About Me
Armed with raisins, projected sing-along lyrics, and his giant super guitar, Kenney Fresno seeks to create a performance so dense, with a gravitational pull so great, that even light cannot escape. This black hole of entertainment is so heavy that it ultimately collapses on itself upon spewing the audience with all that is Fresno. Brian Kenney Fresno is a singer of modern folk tales, urban legends, and epics of the absurd. Born in Oakland, Ca., raised in the cultural vacuum of the central San Joaquin Valley, Brian has extracted the Essence of Fresnoâ„¢, and made it smell good (hence the surname.) Having already learned to play the guitar and violin by ear, in 1983 Brian found his musical destiny in the Chapman Stick (tm), a new instrument only 8 years old. Moved by the power and the potential of the instrument, he began an ongoing formal study of music theory and composition. Finding that boring, he threw that all away and borrowed techniques from sports, comedians, magicians, and other performers, that allowed him to develop his own uncommon vision of entertainment.
In 93 he received a fellowship grant from the Fresno Arts Council for performance and composition, and was the 1st musician to perform as an artist in residence at the Fresno Art Museum in January 94.
In 98 Brian Kenney Fresno was banned from performing in Fresno, and began touring nationally in 99.
In Dec 06, Fresno magazine chose Kenney Fresno as among 150 people in 150 years that have put Fresno on the map.
Brian currently plays the "Warr Guitar", given to him in '97 when Mark Warr heard Brian play. Playing the Warr Guitar is like playing two instruments at once because it is a stereo, 12 string instrument that allows each hand to play independently; simultaneously producing bass, melody, and chords. This innovation is carried to further extremes with the integration of modern electronics, each group of strings processed separately to create specific sound scenes.
