Since the world didn’t end May 21st as Harold Camping predicted, many of us rang in the New Year with a BANG! Gunfire aside, 2011 was “hit or miss” for the majority of Americans. While some folks spent their Saturday night working the extra shift they picked up to make this month’s rent, others enjoyed a tall glass of champagne and a kiss as the ball dropped and Dick Clark reminded us that he was still alive.
Twenty Eleven was, by far, the most challenging year I’ve ever experienced on Planet Earth. During the final few months of 2010, I was on tour with Biker Daughter and Hank and Cupcakes, traveling up and down the Eastern Seaboard. Having driven across country in an unregistered burgundy Chrysler Town & Country, complete with “baby” on board, I was just happy to be home safely for the holidays. I spent NYE 2011 playing a show at The Echo in Los Angeles, CA with Nite Jewel. The show went well, even though my mind was elsewhere, and I was looking forward to loading up my gear and heading to another NYE party not far from the venue.
After the show, my guitarist and bassist went to get the vehicle and left the door man in charge of our equipment, while I went in search of the promoter’s in order to settle up. I returned to the entrance/exit of the club, just in time to witness the tail end of a fight that had broken out curbside. One of the drunks caught up in the fisticuffs had gotten tangled up in the velvet rope and fell down on the sidewalk near our gear. Upon standing up, I noticed the deviant had stumbled upon my bag containing personal items such as car/house keys, gf’s baby picture, spare mustache and my hard drive, which contained all the files for the entire “31 Flavors” mixtape.
Now I could go on into elaborate detail, as I normally do, and explain how there were punches thrown, a high speed chase (on foot) and insults dished out in multiple languages before I finally retrieved the HD from the bed of a pick up truck, but those specifics are unimportant. My point is that the year started off on a lame foot and along with many others, I was anxious to say goodbye to 2011.
Last year wasn’t by any means all “bad”. It wasn’t anybody’s best calendar year economically, but here’s a list of some of my personal highs from the last four quarters:

- released Summer Solstice Volume I, II and III and 31 Flavors and Planes, Trains and Automobiles EP

- featured on MTV

- playing at the Eagle Rock Music Festival who set a record in attendance this year with over 18,000 people

- West Coast Mini Tour (LA – LBC – CO – NM – UT) with Gavin, Michael Gross and The Statuettes and Mane Rok/Deejay Tense

- featured on DATSWHATZUP VOL. 3 (internationally distributed mixtape series) with artists like E-40, Jadakiss and Jim Jones

- featured artist on We’re On Everything presented by Blood Is One

- guest-blogged for UK website Hip Hop Fiend

- played a Nate Dogg Tribute show in Texas at SXSW opening for Snoop Dogg at VIBE’s “RESPECT THE WEST” showcase

“Might as well, it’s 2012″
-tbkb via @thatn3wkid

Every year towards the end of November, we remember the things we’re thankful for and come together in celebration of another year on God’s green Earth. Whether we agree or disagree with the origins of this holiday, we all can be proud that whatever events occurred through out history are in the past and that we are here to learn from the mistakes of our forefathers.
Thanksgiving is being celebrated all across the American continent in a variety of different ways, by people from all walks of life. Some families will gather around their dinner table and give thanks for provisions made on their behalf. Others will simply take advantage of a day off from work, which is certainly something to be thankful for, and enjoy a relaxing afternoon watching football with friends.
This year I am grateful to be surrounded by such DELICIOUS food and AMAZING people.
Spending quality time with family and friends is priceless and I’m thankful for the people in my life who continue to provide me with support, encouragement and inspiration all year long.
The past few years, I’ve been on tour during the Fall and getting home for the holidays has always been a challenge.
My birthday falls on the 26th of November and traveling during the holiday rush is never an easy task, but I’ve been able to make it home each year to celebrate in style with the ones I love.
I am fortunate to have an AWESOME team and we’ve accomplished some SPECIAL things together.
Another year under my belt and a lifetime of experiences that have helped shape me into the man that I am.
So many more goals we have set out to achieve and I’m excited for what the future holds. Celebrate responsibly and remember those who are less fortunate during the holiday season.

Be thankful all 365 days, not just today and use this time as a opportunity to let your loved ones know how much they mean to YOU!

Happy Holidays!

Safe,
kb

Good Day!

Hope YOU have been enjoying your summer thoroughly and have taken time to appreciate the little things that make this life worth living

STOP and smell the roses

RELAX on a grassy knoll

SEE how the cloud formations some how resemble the cutest and fluffiest members of our animal kingdom

ENJOY a moonlight stroll along the coastline where the stars actually do shine brightly

DO SOMETHING!…ANYTHING but take advantage of and cherish these precious moments while YOU still can

I have been busy as a bee enriching my life by writing, producing and recording new material, almost daily, as well as spending time with loved ones and reminding myself why I do this in the first place.

As autumn quickly approaches, remember the warmth and vitality that summer provided. In any civilization, the Summer Solstice is an essential period in which the climate prepares the Earth and it’s inhabitants to become fruitful once again.

I am privileged to be able to share the fruits of my labor with YOU and hope that YOU will take the time and allow for proper digestion

Summer Solstice Volume 1

DOWNLOAD HERE

Summer Solstice Volume 2

DOWNLOAD HERE

Summer Solstice Volume 3

COMING SOON!!!!

thank YOU for continuing to support my efforts and I hope that YOU enjoy the music!!!

stay up

kb

Have YOU heard the news?!?!?!

Summer is almost over!

It’s just like HER to come and go before YOU know it too huh?

Nice Life…

I hope YOU are enjoying YOUR Summer thoroughly and rest assured knowing that it is FAR from over…

If YOU haven’t yet downloaded the 2nd installment of the Summer Solstice series, please take a minute to do so now as I am extremely proud of this project and can’t wait to share the new material with YOU!

DOWNLOAD SUMMER SOLSTICE VOLUME II

HERE

thank YOU for always supporting me and my art!

GOOD DAY!

Dear KCRW,

One night I was listening to your beloved station while driving to the studio. I normally only listen to my own music in the car, but lately I’ve been compelled to keep up with current events more which lead me to switching my dial back to the FM setting.
89.9 is preset #1 and a place where I frequently discover new music and often even turn to the station for freestyle inspiration, a habit I developed back in high school, where my vehicle was the only place we had personal space.
Anyway, I recently took a sabbatical from teaching and decided to focus my efforts on music entirely instead of only being able to devoted a few weeks here and there out of the year to touring. Part of my decision to leave entailed me exhausting every effort to expose my music to a larger audience and also continue to push the creative envelope.
That fateful evening I heard a block of songs that changed the course of history. One of those was a track called ‘Warm Shadow’ by Fink! I struggled to capture lyrics, writing them down as I drove the short distance between my house and the studio, which coincidentally takes me directly by the school I taught at for almost a decade.
As soon as I arrived at the studio, I immediately searched the KCRW website because I knew there was a good chance I could locate the song’s title and BAM!
After finding both the artists’ name and song title, as well as time the song aired and which deejay spun it, I had all the information I needed to begin work.
Illegally I converted the YouTube video to mp3 and uploaded the file into a Pro Tools session. I proceeded to re-arranged the beat to my liking and wrote and recorded rap verses to the newly sequenced instrumental.
Through out the session, I had been on Twitter making updates as well as researching the origins of Fink! and discovering he was from the same hometown as another artist/producer I discovered on KCRW named Bonobo.             Brighton also happens to be the first place my band and I played on our inaugural trip to the UK so I began tweeting @finkmusic my affinity for his hometown and also expressing my appreciation for his music and my desire to remix ‘Warm Shadow’.
Much to my surprise, Fink! actually replied to my tweet and said “We’ll have to figure out to play it live”. After brief correspondence back and forth, we decided I would upload my remix to their Sound Cloud account and the drummer has already contacted me via Twitter Direct Message stating that “he liked the song and was passing it along to Fink!”
Upon completion, I wasted no time and uploaded their track with only my vocals attached, but have since totally remixed the beat and believe it would be something that would interest your listeners and subscribers alike.

Thank YOU for YOUR time and consideration!

stay up,

kb