ABOUTJOE

Joe Kenney -- a graduate of West Chester University of Pennsylvania with a B.M. in piano performance (2013) -- is a recording artist, songwriter, and pianist from Philadelphia. The music on Kenney's five albums and various collaborations span multiple genres, and are reflective of a cohesive blending of classical music theory, jazz fusion, rock, soul, and hip-hop idioms. Joe has garnered praise for both his original compositions and cover arrangements.

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His debut album, Afflictions and Remedies (2015), a solo piano album, received local airplay and was also praised as a "painting of a piano at work" by Meredith Hairston, who put the album in rotation at WJSU in Jackson, MS.

 

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In early 2016, Kenney went to work on an album of jazz and classical inspired arrangements of alternative rock and top 40 hits. Released in February 2016, the sophomore album 1.5 was recognized on broadcast radio 104.5 Philadelphia and featured on iHeartRadio. DJ Wendy Rollins characterized Joe's cover of the Twenty One Pilots song Stressed Out as "perfection" and went on to applaud him for "re-imagining songs in a completely different format."

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Following the success of the first two solo piano albums, Joe expanded into different formats, working with a full band and honing in on a jazz fusion sound, while retaining the classically informed harmonies from his first two albums. An EP of three singles would be released in 2017, which would be the foundation and inspiration for the forthcoming 2020 album.

 

In March 2018, Kenney released 2.5, his third full studio album in as many years. Showcasing multiple styles and varying instrumentation, 2.5 features distinctively energized reinterpretations of eight alternative rock hits. The first half of the album features two full group instrumental tracks and two vocal arrangements, while the second half of the album features solo piano re-imaginings of four others.

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In August 2018, Joe made waves with his debut orchestral performance with the Chester County Pops, where Kenney's arrangement of his own original work Zera was premiered, alongside a performance of Chopin's Andante Spianato et Grande Polonaise Brillante.

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In 2019, Kenney started his biggest undertaking to date: the recording and unveiling of his fourth album, which features six highly decorated vocal artists from the Philadelphia area, on a ten-track original album that has music geared towards markets that cross multiple musical styles. The first single, Another Side (Ft. Joy Ike), released on May 8th, 2020, and was premiered by Neon Music (UK) with a glowing review.  It was also featured on The Key/WXPN and selected as the Philly Local pick by highly popular radio personality Helen Leicht. The next two releases, All's Not Lost (Ft. Laura Lizcano) and Gone (Ft Aaron Parnell Brown) were also met with spectacular reviews.

 

On October 23rd, the full album, Forth, was released to all platforms. It won a Bronze Medal in the Global Music Awards and has been featured on over 85 Radio Stations in U.S. and Canada. After pushing the tour in support of the album back due to the pandemic, Kenney continued to work on more material and collaborations with new artists for future releases. Joe also recorded an entire new piano project, his 5th studio album, which is entitled Reflections on Inner Transformation. 

 

The music on the solo album features piano explorations and meditations on points of growth that Kenney sought to both develop in himself as an individual and to capture the spirit  of each in sound with distinct character pieces. Four singles from the album were released in 2021, and blogs such as Music Dances When You Sleep and MainlyPiano featured the music and written articles endorsing the first several singles. 

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A year after the release of Forth -- in October 2021 --  Joe Kenney Band brought to fruition Forth Tour, which saw highly successful concerts in Cleveland, OH; Lousiville, KY; Birmingham, AL; New York, NY; Wayne, PA; and Wilmington, DE.

 

After the momentum of the group's first tour together, Joe and his band have maintained an impressively active schedule in 2022, with debuts at World Cafe Live, TIME on Sansom, Heritage, SOUTH Jazz Club, City Winery, Kennett Brewing Company Jazz Fest, and a weekly residency at Root Down Brewing Company in Phoenixville. Root Down collaborated with Kenney on a beer that commemorates and bears the same name as the Reflections on Inner Transformation album. "Reflections"  was also minted as an NFT project, with Joe partnering with his The Proper Hustlers band-mate and cryptocurrency guru Chris Fox 

December 2022 saw the release of "Prevailing," a classical/cinematic collaboration between Kenney and fellow West Chester University alum, violinist Hope Linton Prevailing debuted at #2 on the One World Music Radio Charts, and the album has received an overwhelmingly positive response, with a flurry of reviews celebrating the composition and the Record.

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New music, eclectic collaborations, a bevy of shows, and prolific releases were a continued theme in 2023.  Kenney had nine studio releases and reached over 1Million total Spotify plays, and performed in over 125 shows between his six bands and solo efforts. He also focused on content creation online, amassing over 1K subscribers on Youtube, and creating a multitude of symphonic works set to be arranged for full orchestra. Kenney also teamed up with Katie Butler and Candice Johnson-Lindsay to creat, organize, and curate the inaugural Harmonic Hope & Healing Festival, which brought awareness to music therapy and mental health initiatives. 

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HHH Fest took place on 5/5/24 in Philadelphia, and featured a star-studded six-band lineup, a sound healing space, vendors, and demonstrators.

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Business Inquiries can be sent via Joe@JoeKenneyPiano.com

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