Mike Keneally: Any friends (and friends only) of this current prog artist.

[StevegSr]

Mike Keneally. Damn, the man played with Zappa and Satriani, and even plays death metal with a vengeance. Any fans here of Mike's eclectic work?

[Mikhael]

Sure. Followed him for a while, in various formats. Good player, writer, and generally kind of goofy...

[100423]

Brilliant!

[aith01]

Excellent musician, eclectic writer, and all-around nice guy it seems. Was just listening to Scambot 2 this morning on my way to work actually.

And yes, generally kind of goofy -- which is something I love about him and his music.

[Zeuhlmate]

Fabulous guitarist - and he is on this board too.

[JJ88]

Yes, the man himself has posted on here for some time.

[Paulrus]

Yeah, where is Mike? I want to ask him if he considers himself "current".

[frinspar]

He's a blast. Enjoyed him across many projects and solo stuff. He makes music fun.

Live in Japan always makes me feel good.

[Finch Platte]

Live in Japan always makes me feel good.

Oh, man, I'd love to hear this!

Goofy, eccentric guitar wizard sums it up for me

[flowerking]

He pulled off one of the most audacious musical performances I've ever seen: Inca Roads played by his trio where he was playing keyboard one handed and hammering on his guitar with his other hand, doing two completely different riffs. Unbelievable. Love his first release Hat, like many of his other releases.

[proggosaurus]

Yeah, where is Mike? I want to ask him if he considers himself "current".

I know...right? current? hah! it's been like 2 or 3 years at least. that so ancient! Hi Ma!

[mkeneally]

I do exist in the present day...I guess that makes me current?

:1)

Many thanks for the good words. I'm very grateful.

[Fracktured]

I've seen Mike several times and he's always puts on a very entertaining live show. Excellent guitarist and even though he seems laid back his playing is intense and very professional. If you get the chance go see him.

[Luckie]

My introduction to him was his Yes parody, which is possibly approaching him from the wrong direction... But yeah, he's ace. My favorite of all guitarists who look like Philip K Dick

[Jefferson James]

A brilliant thinker and incredibly imaginative composer. A gracious soul. Boundless. One of the most important influences on my own musical development; a cornerstone, truthfully. Thank you Mike!

[nosebone]

Love Mike!

Around ten years ago,in the dead of winter, I saw him at a Taylor guitar clinc with Brian Beller.

He sang and played Inca Roads on a bone dry acoustic that was insane!!!

I'll never forget that.

[Baribrotzer]

One of the biggest musical talents in prog: He plays guitar better than most guitarists, and keyboards better than most keyboardists, and can read like a mofo, and has an ear for miles. He impressed Scott Thunes with his abilities - and Scott is grouchier, crankier, more sarcastic, less patient with fools, more embittered, and even harder to impress than FZ was. Mike is also one of the all-time nice-guy musicians, and I think his abilities have a lot to do with that: Put an instrument in his hands and he can prove so much that he's never needed to do it with his mouth or his attitude.

[Sean]

Can't say enough good stuff about Mike! He's a big inspiration for sure, words don't suffice.

No MK lovefest would be complete without a copy of his latest CD "Scambot 2" in each of our hands though. I sprung for the advance copy and download and have really enjoyed it. I played it daily on the way to work for the past couple weeks and it's really starting to yield the earworms. I have a weird mix of Roots Twist and Sam merged in my head at the moment. "All day all day long..." "it's better to know..." I think the release date is nearing. I'm looking forward to the bonus disc "Inkling" next!

http://store.keneally.com/products/m...-plus-download

[unclemeat]

My "this is it !" MK moment was hearing the moto perpetuo from "Alien Orifice" (on Make a jazz noise here) in 1991. A defining point in my early musical "career". Since then, he's been on my autobuy list, and I've had two chances of seeing him live (Italy 2003).

[chalkpie]

One of the most talented and creative individuals on this planet. I mean that. There are no musical boundaries with this guy - he can do anything at anytime. I personally place Mike in his own category as such. I think we have a true musical genius on our hands, and lucky to have him "hang" with us here at PE. Why is he our guy?

[flowerking]

I'll add a few more comments. I've seen him play live twice and he seems to have so much fun live that he literally doesn't know how to stop playing. I don't think you can find another musician on the planet who 1. is as talented and 2. genuinely loves playing music. I think this creeps into his song writing where he seems to just breath musical ideas - like he can't contain the ideas, they come spilling out of him as fast as he can write, so there's just a ton of musical themes crammed into every one of his songs. Like Chalkpie said, there are no boundaries with what he writes and performs.

[BobM]

I've seen and met Mike several times along with my friend Mario, his self-proclaimed #1 fan on Long Island. A really nice guy. He always blows me away when he plays guitar and keys at the same time. Ambidextrous talented bastard, damn impossible runs on 2 instruments simultaneously!

[Orcopian]

[QUOTE=Sean;589212]Can't say enough good stuff about Mike! He's a big inspiration for sure, words don't suffice.

No MK lovefest would be complete without a copy of his latest CD "Scambot 2" in each of our hands though. I sprung for the advance copy and download and have really enjoyed it.

This.

Really enjoying scambot 2, it starts off really dense then gets more mellow. Looking forward to the physical copy with extra disc. I have had a mini MK binge recently buying deluxe versions of scambot 1 and dog, looking forward to playing the DVD with dog. I was lucky enough to see MKB in Cardiff a few years back and it was probably the most enjoyable gig I have ever Been to, I was right at the front and the band seemed to be having great fun whilst the playing was from another planet. I've been listening to the baked potato live album this week in the car which has reminded me a lot of that night. My only regret is that when Mike was kindly signing my copy of wing beat fantastic after the show I couldn't really find the words to express what an amazing gig it was, so if you are reading Mike thanks so much for coming over, I could t believe I'd ever get the chance to see you with your band in the uk.

[Mister Triscuits]

I do exist in the present day...I guess that makes me current?

And we are very glad that you do. Thank you for your awesomosity.

[Jefferson James]

My "this is it !" MK moment

My Keneally Moment™ came after months of listening to Napster snippets of Mike's music; nothing grabbed me whatsoever and I wondered what the big deal was. Then I heard "Cardboard Dog" -- the bridge specifically -- and was within moments completely shattered. I mean, come on, listen to it. I still can't figure any of it out a decade and a half later and it still thrills and astounds me exactly as it did on first listen. There are two specific phrases/passages where the "one" is shifting every second and the melody is just ridiculous, it reminded me a bit of Keith Emerson and this was before I knew Mike was an ELP fan. I could talk about these two passages forever, they remain endlessly fascinating to ponder and I have yet to be able to take anything usable from them in my own writing. It's just too far out for me as a musician but I "get" it as a listener. Fucking brilliant. It's Rubik's Cube music. Escher-esque.

I watched a wonderful interview with Mike at Make Weird Music wherein he said as he's grown older he didn't really consider anything he'd written to be "significant."

Mike, if only to me, that section of Cardboard is as significant as anything Beatles' or ELP ever dropped on me.