Sonny with a Chance of Rock and Roll

If one thing’s for sure, Sonny Kenn knows how to put on a show! Performing during the 60s English Invasion of Music, Kenn didn’t realize he was creating the “Jersey Sound.” “That’s when Bruce Springsteen used to come around after the Starfires broke up,” Kenn explains. His band would rock the audience wherever they went, from high school dances to dive bars all up and down the Jersey Coast. At only 15 years old, Kenn opened for Soupy Sales, performing in front of ten thousand people. Now, with an extensive list of festivals and clubs under his belt, Kenn continues to perform in Southwest Florida and New Jersey.

Sonny Kenn, a musician and artist born in Colorado and raised in New Jersey, is one of the original inspirations for the “Jersey Sound” and “S.O.A.P” (The Sound of Asbury Park). His roots are tied in music with his father being a singing cowboy in the 30’s. “My father showed me a few ukulele chords because my hand was too small to fit around his guitar,” Kenn explained. Although his dad was a Western player, he could play some “boogie woogie” on the guitar. Kenn adds, “Every time he played that, for some reason, it would hit me, and I would go, “dad, dad, play that lick!”” With Kenn’s musical upbringing and inspiration from the trending Rock and Roll hits of the 50s, it’s no surprise that by the eighth grade, he had already formed a band with his friends. “When Richie showed me how to play guitar, I was like, wow, I can be like my dad. Your life can change on a dime and you don’t even know it. We started the band, and it just developed from there.” said Kenn.

Music, however, is not Kenn’s only gift and passion. Taught by the renowned artist Mel Leipzig, Kenn became established in yet another form of creative expression. “When I was in school, everything was abstract expressionism; Pollock and Takumi were popular, and then hard-edge and pop art was in,” Kenn said. “I liked that, but it’s not what I wanted to paint. I wanted to paint realistic.” Kenn’s first memory of being mesmerized by art was in the 1960s accompanying his mother on a bus in Newark. “I was 10 years old, and for some reason, I just saw this abstract painting out of the corner of my eye, maybe for a second and a half,” said Kenn. “It just stuck with me and I went home and tried to replicate what I saw. Ever since then, I was just really into art.”

Influenced by the looseness and freedom of 50s abstract expressionism and realistic artists like Vermeer, Kenn dabbled in a form of art not yet defined. An amalgamation of abstract realism hinting at both methods of design. For example, “Guitar Galaxy” is a painting by Kenn that alludes to both abstract and realistic properties. The guitars, amps, and musical items are floating around in space, spiraling out like a galaxy. Another painting by Kenn, “Devil’s Music,” tells the audience a story with its composition and juxtaposition. “With the glass being tipped you ask what happened? Was there a bar fight? Or did suddenly, the musician say, “I’m not doing this anymore,” and ran out because he found Jesus?” Kenn explained.

Kenn’s paintings reveal a story true to his heart. When asked why he paints and makes music Kenn answered, “Art and music is what makes culture livable.” As an artist, Kenn has an obligation to use art to influence and inspire an audience. Kenn adds, “Artists are here to combat all that other negativity in the world, cause if we don’t do it, it takes over. That’s why I feel it’s important what I do, even if only one or two people get it, it’s better than nobody getting it.” 

A couple of weeks ago, Kenn set up his paintings at the Marco Island Art Center while performing the music that inspired his paintings. With 65 tickets sold, the event was packed with delighted aesthetes. Sonny Kenn plans on doing more exhibits locally and will be playing every Saturday in April at the Real Macaw in Naples.