Cary "CKP" Kanno: has been writing and making music for over 15 years... albeit he wrote his 1st song "Burning Sh*@" at the age of 12 and it took 6 years before the next song was created. But nonetheless has been a prolific songwriter, producer, musician, and sound engineer ever since. He attended Oak Park River Forest High School and the University of Wisconsin, Madison
- He currently has 3 groups that he plays with and manages: The absTRACT giANTS, Doko Benjo, and CKP solo acoustic
- absTRACT giANTS: an 8 member hip hop/ funk group that has performed hundreds of shows throughout the country in their 5 year existance. They have played shows with Lyrics Born, Zion I, Jean Grae, The Coup, Poi Dog Pondering, Mr. Lif, Bernie Worrell (of Parliment and Talking Heads), Fareed Haque, Atmosphere, Eyeda, POS.
- They have played such venues as: The Tweater Center (Warped Tour), House Of Blues, Congress Theater, and Metro.
- Doko Benjo: An 8 piece funk/rock band that has played for 2 years around the midwest. CKP sings lead and writes about half of the material.
- CKP Solo Acoustic: CKP plays about 80 solo acoustic gigs per year, from music venues to bars to private parties.
- CKP the Producer, band manager, booking dude, PR man: Cary has spearheaded the organization known as "The Chicago Drop", which is a collaboration of 8 hip hop bands in Chicago. They have put out 2 very successful compilation discs ("The Chicago Drop Vol 1 and Vol 2") and has been praised by: The Chicago SunTimes, Chicago Tribune, Reader, New City, Illinois Entertainer, Pioneer Press, The Onion, Timeout Chicago, Red Eye, Red Streak, etc.
- As a producer he has composed music at his own CKP studios for 6 years. He was recently a finalist in the Molemen Records Beat battle, being chosen over 130 other producers.
I recently licensed this song to the Showtime network for a commercial for "Weeds" the tv show. Except for the drums (played by Andy Lempera) I played all the instruments (pedal Steel, guitar, keyboard, bass, percussion, vocals).
