Kenne Highland Interview Part Three

Here Kenne reveals how and why he left rock'n'roll - and returned - and his current role as a Gizmo, as well as Boston band-leader, as well as plans and dreams for the future. (The photos are fairly random here - just found some that I liked on his Facebook page!)

Can you list any special gigs over the years?

" special gigs: It's always them early ones, o' course and Gizmos live at Bloomington Public Library and Afrika Korps live at Cantones on Gulcher define it; no matter whatever else I play "when I was 21, it was a very good year!" (as lame as that reference is, even in 1978, I WAS thinkin' 'bout Frank Sinatra during Ramones/Sex Pistols! And yes, I WAS amused amused by Sid's version of "My Way"! To rephrase L. Reed to L. Bangs in '75 Creem, re: Bryan Ferry: "(Snort); John Ritchie....he was cute for a while" ("I'm up on the 13th floor with Eddie and the Cruisers below"...that's not the lyrics! Free-stylin' Kenne Highland strikes again! (AT LARGE!)..hmm Bowie and KEN Scott...I like them Ken references)......

You told me that you quit playing r'n'r for a while - why? What made you start again?

"to make a long story short, Christina Angell (RIP) heard Silver Leaf Gospel Singers on the radio (I ALWAYS listen to gospel on Sundays!), we went to see them in the 'hood, I knew a couple brothers from blues jams, went to church, sat in, got "recruited" (willingly), did a Lil Richard, QUIT playin' rocknroll for a bit, but damn, man, playin' gospel in the 'hood as the only white guy (e.g. the drummer in Chambers brothers; saw 'em on tv and always wanted to be THAT white guy, all-black band, a reverse Hendrix maybe)...as Bim from Obnox sez "testify!". I DID have an epiphany at one gospel concert, and the reverend (from Georgia; I pull the Virginia birth card in the 'hood and yes, I DID have slave-owning ancestors BUT wasn't MLK all about the descendants of slaves and slave-owners, in unity etc. singin' "none but the righteous" a cappella; man, this WAS middle passage come to life!)...so, the preacher said "I done planted a seed"= I thought; "ok, sumpin' gonna happen with music", so yes, we, the Gizmos, ARE blessed to alive and playin' the Devil's Music together! (Gee Julie HAS pointed out the dichotomy of me preaching Baptist dogma and then bein' caught between sin and salvation...as Eddie Flowers HAS said "Kenne, you're in full Jerry Lee mode" AND (read Hellfire by Nick Tosches!), like Jerry Lee and Elvis, I AM my own cuzzin! Plus Ma sez they had a baby shower for me at Mt. Ararat Baptist Church, Garrisonville, Virginny obviously after my bris when I was 3 days old..."Carry Me back to Ole Virginny"- Jerry Lee's version!.....

What do you make of the Gizmos resurgence?

"what do i make of the Gizmos resurgence? As I told Be-Bop-A-Shepherd on NPR in Bloomington, maybe "well, it's about damn tyme"! Man, those Brockport muthafuckas usedta mock me like Jesus H. Christ and to Sweet Betsy from Bloomongton, I went on an anti-bullying rant and in the end decided : oh,yeah! Mofos! This is the revenge of the fucken nerds!" For every muthafucka that fucked with me in jr. high, picked me last for baseball, all that shit: kiss my muthafucken ass! (hmm, you can tell GG Allin and I are cuzzins!) But moving forward, now I got respect from both honkies AND the gospel music of colour audience, basically, I WON, but I done it "With God on our side" to quote Dylan. I didn't die/o.d./quit like other, sadly, band members, I lissen to Lyres "Don't Give It Up Now" as a holy MANTRA and I didn't give it up now and, if you watch all those Highlander movies (Rob Roy/Brave Highland etc.), I'm cheap and I'm stubborn and I'm a "Brockport NY punk/and I always get my way". But again, notwitstanding mofos LAFFIN' OUT LOUD in '76 "YOU made a record?", this younger generation of kids, young enuff to be my young'uns, I DO thank God that I lived long enuff, that like Slim and the Supreme Angels sing: "give me my flowers while i'm livin'"! To which I add a lil richard "ooooooo" and a Bim/Obnox in Cleveland parking lot: "TESTIFY!!!!!".....

What plans do you have for the future?

"what plans do i have for the Future/Now, if I'm willing to pay the price? same answer I gave Lincoln D. Kirk in 1979 for FFFFFFFFANNNNNNZEEEEENNNN, which was keep a-rockin' like Lil Richard/Jerry Lee. Do the Gizmos and the Korps til we die. Probably retire and move back down South, but again, my dad was in the Corps 14 years, wanted to retire at 20, and before that fatal SEARCH AND DESTROY mission, his famous last words to his troops (and it's online): "watch out for "landmines" (the Jumper Cables 45 that turnt Mad Max onto Krazee Ken!) Dad was always volunteering for dangerous missions to "make a name for himself", Ma said; me, I only volunteer for dangerous GIGS and missions to PLAY "Search and Destroy", so, if like Jacques Brel (Bowie b-side!) it's "My Death", so be it...dyin' on stage with me kilt on, he was a warrior/poet, he was a Highlander.......

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That's Krazee Kenne Highland! If you think readin' it is krazee - try talkin' to him in person! But see the man play, either in any of his Boston configurations or on the road with the Gizmos. Age may have made him physically slow down, but he still plays and sings like his heroes (a straight Iggy/Thunders/Kramer/Dave Davies combination) and his is a font of rock'n'roll trivia and a human juke box! Long may he rock'n'roll!