That's welcomeing out if we hear songbird right there. Hey, Kenny g there man, I'm here, Hey, thanks for coming on the show, and I want to talk about that song first, Songbird. The story that I get is you're getting ready to go out on Carson and you decided the last second, you know what, I'm going to switch from whatever song you had planned to Songbird. Do you think that maybe helped cantapault your career even further.
I think that was a pivotal moment for sure, because of the Tonight Show. Back in the day, for you younger people, this was the only nationwide show that you could be on at nighttime. There wasn't a Letterman, there wasn't a Letto, there wasn't anything. There wasn't a Stephen Colbert, there wasn't nothing. So if you were on that show, that meant that you could reach the whole country. And
they did not want me to play an instrumental. We had a song that had a singer and I was playing the solo with it, and that's what they wanted, and I switched him right at the very last minute because the show was live.
That's what A did. So the Carson did he call you over to the couch, because there's two types of guess. If he really likes you, he'll call you over to the couch, and sometimes not so much. Did you get caught over to the couch.
On that first performance? I didn't.
I got the okay sign from Johnny okay. He probably had no idea about anything. But then when I went backstage, the guy that hired me just came in just screamed at me, like, how dare I come on the show and pull a fastood on him? And then I'm never ever going to be on his show or anyone show again.
Oh my gosh.
What he was livid, He was so and anyway, but I knew I did a good performance.
So what happened was.
That that the Johnny Carson guy he forgot that. The people in the world saw that, they reacted positively, and then six months later they called me to come back.
On the show, and that time I got couch.
That's awesome. Kenny g our guest. By the way, Cat's Kenny g at the Louisville Palace Theater, talk about a good show. May fourteenth, right around the corner and before we get back in the interview, Kenny G. Just personally, I want to say thank you for one of the coolest, smoothest moments I've ever had. Oh boy, here it goes, try so try to get Kenny G on the on
the show with as you Know. And so we started we started texting, going back and forth, and then the other night I said, honey, let's get in the hot tub. We'll have a couple of kilists listen to Kenny G. We're doing that, my phone goes off, which I never respond to when we're in the hot time. No, it's always just me and my wife and music, and she goes, what are you doing? I said, hang on a second, honey, I got to return Kenny G's text one of the
smoothest moves I've ever had. But it seems to me like you're incredibly ground at Kenny G. What was more important to you growing up was a family or kind of seeking fame?
Oh no, No, I never thought about team at all. It was only family.
And for me, it was just a dedication to it's getting good at something.
I'm just that kind of guy.
If I'm interested in something, I want to know why and how.
It works, and then I want to know can.
I well, of course I can get better at it because it just requires me to practice. And that was really all I thought about it, didn't think about anything. And as far as the fame and fortune comes, that's just a very very, you know, wonderful side effect of the fact that, you know, it just turns out that whatever instincts I have with music seem to connect with people around the world.
And I'm just really lucky that what.
I like also connects with people, because it could have just been the other way around. My music's different and people could have went, well, you know, it's different, we.
Don't like it. But that wasn't the case, Thank goodness.
Now, every time we have a rock star musician, whoever it might be on, mostly ten times out of ten if I say where did it all start, they always say, you know what, here's where it started. Ed Sullivan, the Beatles you started? Because are you were inspired? Unless I'm wrong? Correct me if I'm wrong, you were inspired by the Ed Sullivan Show. But it wasn't the Beatles, right.
That's correct. Yeah, it was literally was their generic or what I thought was just it was just a big band. So I don't know who was the guest there. Could have been somebody that was well known, but I don't know.
But it was just a big band. They were playing their things, and then this one guy stood up from the big band and played a saxophone solo. And I looked at that, and I was actually watching it with my mom and I was ten, and I looked at my mom and say, hey, I want to play that instrument.
And then that's where it's started.
Kenny g is our guest. Now a time in did you I'm sure where you were growing up going, you know what, I'm going to be a sex symbol when I've become a musician. We put this on Facebook, and again women reacted to our post of that you were going to be on the show. But you did get a reaction from a demo. Was that the LUs you wanted people to enjoy your music, but boy, it seemed like the women were going crazy for you.
Well, I mean.
What you're saying really is what happened was that once I did that Johnny Carson's performance, then people started to hear by music. So so now radio stations back in the old days days, if there was a radio programmer and he or she decided what was being played, no one would play my music on the radio on the radio programs, and there was no instrumental music stations. So we just went around to the pop stations and literally
knocked on their door. I walked into the you know, the guy's office and say, hey.
Listen, would you play my little song? And they would.
This was the normal thing. My wife and I really like your music, but we can't play it on our radio shows.
Does it work?
But one guy took a chance, and that's when their phone lines lit up, and it really was a demographic of like, you know, thirty plus years old female right, And then everybody started going, hey, wait a minute, if we played the song, we'll get those ladies to call in on our show.
And so then and then the word spread and that so it became it became that.
But I'm not sure that. I'm not sure that the women's reaction was. It wasn't for me as a as a sax symbol.
It was just the music. I can't so that's how that was.
I can't remember which musician was. It might have been Warn Hayes, some Woy was on the It was a guitarist was on the show, and he was talking about that he had the first guitar that he ever played and he still plays. He still uses it in concerts. You started ten years old. Do you still have your original sacks and if so, do you still play it?
Well?
I don't have the original at ten, but the one that I bought in uh, when I was seventeen, that's my original soprano saxon. Okay, that's the one I still play, So I still that's my saxophone.
So all the.
Songs that I've ever played on anything that you've ever heard is thatphone.
And that's the tax phone that.
I have, And that's the sex phone that'll be at the concert you seriously on the fourteenth.
Wow, that's impressive. Kenny G's our guest. Don't miss this show Louisville Palace Theater, May fourteenth. You always did it your weight. You know, you were talking about how you know you wanted to the Tonight Show with Carson wanted you to do a number that had lyrics to it. You called the Autumn what the Last Second? And I find that this was a this was a hardcore move man. It's in the eighties. Uh, you've taken off you got the career you are. Kenny g and then Clive Davis
and the record label. They say, hey, well, will you to do an American songbook cover album? But it's other people's songs and you didn't do it. It was a hard telling Clive Davis. No, and I mean because it's Clive Davis.
Yeah, very hard.
Clive Davis for those that don't know, he's like the ultimate record company executive. He's the one that that signed Santana and he signed you know, I think Jimmy Hendrix and Janis Joplin and Joni Mitchell and like, so he's and you know, very and you know Barry Manilow and Rod Stewart and all the people. So he comes from the perspective that whatever he says, you've better listen to because he's.
The star maker, right.
So he would tell me to do this and I didn't want to do it. So yeah, it was hard to say though, because he would say this is but this is to his credit, he said, Kenny, is your career. You do what you want, but I'm just looking. You know, this will be the biggest career move in the wrong direction that you'll ever make if you don't listen to. Oh, I said, Okay, I'll take that chance.
Clive, Wow, the.
Guts on you. I want to go back to when you're seventeen years old. I want to find out this story is true or not. You get to back Barry White somehow on saxophone, and then years and years later you become Kenny g who we know today. You get an award at the Sotree Awards and then you run into him at the restroom. Is there true to that that you? You say, Hey, Berry White, I played with you on X Y Z and then he asked you just to hand you a tack? Is there truth today?
It's all true? Said through.
Yeah, that was you know again, like the young listeners, Berry White was the ultimate R and B singer. So anybody that any male black singer that you know in the world. And let's say there's ten real popular ones. If you combine them and multiplied by a hundred, that's how popular Erry was.
That's right.
And so I at seventeen, I through different contacts.
I was still in high school. I left the gig and I.
Played the gig and I did really well, and it was really like the kind of the start of me being a professional musician. And so the Soul Train Music Awards does not give many awards to white guys.
But I got I got one.
In fact that I have two, but that was my first one that I got from Soul Trained Music Awards. And again I'm feeling on a high because you know, Whitney Houston's getting one that night and Gladys Knight's getting.
One and I'm getting one. I'm thinking, man, this is all this is super cool.
So in the bathroom, very white walks in and I blabb her the whole story about starting with him and literally.
Looks at me and he doesn't doesn't could.
Care less what he said, goes, hey, baby, hand me a paper towel. Then he walked out, and then I, you know what, then I cleaned. I cleaned the bathroom after him.
You know, I was like, I guess that was my job.
Well you got it, Kenny g. You know, so you mentioned Whitney Houston. I've always heard that you were with Clive Davis when he discovered Whitney Houston. Is there truth to that or not?
Well, it's true that I was with him on the day that he went to watch her her performance to.
To then sign her.
Okay, think he had already already decided to sign her, but he they.
Were going up to watch her.
Uh whatever you want to call that was like a not like an audish, but she was doing this special performance and everybody from the record company went.
Up to watch her.
And I was there with Clive and it was I did you know, look, I leaned over to Clive, said Clive Seiner, and then he did, so, you know, I take total credit for it, but of course he probably already do all that before I said a word.
The great Liberaci that they said Liberachi would practice six to eight hours a day even when he's Liberaci's in Vegas. Do you still practice every single day or do you get to some point where you say, you know what the muscle memories there, I'm Kenny G I don't need to practice.
No, no, no, I practice every day, really practice every day for yeah, for three three hours.
Is my number? Okay, every day?
Oh, absolutely absolutely. I'll do it today, I did yesterday, I did the day before, I'll do it tomorrow. I've done it every day for the last you know, fifty years, and it'll just be It's just part of my life and it's always well when I when I'm in control of my time at home.
It's in the morning. On the road, it's in the afternoon. And that's the.
Way coasts dedication. Well, well, listen, Kenny G. When Tony mentioned that we put up the posts senor doing the show women coming out of the woodwork, have him call me on my personal cell phone. You name it whatever. But we got to talk about the hair man pretty sexy, the Kenny G hair. I've heard that you only shampoo it like one one time a week or something to keep it fresh. How do you keep the hair? Is there any kind of routine?
Yeah, what I do is every night I'll pick an audience member to come up and wash my hair.
For me to the kid it totally and that worked out.
Uh.
You know, I just got lucky that my grandmother had curls and she passed them down to me. And uh so that's it. You know, there's no big story.
I don't do anything special other than than just I don't shampoo it too much. That's all just and people that know about you know, having healthy hair.
No, it's not good to shampoo every day. That's no big secret.
Kenny is our guest. Just one more question, Kenny G. So you're you're in Seattle, you're in your formative years, you're doing it all right, and you're in the stock game somehow, and you invest in a small, little coffee company. Talk about that for a second, because I think that's quite brilliant and lucky if you ask.
Me, well, definitely lucky, definitely lucky, you know, just being in the right place at the right time. My uncle was a you know, prominent businessman in Seattle, and he called me one day and said, Hey, you know, I know you've sold some records, so I bet you've got some at least some money.
You should put some money behind this company called Starbucks there look at to raise money and expand. And so I took his advice.
I give you the Forrest Gump of sa.
Kenny g one last question. So I gotta ask you this. When you come out and the popularity of your music, I think it's its own carey, but you might be able to say, smooth jazz when you come out, does the jazz community come after you negatively? And if so, do you even care or do you just press forward?
Oh? I don't care. Okay, I don't care about anything like that. But you know, I think the jazz is.
The traditional jazz community did come after me at one point, but I think they're tired of it because they see that it goes nowhere.
It It doesn't matter what they say, you know, we're all entitled to play our music the way we.
Want to, and so yeah, I couldn't care less what they say about anything.
He's Kenny G. Over seventy five million, over seventy five million albums sold. Catch him don't miss this concert live at the Louisville Palace Theater, May fourteenth. Kenny G. I can't thank you enough of mego for coming.
On, my friend, my pleasure. Thank you guys, and have a great rest of the day.
Well see on the fourteenth. There you go, Kenny G. Good guys.
Good still Starbucks? Huh yeah, ground floor Starbucks.
Darn it.
All right.
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dryer thing. They sell appliances there too. You go love Sims Furniture one M Sims, Dixie Highway and Preston Highway. Stick around more on the way News Radio eight forty W.
Yeah, a h C minor there and then maybe then jump to an E.
Kenny, Kenny, we're back on the phone. Listen. I'll go over that song with you later.
Dude.
Okay, yeah, I love you too. Sorry, dude, I didn't know we were on the air. This is embarrassing.
I'm proud of you. You kept your emotions in check. How about that man when you were interviewing Kenny.
G Baby making music? I wanted to tell him, you know, my wife, is it true? You gotta be in science when you were in fourth grade.
That's so cool, Kenny, that's so cool.
Hey, Kenny g h. The wife and I would like to make sweet sweet love to your music. The other people.
Uh, no word on the pope yet, but I think we could possibly have one before our show was over.
Do you want me to text the Vatican and see where.
I don't don't do not even I can the phone down.
Down unless they're going to textile baby.
So once we have our producer John Alden, he's got his eyeballs and one TV screen is specifically on the chimney.
Yeah, but here's yeah, but look what he did. The guy dresses up like the Pope. He's got any bitty chimney right there with a smoke bomb just waiting. Yeah, you don't have to go. Look, we appreciate the extra effort, dude, but it's radio. Nobody could see you. That's true. What a waste of time. Yeah, I feel.
Bad And Dwight show will go directly to Rome. Yes, if we see white smoke coming out of that pipe.
And as a matter of fact, if it doesn't happen today, they may fly this show to Rome. Idea were the best journalists.
Cover it live? Food's kind of good in room?
Yeah, spaghetti, it's kind of good. There is one conclave that lasted three years? What if this one lasted?
Oh? How long ago was that? Though?
Like in the years ago on a long time ago. That's not happening here, let me look it up.
Food from Rome is at Lots of Pasta. I don't know if you knew that, right, that's the pasta that I buy there. It's a little bit more expensive. But guess what we always talk about how when you buy pasta, the cheap stuff will make you bloated and you almost have to lay down. You're like, I feel bloated because
it's cheap. It's cheap pasta. When you go to Lots of Pasta, you go straight to the back, you go right past the deli's on the right and just go straight back to the back and they have all this imported pastas from Italy. You eat as much as you want, you don't feel full, you don't bloat. It's just better, all right. And then get the homemade the right there, homemade sauce or gravy right there at Lots of Pasta stop on Buy thirty seven, seventeen Lexington Road, in the heart of Saint Matthew's.
Lots of Pasta. Hey, how's those energy bills high in the summer, high in the winter. Well, it probably is those windows and doors. How old are they? Man, that's upgrade. Let's do it with Pella Windows and Doors, fiberglass, woodclad windows, patio doors, vinyl, you name it, they got it. Check out their showroom Pella Windows and Doors twelve nine to ten Factory Lagrange. Factory Lane is over the seen Sneider and Lagrange. They've been making innovative products for over one
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and I were staying it's eighty eight, man, it's eighty eight. Wow, we did a good job there.
Why is Gunny here?
Uh?
Gunny came and at in Deborah. Let's talk about the Deborah, how are you? I'm good?
Are you? Hey?
Were you born in Tennessee?
Really?
Because you're a one with ten I see.
Please get to the point here. You know that's disgusting because you are the one that married these two.
I didn't marry him. I performed the ceremony. You gave away the punchline, so I know. But he was doing the goofy.
So what as of today? You know, Debora and I has been married for nine years. Nine We wanted to stop by the radio station to see our pastor because nine years ago today, uh, well and some change. Deborah went and asked Dwight if he would get his ordained license and marry us.
Yes.
Now, not until like a few minutes after that that I realized what a mistake. But then Dwight also coordinated that electric guitarist.
Yeah, they walked down to the electric guitar wedding march very distorted him by the way. I think.
I think people want to know we're joking a lot, but Dwight takes these things kind of seriously. How did he do as your pastor when he married you?
Guys? Well, that's a tough.
One, you know, growing up with Dwight and send him you know, active full in high school, but never had faith in him. And yes, he did show up and had his game face on. I'm pretty sure he tried to slide in some jokes.
But yeah, no, they didn't land. They didn't land.
Shocker. So I can't believe you've been back that. To tell you the truth, it seems like yesterday that when you get you got back from overseas or out of the service. We have two friends, you know them both they did full twenty five years and all that. Yeah, but it's amazing that they've been back ten fifteen years now and it's like they never when they drop back in, it's like they never left.
Yeah, well, there's nothing like home. And so you know, I always knew that once I retired, be coming back home and just fit right in. And uh, you know, I didn't pick up another job. I continue to raise my kids and then spend time, you know, just doing the things we love, like the Derby and Louder than Life and just enjoying life. Trips overseas and the occasional stop by Dwight's house to.
See Uh, yeah, that's very rare. It's funny when these guys get together. They taught it when someone else brings up something that happened overseas. Look, we were in that war for a long time. It's funny how much they know. They'll go that outfit wasn't in country, like you guys know, like Triple doesn't movies. Yeah, well Triple will go that No, no, no, I had that area that he was that that that
that outfit wasn't in country. It's crazy you all know those details on different companies and outfits and all that.
I don't know if my wife really enjoys it, but you know when we're watching a movie, that's the first thing. No, there's no that unit wasn't even in country.
How long were you in and then how long were you in Special Forces? You were in twenty eight years? Is that right?
Twenty eight and a half?
Yeah?
How long are special Forces? Oh, eighteen and it's a long time man.
Yeah.
And here's what I'll say about Gunny. He's one of my best friends, known all my life. But you say that to all the guys, Well, yeah, I do. You're no Kenny g But listen. So one of the times when he was still active duty, he's in the States, he calls me up. He says, hey, man, I'm coming to Louisville only a couple of days. You want to grab some wings? I say, yeah, yeah's I think it was Derby time and so let's go. Oh yeah, yeah,
let's go. So we go this wing joint. We get a couple of beers, big plate of wings were sitting there. He gets a text and he starts texting this guy back. Well, come to find out it's some other special Forces guy that just happens to be coming through Kentucky. Yeah, Gunny invites him over and they sit at the table. I've never felt more inadequate in my entire life. My wife text me, I said, I just feel like such a Yeah.
You should feel that more often. But he value your friendship. Nine years is law is a great Uh it feels like nine minutes, right, Gunny, Yeah it does, But.
How long does it feel to you?
A lot longer? But you guys are a team, yes, and you you help a lot of veterans issues.
Yes. Talk about the VMC.
Well, that's I think where Tony was going with that. You know, Veterans Motorcycle Club. Uh, I'm the national president, but also here a member of the local chapter and uh, you know, we're all for veterans causes past and present. A lot of our donations go to the Ratcliffe Veterans Center. Uh, you know that are not state funded. If you will, you know, we don't pay for their meals. We pay for like clothing or we ensure that that they're being
taken care of. And you know, just stop buying visiting them is nice.
It's one of the worst things for our veterans. That a lot of the lot of the Vietnam veterans Korean and what few w W two we have or just getting warehouse, they're just sitting in the room by themselves. Yeah, that's is that a big It's kind of sad. It's a lot, it's very sad.
Once they get into the home, you know, that's that's becomes their life. And sometimes they're just simply forgotten about. And you know, I don't mean that in a negative way. Their families may not be local or you know, and they can't come visit them, whatever the case may be. And so you know, stop buying a visit just you don't have to know them. They just want someone to talk to.
But they relate mostly with you guys like you guys. A lot of times, we Dwight and I can only do so much. It's the other guys that serve that they connect with.
Yeah, it's just like with anything, you know, we can tell the same stories, just different era and that's what they connect to.
Yeah.
Yeah, it's weird because I go out to the VMC clubhouse about once a year fundraisers, and I was talking to you and some of the other club and you all were mentioning that, you know, you could tell me a story or an issue you're having with but I'm not going to understand it because I haven't been through it. So the brotherhood of the VMC gives you all a place where if you're talking about a subject, the other
person actually understands it. So it's beneficial. It's therapeutic to be amongst brothers like that, right, It is exactly.
I mean, you know, there's plenty of resources out there for veterans, you know, counselors and things like that for PTSD or suicide or you know, job awareness or turning to get a job and such. But when you can talk to someone that you know, again different situation but same scenario that they can relate with connect well, they tend to open up more. You know, because I've been to you know, see counselors, especially when I first got out from depression, and it was hard to connect to.
I mean, my counselor used to be for what's that local wrestling that they do that's OVW Yes, yeah, big huge dude, that's all his job. Oh okay, And so while talking with him, you know, I just felt no connection and because of that was kind of hard to open up right and really sit down and tell my promise. But when you come across someone that's done similarly the same things as you, well.
Year's can open.
Here's the problem. The first time we interviewed about that, Here's what jumped out of me and I've never forgot it nine years later is when you said you said to stay on teams.
That's where I was going.
They asked you, are you okay, and you got to say yes when you know you're not okay, but your life is the teams and to stay on it. And then at the end when you go no, I'm not okay, they say, hey, well you said the last twenty the last eighteen years, every year you said you were fine.
That's the problem, right.
Well, so specifically talking about in SF, you know, your your time on a team is where you make your money and rise either in rank or job positions or duty assignments. And so when you start to talk or if someone thinks that you even hurt, whether it's an ankle injury or you know, maybe your mind's not in the right spot or your back or whatever.
As soon as you say like, hey, I.
Need to go to sick call, well you have the chance of being removed, and then I will stifle your career. And so you just put up with it over and over and over until your.
Body physically can't do it anymore.
And then you're right, tony, that's what you say, is like, oh I need some help. Well, when did this problem develop right a long time ago? Well, no it didn't. So it's hard Like with these counselors I'm talking about, when you tell them that you know, they can't understand why didn't you just say something and help your body.
But when you talk to a counselor that has served, the response of the resounding response always gets like yeah, I know what you're talking to, get it, And then you feel a little sigh of relief, like, Okay, I'm not bulge having you. You know, they understand you, and that's what I'm talking about, the connection.
Good stuff. Nine years to go? Another nine?
Are you?
Debra? Okay with another nine? Okay?
Okay? She signs up for another nine?
All right? Having me out? Yeah, but what's her bonus for signing? For re signing already said? Listen, thanks for all you have done. Appreciate it, Deborah. Good to see you guys. I think you kids just might make it if if you take this Kenny GCD right here, all right.
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