Ken Barr

My new book "Shadows Fall and other Nightmares"

2011-02-06T10:48:00.000-08:00

Here is an excerpt from my new book, due out soon.

Introduction

Finnegan Donnelly loved to sit by the fire and tell his stories. Supposedly they had all happened, these tales of terror. How he had survived to tell them was anybody’s guess, but he was always there by the fire just the same, waiting for anyone to come and sit and hear his stories.

“Let’s have a pint and talk a while”, he would say. But unless you were fast, you would never get a word in before he launched into one of his stories. And once he did, you were there for the duration, there was no escape.

That’s where my story starts. I was travelling across Long Island on a chilly fall night, when I stopped in a little town called Sayville, to find something to eat and a place to spend the night. I stopped in a local tavern, and that’s where I met Finnegan. Through that long night he regaled me with story after story. I was amazed with the life he had lived. I promised him that if I was to ever retell his stories that I would give him credit, as is his due. So with that in mind, I am dedicating this book to Finnegan Donnelly and the life he lived. Thank you Finnegan, you have changed my life for the better.

Ken Barr

Long Island

January 1977

My interview with Rocknrolla magazine

2010-06-03T11:44:00.000-07:00

I recently did an interview with Rocknrolla magazine, I will publish the link on this blog. Hope you like it. Also check out the other sections of Rocknrolla magazine.
Ken

Rocknrolla interview

My book, "We Are The Road Crew"

2010-05-17T04:42:00.000-07:00

My new book, "We Are The Road Crew" which recalls my days on the road with KISS, Alice Cooper, Stone Temple Pilots, The Bangles, and many other groups,is now available on Amazon.com, and Barnes and Noble.com
Both sites are currently discounting the book, and if you order in store at Barnes and Noble you can save on shipping.
Thanks, Ken Barr

My new book, "We Are The Road Crew"

2010-05-12T11:29:00.000-07:00

My new book, "We Are The Road Crew", which recalls my days touring with KISS, Alice Cooper, Stone Temple Pilots, and many other bands, is now available at Barnes and Noble.com as well as Amazon. Thanks for checking it out. Ken

We Are The Road Crew on Amazon

"We Are The Road Crew" now available on Amazon.com

2010-05-02T05:27:00.000-07:00

My book, "We Are The Road Crew" is now available for order from Amazon.comWe Are The Road Crew on Amazon.com

Ken Barr - We Are The Road Crew

2010-04-21T12:06:00.000-07:00

Just went with a new publisher, CreateSpace. New Publisher, lower price. The book will be on Amazon in a week or two.

https://www.createspace.com/3426513

Book News

2010-02-13T14:25:00.001-08:00

I'm working now on an audio download version of my new book, "We Are The Road Crew". It should be available on Itunes soon. I'm also working on a version that is compatible with Kindle. Will post news when I have it.

Anvil Movie

2009-10-07T22:41:00.000-07:00

The movie about the band Anvil, "Anvil The Story of Anvil" was released this week. it is one of the most inspiring movies I have ever seen. If you get the chance , check it out.

Book Excerpt from "We Are The Road Crew"

2009-09-29T13:35:00.001-07:00

Platinum

When the Bangles tour was almost over, Steve our Production Manager told the crew that as a thank you, the band would be giving each of us a platinum album award. In the music business this is the brass ring, the best that you could do. I was really impressed, I was in my early twenties and was about to receive my first platinum record. I was anxious to get it; this was a sort of validation for my career. A lot of my family still thought that I had a hokey fly by night job with no future.

We were told that the awards would be shipped to each of us at our homes. I couldn’t wait, I was so nervous that mine would get lost or damaged. Every day I would wait for the mailman and accost him on the front lawn. Every day I was skunked, he didn’t have it. After the mailman I would wait for any sign of the UPS man, in case he had it. I didn’t know how the record was going to be shipped, so I had to keep my eyes open.

One day I came home to find a box at my front door, about the right size and shape, it had been left outside unprotected! I grabbed it and quickly went inside, my hands shaking as I started to open it. When I got it open I thought for a moment that I heard the angels sing. There it was in all its platinum glory, with my name engraved right on it. I stared at it a lot that day. I had to keep looking at it to make sure my name was still on it.

New Excerpt from my book "We Are The Road Crew"

2009-09-22T22:38:00.000-07:00

Ramones

I used to stagehand at all the clubs in my area where there was work. It would consist of load in and load out, and whatever the bands crew needed, whether it was help with gear, running lights, running spotlight, and anything else you could think of. When I heard The Ramones were going to play one of the clubs I worked at, I made sure I was on that crew call.

I had always been a big Ramones fan, so the thought of doing this gig, and possibly meeting them, was a big deal to me. I got to load in early; I wanted to make sure I didn’t miss anything. When the Ramones crew got there, we unloaded sound, lights, and backline, and started setting up. As a stagehand you are there to set up anything and everything that the band needs. Sound check was going to be around six, and I heard that the band would be there for it, and they were. I got to meet them one by one and they were all pretty cool guys. After sound check the Ramones lighting guy said he needed two guys to work the show running spotlights for the band. I volunteered right away.

In an arena spotlights are placed in secure areas away from the crowd, as they are not only important to the show, but they tend to get hot, really hot. So safety is an issue. Now this club didn’t really have anywhere to put these enormous lights, so the Ramones crew put a road case by either side of the soundboard, laid them on their side, off their wheels, and put the spotlights up there. They told us there would be enough room to stand up there as well, and run the light.

Before the show the lighting guy gave each of us a headset so that he could tell us what he wanted us to do. Just before the show we climbed up onto these road cases, fired up the lights, and held on for dear life. This club was packed to the walls with fans that were going wild. They were jammed up against my road case so tight I couldn’t have fallen off if I tried.

It wasn’t long before things got so crazy that my entire road case with me and my light started moving. The lighting guy was yelling at me to stay on Joey the singer, but my case was being shoved around the club ten feet in any direction. I couldn’t focus on anything, I was just trying to hold on and not get burned. I’m pretty sure that my spotlight did shine in the area of the band a few times that night, so it wasn’t a total waste.

After the show I figured I was just going to get fired off the gig right then and there. I was sure that the lighting guy was going to be pissed off at me for screwing up. When the club finally emptied out to a point where we could start working, I went over toward the lighting guy to take the hit. I figured I would just get it over with. When I got there he was laughing so hard he couldn’t talk. It turned out this sort of thing was a regular occurrence at their shows. There really wasn’t any other way for them to run spotlights at their gigs, so they just did what they could and laughed at the local crew guys later. Lesson learned, and I still had any amazing time that night.

Winter Springs Dog Park

2009-09-13T04:23:00.000-07:00

Mondays city council meeting in Winter Springs will be one of the final steps for approval of the dog park. It's been an 8 year struggle, but we are almost there.

Hound Ground

Book Excerpt from "We Are The Road Crew"

2009-09-12T14:36:00.000-07:00

The First Gig :
Having learned the very basics in high school, which end of the microphone to yell into among other things, I realized I knew all there was to know about putting on a show, how hard could it be? Like most crew guys I started out as a rock star wannabe. I played guitar and started a band, I was on my way.
The town I grew up in was small and there really weren’t any clubs as such to play in. As kids we convinced the owners of the local taverns, gin mills for the working man, to let us set up in the corner and play. We were allowed to charge a small cover which the bar owner would then give us a percentage of, or so we thought.
There were only a couple of bands in the school I went to, and as I said very few places to play. When one band would get a gig at the local bar, the rest of us would become the crew, carrying in equipment in milk crates in hopes of avoiding the cover charge, and possibly getting to mooch from the bands bar tab. The phrase “I’m with the band” has gotten me many a free drink over the years.
The first gig that I actually recall was a neighborhood bar called “Schultzes Tuck Inn” , it was a massive building with a four sided bar right by the front door, and a couple of pool tables further back. Behind that was just a large darkness, the place was poorly lit and there was no reason to go beyond the pool tables. I spent many a Saturday afternoon as a kid in Schultzes, sipping cokes and playing shuffleboard as my parents drank with their friends. Eventually someone ventured into the darkness at the back of the building and realized there was a full-size stage there. Nobody seemed to realize it was there, and the owner couldn’t seem to remember why it was there or if it had ever been used.
The gig at Schultzes was an enormous event that took weeks of planning, an army of friends to help, hand made flyers, a PA “borrowed” from school. This was bigger than Woodstock. The lights we had were made from tomato sauce cans that our friend from the pizza place saved for us, the really large ones. The bulbs, I am sorry to say, were borrowed from a local airport runway. This was back when you could drive right to a runway, not like today. It never occurred to us that taking the runway lights might be bad. We were kind of like the little rascals that way; everything seemed like a good idea.
The gig itself almost seems uneventful after the weeks of planning. Songs were played, people danced, bar tabs were rung up. But it was the planning, the putting together of this massive event that stands out in my memory.
This gig led to others, a lot of bars where we kids weren’t really welcome. We didn’t care. When you are under the legal drinking age but either in or with the band, nobody thinks to proof you. It is assumed you are legal. Not only that, on the nights when you aren’t playing you could go to a bar where you were known and drink, and often times the bartender wouldn’t charge you because you were a regular. This may not seem like much now, but to a kid of 15 or 16 back in the seventies, this was heaven.

Facebook

2009-09-12T13:51:00.000-07:00

Check me out on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/ken.barr3

We Are The Road Crew Book

2009-08-22T00:21:00.000-07:00

Check out my new book, "We Are The Road Crew" available at
www.cafepress.com/roadcrewstore
It recalls my days as a tech for KISS, Alice Cooper, STP and many other bands. Thanks !

Rock pages interview

2009-08-15T08:51:00.000-07:00

Check out my interview in Rockpages :

http://www.rockpages.gr/detailspage.aspx?id=2760&type=13&lang=EN&SUB=K