Brief Nudity author Larry O. Dean reads with fellow musician-poets Ken Kase at this special event christened
No Lizard Kings.
Friday, May 10th @ The World Cafe, 5001 Mardel in St. Louis
Saturday, June 8th at Transistor, 3819 N. Lincoln in Chicago—with special guest poet Nana Zabic Rok
Both Shows 7:30 PM
Seven Sonnets
Ken Kase's first book of verse, Seven Sonnets is now available for purchase as an eBook via Amazon. It was illustrated by John Blair Moore, edited by Sophie Michals and the eBook was created by Kate Ryan for Small Bench Press. Get it now on Amazon.
Sun Sawed in 1/2Elephants into Swans
At last, the Sun Sawed in 1/2's Elephants Into Swans, the long-awaited follow up to 2000's Bewilderbeest, has been released. Ken Kase contributed backing vocals and some horn arrangements to the new album.
The OverleafThe Overleaf is a new blog about musty old books--something I happen to love. It's essentially a repository for things I've learned about literature from reading all the time. It's meant for lovers of books with a sense of humor and a taste for adventurous reading.
Link to The Overleaf
Podcast DreadfulHear Ken Kase's musical score for the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography's "Podcast Dreadful", a program featuring original serialized fiction in the style of Victorian "penny dreadful" magazines. This new 12-part podcast series begins Monday, September 3rd. Features all new music written by Ken especially for the project!
Link to Podcast Dreadful
Available Now! Release Date: October 11th, 2011
This album brings together "Extended Play-No Waiting" (1997), "Stereophonic Nervous Breakdown" (2000), and the three song single, "Shiner" (2008). Also included is a bonus track, a demo version of "Shiner".
From 1995 to 2009, musician Ken Kase wrote songs, released a smattering of recordings and tried to keep a live band together in the St. Louis music scene. While a respectable following and lots of stage time didn't exactly lead to stardom, his intelligent, hook-laden songs and the Ken Kase Group's shifting personnel of top flight local players earned critical praise and a reputation for a great live show. The songs are catchy and smart, echoing classic pop and rock touchstones while retaining their own distinctive and consistent style. These tracks chronicle the efforts of a man on a mission with a revolving cast of solid musicians to help put his songs over.
From the liners: "You have to be a little crazy to get a band together and make a go at being successful, but believe me, all of the people who contributed to making this music are crazier than I am. It's one thing to be the instigator, to be the guy with a bunch of songs who sets out to convince others to follow his star. It's quite another to put your faith in such a madman, to work long hours for a pittance, to toil in obscurity in service to someone else's pipe dream. I tried to make it our pipe dream, to instill in everyone a sense of ownership of what might be if we worked hard enough. We never got rich or famous, but we made some great music together, had some great times and learned an awful lot along the way. To everyone who was ever a member of the KKG, the music on this album is dedicated. " --Ken Kase, October, 2011