Originally posted at www.troubadour-blues.com
In the last couple of years, mostly since principal photography was completed on Troubadour Blues, I’d been getting to know a California musician named Kenny Edwards. He wasn’t in the film, but he made a big impression.
A masterful guitarist and mandolinist with a sweet tenor voice and a humble manner, Kenny was a gentle giant who didn’t talk much but always had something to say.
He had begun to branch out as a solo artist after years backing up artists like Linda Ronstadt, Karla Bonoff and Warren Zevon. He was a founding member of the quintessential West Coast harmony group Bryndle, with Bonoff, Wendy Waldman and Andrew Gold.
“Will You Still” by Kenny Edwards from Tom Weber on Vimeo.
We recorded this song on a break from a Julie Christensen video session at the 2009 Folk Alliance conference in Memphis. There are other videos on my Vimeo page. With four musicians, a camera and tripod, microphones, lights and me all crammed into a 10 by 12 foot hotel room, space was tight to say the least. Kenny had to stoop down a little or his head would hit the backlight just inches above him.
As usual, he added his exquisite guitar lines and expressive voice to the mix. Here he is playing “Will You Still,” a song from his second and final album Resurrection Road, with Paul Lacques of I See Hawks In L.A. on dobro.
In recent months he had been under treatment for an aggressive form of cancer, but had been well enough to go out on tour. He was stricken suddenly in Colorado, spent a few days in intensive care, and was airlifted home to Santa Barbara, where he passed away Wednesday, August 18.
Rest in peace, Kenny.
