7:00
  So a a really amazing, town that absolutely loves its live music, and and I was very
• 7:06
  fortunate to to not just, you know, grow up there, but to to be welcomed back even though I
• 7:12
  don't live in the area any longer, time after time, and to really have some deep, deep
• 7:17
  friendships with people around that area.
• 7:19
  I'm glad that, know, you completely unplanned.
• 7:21
  You know, you talked about the tour I gave you around town.
• 7:25
  I just happened to walk out of where I was and to see you across the street and give you a
• 7:29
  holler and kinda chase you down and, to to to have a chance to show you around my town.
• 7:35
  It it was really great.
• 7:37
  Yeah.
• 7:39
  No.
• 7:39
  It was it was amazing.
• 7:40
  And thank you also for the support during the Kathmandu campground show too.
• 7:46
  That was, like, a huge, huge help as well just with the setup and everything, and it really
• 7:52
  kinda helped make the start of the show really just kinda kick off with a bang because I had
• 7:58
  everything I needed and just kinda help facilitate in between with Lynette and I and
• 8:03
  just 100 a plus all the way, man.
• 8:06
  So I really appreciate that.
• 8:07
  And that was really awesome too just to kinda entertain in a small inner intimate setting and
• 8:13
  new fans and be able to kinda share share music that way.
• 8:17
  So I I will say, though, they they were a little bit of a of a tougher crowd.
• 8:22
  It kinda took a minute to kinda get them going, but I felt like the more songs I kinda chose
• 8:28
  that were sort of maybe a little bit more Kathmandu friendly, I should say, the better
• 8:34
  the show became.
• 8:35
  So I just had to keep a keep a ear out for that.
• 8:38
  And that and that's true anywhere you go as a performer.
• 8:40
  You know?
• 8:40
  You have to kinda be aware of where you are, who you're singing to.
• 8:44
  And sometimes your set list may be one thing when you start off, but then engaging the crowd
• 8:48
  and audience, you have to kinda flip the switch and, you know, kinda change it to make sure
• 8:52
  that they're kind of vibing and feeling what you're putting down, basically.
• 8:56
  So
• 8:57
  Oh, and I think that's a great lesson for, yeah.
• 9:01
  I think that's a great lesson for younger artists as well is that it's great that we
• 9:06
  have, oh, I'm gonna play these songs, and this is gonna be the show.
• 9:09
  But, you know, the famous Mike Tyson quote, you know, everybody's got a plan till they get
• 9:14
  punched in the mouth.
• 9:15
  And granted for us musicians, usually, we're not getting swung on physically, but that that,
• 9:20
  you know, that kind of dead air after a song and realizing that, like, okay.
• 9:25
  That plan that I had maybe isn't the perfect fit for this environment, and and I need to
• 9:32
  make some adjustments.
• 9:34
  I I think that's a really important, thing that young artists can learn and to bring to the
• 9:39
  table.
• 9:39
  And it's it's a key to being a successful, paid performer, especially when you're like us,
• 9:45
  Kenneth, where you are playing, more cover music usually than you are originals and you
• 9:50
  you have a little bit longer of a show that you're performing, you have to bring these
• 9:55
  people in.
• 9:55
  And to bring them in, you can't just kind of hit them with stuff that they don't know and
• 10:00
  something new all the time.
• 10:01
  You have to bring them something familiar.
• 10:03
  Yeah.
• 10:03
  And what's great about Catman two and and during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally especially
• 10:10
  is that you get people from all over the country, all over the world that land in this
• 10:15
  one tiny little town, Sturgis, South Dakota for that week.
• 10:19
  And so you could be singing to someone from Australia and right there in South Dakota and
• 10:25
  Florida and California and anywhere in between those places all at the same time, and it makes
• 10:31
  it for a really fun a really fun gathering.
• 10:35
  Yes.
• 10:36
  Very fun.
• 10:37
  Very fun.
• 10:37
  Laid back.
• 10:39
  Very friendly environment.
• 10:41
  Just everybody's just there just to really have a good time.
• 10:44
  You know?
• 10:44
  It's almost like one big campground family almost.
• 10:48
  You know?
• 10:48
  So yeah.
• 10:51
  And especially that one, a lot of these people have been coming there year over year.
• 10:55
  This is a family reunion for them.
• 10:57
  This is the one time a year they get to see their friends from across the country and and
• 11:01
  they're meeting there.
• 11:02
  So, there is there is an element of that, and I think that's across the board with the rally
• 11:08
  and everything that it brings with it.
• 11:11
  This year, I will say, was a little bit of a down year.
• 11:13
  Last year being the 80 annual, it was kind of a real you know, everybody came last year.
• 11:20
  So this year was a little bit thinner on the crowd side than years past.
• 11:24
  But, yeah, it's still a great time and a a great intimate setting, like you said, to
• 11:29
  connect with people.
• 11:30
  And I feel like when you have those smaller crowds, you're able to to connect on a deeper
• 11:35
  level.
• 11:37
  Totally.
• 11:38
  Totally.
• 11:40
  Totally.
• 11:40
  Yeah.
• 11:41
  So, Kaneeth, you know, we're we're here coming into, you know, kinda quarter four of the, of
• 11:48
  2026.
• 11:50
  You you've had a lot of success already this year.
• 11:53
  Things have gone, I would say, very well for you as far as, you know, an independent
• 11:58
  musician being able to stay out and touring.
• 12:00
  And, obviously, it's not cheap to travel right now by any means.
• 12:04
  But talk about, you know, what you're looking forward to in the last couple of months of 2026
• 12:09
  and then moving in now to to 2027.
• 12:14
  Yeah.
• 12:15
  Sure.
• 12:15
  So, yeah, definitely, 2026 has been a great year.
• 12:20
  Really blessed.
• 12:21
  Just really amazed at how much things feel like they're starting to pay off.
• 12:27
  You know?
• 12:28
  Because like you said earlier, there is that grind over the years.
• 12:31
  There is that grind over time.
• 12:34
  But now it feels like, okay.
• 12:35
  It seems like things are finally beginning kind of beginning to reap what I've been sewing for
• 12:40
  the last few years or so.
• 12:41
  So the end of twenty twenty six, the latter part of it, working on new music for projects
• 12:47
  for next year, but primarily just kind of focusing on on touring.
• 12:52
  This time, we're still kinda regionally, you know, within the California area.
• 12:56
  I was slated to go to New York next week to do a radio show interview, but with logistics and
• 13:04
  stuff, it just didn't work out, so I have to do that by phone.
• 13:07
  But I think that's really the only out of state place that I probably will be performing in.
• 13:13
  Rest is like states as they say, and then, next year, hopefully, to start going back out East
• 13:19
  Coast, Midwest.
• 13:21
  Hopefully, South Dakota again, if all is willing.
• 13:24
  So, we'll see.
• 13:25
  We'll see.
• 13:26
  So
• 13:27
  Yeah.
• 13:28
  I will tell you, you are always welcome at Kathmandu.
• 13:31
  Lynette would be more than happy to have you out there anytime, and I would look forward to
• 13:36
  seeing you out there as well as it's a staple in, in our year as well.
• 13:41
  Really, really excited for you.
• 13:44
  I think it's it's just wonderful that you get to stay out here and to to continue to tour all
• 13:50
  of that.
• 13:51
  I mean, California's got enough gigs moving up and down the state to keep you busy.
• 13:56
  And as the winter sets in, it gets harder and harder to reach, you know, especially the
• 14:00
  Midwest, the Upper Midwest here in the Great Plains and the Northeast get to be a little
• 14:05
  touch and go with winter weather settling in.
• 14:07
  So I I think you've got a great plan.
• 14:10
  I think that you've you've executed on that plan and you continue to do so year over year.
• 14:15
  You're really an inspiration not just for me, but I think for any independent artist out
• 14:21
  there to look and to say, hey.
• 14:22
  It's possible, but it it it's a lot of work.
• 14:26
  And it it it it must be nice.
• 14:29
  It it must be, really, really hard too.
• 14:31
  And I think that's what people need to to understand about the independent musician life.
• 14:36
  Yeah.
• 14:38
  There you go.
• 14:39
  Yeah.
• 14:39
  Because it you're essentially pretty much running your own business.
• 14:43
  And like that, you have to pretty much stay on top of everything from start to finish.
• 14:48
  But if you love what you do, you know, sort of like a labor of love.
• 14:53
  So, you know, there's the doctor Jekyll, mister Hyde to it.
• 14:57
  Some days, you really, really are just like, oh, this is great.
• 15:00
  Yes.
• 15:01
  Captain Deadwood.
• 15:03
  Yes.
• 15:03
  This is the dream.
• 15:04
  Other days, you're like, no.
• 15:06
  My computer crashed.
• 15:07
  I can't get my songs back up or my voice is sorted.
• 15:10
  Yeah.
• 15:10
  I can't sing.
• 15:11
  So, yeah, just whatever comes with music territory, you you name it.
• 15:16
  But I think you have to love it enough to kinda overlook all the negative and and stick with
• 15:21
  the positive.
• 15:22
  So yeah.
• 15:24
  For sure.
• 15:25
  Yeah.
• 15:25
  I you had the biggest smile on your face the entire time I saw you in South Dakota, and I
• 15:32
  hope I hope you carried that with you as you do back there.
• 15:36
  And and those moments, those highs that we get playing music and getting to travel and to see
• 15:41
  all of these places that they carry you through the low points, and they continue to be
• 15:47
  something that motivate you to wake up and to continue working every day.
• 15:52
  Yes.
• 15:53
  For sure.
• 15:54
  For sure.
• 15:55
  Yes.
• 15:55
  For sure.
• 15:57
  Awesome, Kenneth.
• 15:58
  Well, we've had your website kinda scrolling across here.
• 16:00
  You can go to kennethparin.com, find all of his tour dates.
• 16:04
  If you wanna book this man, I highly suggest you do.
• 16:06
  If you're a venue owner or you're a fan out there who's looking to bring him to yours.
• 16:11
  Kenneith is k e n n e I t h, Perrin, perrin.
• 16:16
  That's .com.
• 16:18
  You can find out a lot more information on here.
• 16:20
  Make sure you go stream all of his music and bring him to a city and a venue near you
• 16:25
  because I know he'd love to see you.
• 16:27
  Kaneeth Yes.
• 16:28
  Thank you so much for joining me again today.
• 16:30
  I I truly appreciate your friendship now and, getting to see you.
• 16:34
  I hope I get to see you again soon, and, thank you once again for being part of the scene.
• 16:40
  Thank you.
• 16:41
  And I appreciate everything that you do for us independent artists, being that you are an
• 16:46
  artist yourself and musician.
• 16:47
  So really appreciate that.
• 16:48
  Thank you, Matt.
• 16:49
  Thank you.
• 16:51
  Truly my pleasure, Kenit.
• 16:52
  Have a great day.
• 16:55
  Alright.
• 16:55
  You too, man.
• 16:56
  Thank you.
• 16:56
  Bye bye.