| Big Kenny | |
|---|---|
Big Kenny |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | William Kenneth Alphin |
| Also known as | Kenny Alphin |
| Born | November 1, 1963 |
| Origin | Culpeper, Virginia, U.S. |
| Genres | Country |
| Occupations | Singer-songwriter |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitar |
| Years active | 1999–present |
| Labels | Hollywood, Warner Bros. Nashville, Glotown/Love Everybody/Bigger Picture |
| Associated acts | Big & Rich Tim McGraw luvjOi |
| Website | http://www.bigkenny.tv/ |
William Kenneth Alphin (born in Culpeper, Virginia on November 1, 1963) is an American country music singer, known professionally as Big Kenny. He and John Rich comprise the duo Big & Rich, which has recorded three studio albums for Warner Bros. Records and has charted ten singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts.
Before Big & Rich, Big Kenny recorded a solo album, Live a Little, for Hollywood Records in 1999 (although it was not released until 2005) and fronted a band called luvjOi. Kenny has also written or co-written several of Big & Rich's songs with Rich, as well as singles for Gretchen Wilson, Jason Aldean, McBride & the Ride and Tim McGraw. His first solo single, "Long After I'm Gone," was released to country radio on August 3, 2009 and is included on the album The Quiet Times of a Rock and Roll Farm Boy.
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Alphin was raised on a farm. In Nashville, he found work at Famous Music.[1]
Before Big & Rich, Big Kenny was signed to Hollywood Records in 1999 and recorded the album Live a Little for the label. The album's release was delayed repeatedly, and was ultimately canceled, with Hollywood Records retaining control of the songs for five years[2] and ultimately releasing it in 2005. One of its songs, "Under the Sun", was featured in the soundtrack to the 2001 film Gun Shy.[3]
After departing the label, he founded the band luvjOi, which included Adam Shoenfeld (guitar), Larry Babb (drums) and Justin Tocket (bass guitar).[2] Although luvjOi had a degree of local success, including the single "Discoball" and two albums,[2] the band eventually broke up.
By this point in his career, Big Kenny had befriended John Rich, formerly the bass guitarist and co-lead vocalist of Lonestar. The two founded Big & Rich in the early 2000s after years of collaboration, including co-writing McBride & the Ride's 2002 single "Amarillo Sky" as well as "She's a Butterfly", an album cut for Martina McBride.[4]
Big & Rich signed to Warner Bros. Records in 2004. The duo recorded three studio albums for the label: Horse of a Different Color (2004), Comin' to Your City (2005) and Between Raising Hell and Amazing Grace (2007), as well as two EPs and ten singles, including the Number One hit "Lost in This Moment".[4] In 2011, Kenny rejoined John Rich to release the single Fake I.D.
Big & Rich also founded the MuzikMafia, an association of singer-songwriters which also included Shannon Lawson, Gretchen Wilson and Cowboy Troy.
Big Kenny went on hiatus in 2008, as Kenny had to rehabilitate a neck injury that occurred when he was hit by a drunk driver in 2001. He launched his official online community at www.bigkenny.tv in mid-2009. There, he made his first solo single, "Long After I'm Gone", available as a free download. It was released to radio in August 2009 as the first single from his second solo album, The Quiet Times of a Rock and Roll Farm Boy, which was rated number 13 on the 30 Best Country Albums of 2009 by Roughstock.[5] Kenny also became a judge on the television talent show Can You Duet. Kenny released several non-album singles during this period.
In 2009 Big Kenny started his own record label: Glotown Records.[6] Big Kenny's role within the label is to serve as Chief Imagination Officer while the rest of the label is composed of Kim Davidson, David Wright, Bigger Pictures Entertainment, RMP Management, Murph & Cassidy PR and CAA Booking Agency.[7] The label was launched in an effort to make music that changes lives. Glotown's first non-album online release, "Cry With You," was released on February 15, 2009.[8]
On April 16, 2010 Big Kenny launched his first solo nation-wide tour, the Love Everybody Traveling Musical Medicine Show. The tour launched in Agora Hills, CA at the Canyon Club and introduced the world to Big Kenny's new band: ex-Counting Crows and Third Eye Blind drummer Steve Bowman, guitar virtuoso Jesse Howard, former Will Hogue multi-instrumentalist Devin Malone and Nashville veteran Jerry Navarro.[9]
Kenny has also written or co-written several of Big & Rich's songs with Rich, as well as singles for Gretchen Wilson, Jason Aldean, McBride & the Ride, Martina McBride and Tim McGraw.
Big Kenny's co-writing credits also include "Here for the Party" for Gretchen Wilson and "Hicktown" for Jason Aldean (who also released a cover of "Amarillo Sky"). He is also the sole writer of Tim McGraw's Number One hit "Last Dollar (Fly Away)".
On January 23, 2005, he married Christiev Carothers. She has two sons from a previous marriage: Christopher Carothers, Cameron Carothers, and together they have one son, Lincoln William Holiday Alphin, born on November 2, 2005. On September 17, 2010, Big Kenny and Christiev announced they had adopted a second son, Dakota Jefferson Holiday Alphin, in July 2010.[10]
In October 2007, Big Kenny traveled to Darfur, Sudan to deliver medical and educational supplies. He also traveled back to Akon, a remote village in Northern Bahl Ghazel in Sudan for a similar Mission together with My Sisters Keeper Group [11]
In January 2010, Big Kenny traveled to Haiti to assist in the rescue efforts in the aftermath of the Haitian earthquake.
| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country [12] |
US [13] |
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| Live a Little |
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— | — | ||||||
| The Quiet Times of a Rock and Roll Farm Boy |
|
37 | 197 | ||||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||||||||
| Year | Single | Peak positions | Album | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country [14] |
|||||||||
| 1999 | "Under the Sun" | — | Gun Shy (soundtrack) | ||||||
| 2009 | "Long After I'm Gone" | 34 | The Quiet Times of a Rock and Roll Farm Boy |
||||||
| 2010 | "To Find a Heart" | — | |||||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||||||||
| Year | Single | Artist | Peak positions | Album | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country | |||||||||
| 2011 | "Beautiful Lies" | Jaron and the Long Road to Love | — | TBD | |||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||||||||
| Year | Video | Director |
|---|---|---|
| 2009 | "Long After I'm Gone" | Christian Holiday/Big Kenny |
| "Wake Up" | ||
| 2010 | "Cry with You" | |
| 2011 | "Beautiful Lies" (with Jaron and the Long Road to Love)[15] | Jaron Lowenstein |
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