PDBY had the opportunity of interviewing one of Park Acoustics’ headliners; blues musician Kenny Hughes. Kenny is a vibrant and friendly personality, and his talent is as captivating as his conversation. Kenny’s music can be found on all major streaming platforms, and his journey can be followed on @kennyhughes_artist .
How would you describe your music to those who have not heard it before?
That’s always quite interesting to me. I’ve been trying to define it for a long time now, and actually the guy I record with said, “dude, don’t try and define it, just play whatever you feel” but that’s not that simple. Obviously people want to know what they’re getting themselves in for when they book you for a gig, for an example. So, I would say, it’s definitely rooted in the blues, but then there’s also elements of funk and rock to it. So, blues, funk, and rock.
How long have you been playing music?
So, I started playing drums actually when I was nine, and I played the drums for four years before I picked up guitar. I picked up guitar around the time I was twelve. So, I’ve been playing guitar now going on 14 years.
What would you say is your favourite performance of all time?
There have been a lot of cool ones, really really good ones. I’ve got a feeling that Park Acoustics is going to be my new favourite, but my favourite as it currently stands would probably be STRAB (the Sub-Terrarium Rhythm and Blues Festival). It’s a festival that they have once a year in Ponta Malongane in Mozambique, and it’s pretty amazing. There [were] 2500 tickets, the year I played was 2019, the tickets sold out within 7 hours, and it was rad. That was amazing. That’s my favourite show so far.
Okay, so you have a favourite performance, do you have a favourite music piece that you created?
I’m quite proud of this lick that I play at the end of the chorus in “Run Along”, and the reason it’s a cool piece to me is because it’s inspired by a lick that Mark Knopfler played in one of his songs; I believe it was in Telegraph Road, and every time I play that, it just feels like that’s something that Mark has written. And that’s sort of my standard because he’s the reason I started playing guitar.
Who influenced your music?
Well, the Dire Straits are incredible; I grew up listening to them. They are my dad and my uncles, favourite band. So yeah, I was surrounded from a very young age by very guitar-driven music. And now here I am.
What is the process surrounding Park Acoustics and how did your performance at this festival come about?
I was actually supposed to perform at Park Acoustics not last year, but the December before that in 2020. It was going to be their first Christmas Park Acoustics on 23 December, and then the new regulations came in so the show got cancelled. I was basically waiting to be added to the line-up again, then it was a matter of making sure that they picked the right line-up so that I would land in quite nicely. Eventually Hank got in touch with me and said I can either wait until we get a more bluesy line-up or we can put you on now with Desmond & The Tutus, and I was like “yeah, put me on now dude!”. I didn’t know when another possible time was gonna come around and I don’t know if I’ll necessarily be available even though I really really want to be. But I’m available now, so let’s try it now.
Do you know Baas de Beer?
He’s a godfather to the musicians in Pretoria and he sort of knows a lot of comebacks and he knows his sh*t and if he sees someone he likes he’ll do anything he can to help them get somewhere. It was definitely by his influence that I came across Hank’s radar for Park Acoustics. So, I definitely have him to thank for it. I think I’ve been on the radar for a while, and having a few successful singles definitely helped. I’m just quite fortunate really. I’m so excited about it, Park acoustics is going to be just lovely. I can’t wait.
Is there any local artists you want to work with?
There are still a lot of artists that I’d still like to collaborate with. My first single, 1920, was produced by Albatross so I sort of got to work with Albert which is really really cool, because I am an Albatross fan. I would love to , not necessarily work with, but rather be mentored by Dan Patlansky. But in terms of actually playing, I’d love to jam with Jason Oosthuizen on drums, that would be amazing, he has always been one of my favourite artists. There’s a bassist that’s there in Pretoria, Duard Musk, that has played the bass for quite a few of my favourite local bands, and he’s an awesome bassist so I’d love to jam with him, honestly. So yeah, there’s quite a few.
Are you currently working on anything that you would like to share with us?
Well, part of the reason I’m coming up to Pretoria is to come and record my next single or two. I’m gonna try and do two or maybe even three singles now because I don’t know when I’m going to get back to Pretoria to record again. In terms of what I want to record though, I haven’t really decided yet, and it has not been confirmed, so I’m busy writing two songs, both are still in progress, but I have a bunch that have been written already. So, I’m going to have to choose one of those, otherwise they are never going to be recorded because I know myself. So, there’s something to always be working on! And that’s where I find myself.
Image: Facebook – Kenny Hughes
My name is Ashleigh Pascoe and I am doing my Honours in Publishing. This is my fourth year studying at UP. I would describe myself as a bubbly extrovert with a passion for written work and writing!