Mandrake

Mandrake

Festival Views and Tour News

I will confide in you dear reader that sometimes when I'm not in New Orleans I feel that I have nothing much to write about. Maybe the city is the source of my power. Of course, I then tell myself, that's utterly ridiculous. "You're on tour, Kenny Klein, and there's a big ol' world out there." (That's how I talk to myself in my mind.... sometimes I even have a Cockney accent. "Oi, Kenny Klein, why not write 'bout the time you went up the frog and had a pint of pig's ear with yer airy tate, eh?")."There's plenty for you to write about," my mind rambles on. And I know my mind is right. At least most of the time (except about that green-haired stripper in Denver. My mind was SO wrong that time!). A-hem. Anyway, here's a little update, with some photos, of what I've been doing on tour.

I just spent a week at a very lovely festival site in southern Ohio called Wisteria. Wisteria was created about a decade ago as a site to house the long-established PSG festival. The site itself is an old strip mine in the Appalachians, and the caretakers have done an amazing job of restoring the once strip-mined land to a place of lush beauty. The site now hosts Starwood, one of the largest Pagan style festivals in America, as well as two of its own fests, Summer Solstice Festival and the Autumnal Cornstalk. I performed last week at Summer Solstice fest, and had a great audience. I had brought some of my jugband buddies from New Orleans (who are conveniently spending their summer in Ohio...something about finishing up a probation), and they were loved by those at the festival (to distraction: I had to force them to rehearse, as they were totally overstimulated by the adoration they were receiving). We had a great show, and I also had great attendance at my workshops on Faerie lore.

As many readers know, I am also a photographer (well, duh, Kenny...there's all these photos all over your blog). I always like to take advantage of the beauty of festival sites and the availability of models, and do some shoots while I'm at a fest. So here are two shoots that I did while at Wisteria.

First I shot Soolah Hoops, an amazing hula hooper/fire dancer who often travels with my fellow festival performer, singer Kellianna. Soolah and I went out to the Turtle Mound and got some great shots:

One of my latest goals as a photographer is to capture motion using the medium of still photography, and course shooting Soolah provided me with an opportunity to do just that. I found further opportunity when I was asked to fiddle for a ritual on Friday night, and was teamed up with a lovely dancer named Lisa. I asked Lisa if we could do a shoot, and she happily agreed. Here are some shots of Lisa doing veiled dancing in the meadow and at the border of the forest at the lower end of Wisteria:

Next week I go to Pittsburgh PA and then New York City. I'll be back at Wisteria in July for Starwood Festival, then on to Brushwood for Sirius Rising and Summerfest: I always take some great shots at Brushwood, and I hope that this year is no exception.

I'll remind you, dear reader, that my latest CD Black Cat Blues is available here, and my newest book of poetry, Verses On Saint Marks Place,  is here at Lulu.com, and here at Smashwords.com.

From the wilds of Ohio, this is Kenny Klein explaining it all.

North Carolina Treasures and Trash...

A few items of news before the Blog entry: my website, www.kennyklein.net , has been having some server issues. It should be repaired any day now (they tell me they have identified the problem and are working on it). The site is dismally malfunctioning just in time for the release of my newest CD, Black Cat Blues; despite my site being down, you can listen to and obtain the new CD here. I also have a new book of poetry out, available on Lulu or Smashwords. Many poems (some erotic), some photos (same), and a few song lyrics are contained therein.

OK, on to the Blog...

I am on tour at the moment, playing music and signing books. My travels lately have taken me to the eastern part of lovely North Carolina.

What strikes me about this part of the country, beside the beautiful forests and flowing rivers, is the ruined buildings that line the roads. Each holds some mystery; who lived there? how did this homestead burn, or topple, or fall to disrepair? I am fascinated by these questions (anyone who follows my photography has most likely seen my pictures of the ghosts towns of the American west, www.kennyklein.net/photo.htm ).

Over the last couple of days I've taken the opportunity to photograph a few of these ruined homes and barns. Here are a couple of shots:

I'll be leaving NC in a few days, and heading to Ohio for Wisteria Summer Solstice. Then on to NYC for Witchsfest, Ohio for Starwood, and NY for Sirius and Summerfest. I hope to see you!!

From Highway 17 in North Carolina, this is Kenny Klein explaining it all.