Kenneth Blevins (born in

Lake Charles, Louisiana Lake Charles is the List of municipalities in Louisiana, fifth-most populous city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and the county seat, parish seat of Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, Calcasieu Parish, located on Lake Charles (Louisiana), Lake Char ...

) is an American

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western music ensemble, bands that play Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, or Contemporary R&B, R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeepi ...

and

percussionist A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

known primarily for his session work. As a session drummer, he has contributed to the work of many well-known artists.

Biography

Early career

As a child, Blevins played cornet and piano, but decided to play drums at age 14. Several years later, he was performing gigs, with an affinity for rock, blues, and

Cajun music Cajun music (), an emblematic music of Louisiana played by the Cajuns, is rooted in the ballads of the French-speaking Acadians of Canada. Although they are two separate genres, Cajun music is often mentioned in tandem with the Creole-based ...

. Blevins moved from Lake Charles to Lafayette, then Baton Rouge, then to New Orleans. After playing steadily, Blevins moved to New York City in 1989 to work as a session drummer, and to Nashville in 1993.

Session Work

Blevins has been involved with more than 80 albums in his music career. Though best known for his work with

John Hiatt John Robert Hiatt (born August 20, 1952) is an American singer-songwriter. He has played a variety of musical styles on his albums, including New wave music, new wave, blues, and country music, country. Hiatt has been nominated for nine Gramm ...

(since 1988) and

Sonny Landreth Clide Vernon "Sonny" Landreth (born February 1, 1951) is an American blues musician from southwest Louisiana who is especially known as a slide guitar player. He was born in Canton, Mississippi, and settled in Lafayette, Louisiana. He lives in Br ...

, he also has performed with Li'l Queenie and the Percolators, The

Continental Drifters The Continental Drifters are an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1991 and dissolved in New Orleans, Louisiana, about a decade later, before reuniting in the years since. Though the line-up changed several times, at one p ...

, and the band Tiny Town (with Tommy Malone,

Pat McLaughlin Pat McLaughlin is an American singer-songwriter based in Nashville, Tennessee. He was raised in Waterloo, Iowa, but moved to San Francisco, California, in the early 1970s. There McLaughlin began to write songs, playing alone at open mic nights ...

, and Johnny Ray Allen). Blevins prefers to be part of the creative process, selecting recording sessions that allow for creative input.

John Hiatt

Blevins was a member of the Goners, who backed Hiatt on his 1988 '' Slow Turning'' album. Hiatt recruited the Goners again in 2001 for '' The Tiki Bar Is Open'', and Blevins has continued to support Hiatt on many of his albums and tours.

Equipment

Blevins uses

Paiste Paiste (English pronunciation: , ) is a Switzerland, Swiss musical instrument manufacturing company. It is the world's third largest manufacturer of cymbals, gongs, and metal percussion. is an Estonian language, Estonian and Finnish language, ...

cymbal A cymbal is a common percussion instrument. Often used in pairs, cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys. The majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sou ...

Discography

As a member of Tiny Town

* 1998: ''Tiny Town'' - (Pioneer Music Group)

With
John Hiatt John Robert Hiatt (born August 20, 1952) is an American singer-songwriter. He has played a variety of musical styles on his albums, including New wave music, new wave, blues, and country music, country. Hiatt has been nominated for nine Gramm ...

* 1988: '' Slow Turning'' ( A&M) * 2001: '' The Tiki Bar is Open'' (

Vanguard The vanguard (sometimes abbreviated to van and also called the advance guard) is the leading part of an advancing military formation. It has a number of functions, including seeking out the enemy and securing ground in advance of the main force. ...

) * 2003: '' Beneath This Gruff Exterior'' (

New West New West Records is a record label based in Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville and Athens, Georgia. It previously had offices in Burbank, California and Beverly Hills, California. From 2013 to 2018, New West's records in the U.S. were distributed b ...

) * 2008: '' Same Old Man'' (New West) * 2010: '' The Open Road'' (New West) * 2011: '' Dirty Jeans and Mudslide Hymns'' (New West) * 2012: ''Mystic Pinball'' (New West) * 2014: '' Terms of My Surrender'' (New West)

With
Sonny Landreth Clide Vernon "Sonny" Landreth (born February 1, 1951) is an American blues musician from southwest Louisiana who is especially known as a slide guitar player. He was born in Canton, Mississippi, and settled in Lafayette, Louisiana. He lives in Br ...

* 1992: ''Outward Bound'' (Praxis) * 1994: ''Exit 103A'' ( Zoo Entertainment) * 2005: Sonny Landreth - ''Grant Street'' (self-released)

With Zachary Richard

* 1977: ''Mardi Gras'' (Arzéd) * 1977: ''Migration'' (

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

)

With Greg Trooper

* 1992: ''Everywhere'' (Ripe & Ready) with the Flatirons * 1996: ''Noises In The Hallway'' (D'Ville) * 2013: ''Incident on Willow Street'' (52 Shakes)

As
sideman A sideman is a professional musician who is hired to perform live with a solo artist, or with a group in which they are not a regular band member. The term is usually used to describe musicians that play with jazz or rock artists, whether solo o ...

* 1979: Lise Cousineau - ''Moi, Lise Cousineau'' (Le Tamanoir) * 1980: John Mooney - ''Telephone King'' ( Blind Pig) * 1986: Spencer Bohren - ''Born in a Biscayne'' (Great Southern) * 1987: John Magnie - ''Now Appearing'' (Rabadash) * 1988: Raymond A Myles - ''New Orleans Gospel Genius'' (Great Southern) * 1988: Li'l Queenie and the Percolators - ''My Darlin' New Orleans'' (Great Southern) * 1988: Michael Doucet and Cajun Brew - ''Michael Doucet & Cajun Brew'' (Rounder) * 1989: Spencer Bohren - ''Snap Your Fingers'' (Loft) * 1989: Bruce Daigrepont - ''Coeur Des Cajuns'' (Rounder) * 1990: Charles Brown - ''All My Life'' (Bullseye Blues) * 1990: John Mooney - ''Late Last Night'' (Bullseye Blues) * 1991: Sue Medley - '' Sue Medley'' ( Mercury / PolyGram) * 1992: Maureen McElheron - ''The Tune'' (Newport Classic) * 1993: Chuck Prophet - ''Balinese Dancer'' (

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

) * 1994: C. C. Adcock - '' C.C. Adcock'' (

Island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

) * 1994:

Lucy Kaplansky Lucy Kaplansky (born February 16, 1960) is an American folk musician based in New York City. Kaplansky has a PhD in clinical psychology from Yeshiva University and plays guitar, mandolin, and piano. Life and career Kaplansky was originally fro ...

- '' The Tide'' ( Red House) * 1994:

Richard Shindell Richard Shindell (born August 3, 1960) is an American Folk music, folk singer, songwriter, producer, and musician. Shindell grew up in Port Washington, New York, Port Washington, New York, and now lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with his wife ...

- ''

Blue Divide ''Blue Divide'' is the second album by singer-songwriter Richard Shindell. It was released in 1995 by Shanachie Records. Shanachie also released a live promo CD, ''Scenes from a Blue Divide (Live) and More'' which included five live tracks reco ...

'' ( Shanachie) * 1995:

Don Williams Donald Ray Williams (May 27, 1939 – September 8, 2017) was an American country music singer, songwriter, and 2010 inductee into the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Country Music Hall of Fame. He began his solo career in 1971, singing p ...

- ''Borrowed Tales'' (American Harvest) * 1998: Guitar Shorty - '' Roll Over, Baby'' ( Black Top) * 1999: Johnny Sansone - ''Watermelon Patch'' (Rounder) * 2001: Susan Werner - '' New Non-Fiction'' (self-released) * 2006: various artists - ''Sail Away: The Songs of Randy Newman'' ( Sugar Hill) - track 2, "Louisiana 1927" (Sonny Landreth) * 2010: Carol & Dale - ''Legacy'' (self-released) * 2012: Lilly Hiatt - ''Let Down'' (Normaltown) * 2016:

John Prine John Edward Prine (; October 10, 1946 – April 7, 2020) was an American singer-songwriter of country-folk music. Widely cited as one of the most influential songwriters of his generation, Prine was known for his signature blend of humoro ...

- '' For Better, or Worse'' ( Oh Boy) * 2018:

- '' The Tree of Forgiveness'' ( Oh Boy)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Blevins, Kenneth 21st-century American drummers 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians Living people musicians from Lake Charles, Louisiana American rock drummers American session musicians 20th-century American drummers American male drummers Year of birth missing (living people) Drummers from Louisiana