It may seem a little childish, but I’d rather use my blog more for my personal comments.

-Ken

Ken’s first posting seemed to be cut off when he posted it on ReverbNation. He contacted Louis (the recording genius of the group) and was sent the raw unedited MP3. It is now re-posted on ReverbNation in it’s original form. http://www.reverbnation.com/artist/song_details/12658108

“…Recorded a new version of my song ‘I Won’t Give It Another Try’ last night at Harvey’s. The 3 Piece Bucket Band played with me, so we had a bass player, lead guitar, rhythm guitar, and drums…and Jeff and Al sang harmony. I can’t wait to hear the recording which should be out soon. We had several people in the audience singing along. Lot’s of great talent last night at Harvey’s Bar & Grill.”

This was the first time this song was played with a band in public, so it was pretty exciting for Ken. Ken hired Larry Lee from Nashville in October 1989 to help promote his songs. Many people including Gene Watson, Billy Joe Royal, Joe Diffee, Vince Gill, Doug Stone, Tim McGraw, Alan Jackson, George Strait, George Jones, Ronnie Milsap, Oakridge Boys, Mark Chestnut, and Garth Brooks have all had exposure to Ken’s songs. This song was not been written until sometime late in 1990-91. Gene Watson once showed interest in this particular song, but wanted a better recording with a full band.

Join Ken on Monday nights at Harvey’s Bar & Grill located at 13812 Cinnabar Pl, Huntersville, NC.
704-947-5080

-Admin

We are going to start posting our comments on this blog instead of Facebook until they re-redesign the site. If they do not, then we might just stop using the site to promote the songs all together.

On Monday night, March 19, 2012, Ken and the band 3 Piece Bucket played Ken’s song “I Won’t Give It Another Try” in public. Al Lemmond and Ken have been toying with the sound of the song for a while, and with a little practice and playing different parts, this was the result.

You can listen to the live version recorded at Harvey’s Bar & Grill on our ReverbNation site.
http://www.reverbnation.com/artist/song_details/12646671

This Monday, we will be trying the song again and hope to get a better recording to post online. If you are in the Charlotte area, stop by Harvey’s Bar & Grill to hear us perform.
http://www.reverbnation.com/venue/harveysinhuntersville

Harvey’s Bar & Grill
13812 Cinnabar Pl, Huntersville, NC
704-947-5080

You can hear the calmness in Ken’s voice as he sings the old Keith Whitley songs “A Day In The Life Of A Fool”, “Would These Arms Be In Your Way”, and “Charlotte’s In North Carolina”. Ken has always been inspired by Keith Whitley and recently sent a message to Keith’s son Jesse concerning these songs.

Ken also does some other songs by Anne Murray, Vern Gosdin, Rod Stewart, The Judds, Hank Williams, Linda Ronstadt, Gene Watson, The Monkees, Jackson Browne, and Kris Kristofferson.

Look for more songs to be posted in the near future.

-Admin

Ken envisioned that she was getting back at her ex-boyfriend (or ex-husband) by putting a bad relationship behind her and getting married again. This song is from the perspective of the ex-boyfriend or (ex-husband) drinking his morning coffee and he just happens to turn the page and sees her picture in the paper after several years. He thinks back to the relationship and…well you’ll have to listen to the song.

Ken wrote this in a matter of hours…the words just seemed to come to him along with the melody. Click the song’s title below and give it a listen.

Printed in Black and White

-Admin

2011 was a year filled with a lot of turmoil and it is nice to see it go away. 2012 is going to be a year filled with happiness, good health, financial sound and stability, and exciting times.

May the New Year bring all your wishes and dreams to realization.

-Ken

Ken had decided to go on vacation to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida for a long weekend back in 1994. When he arrived on the beaches, he had a very inspiring moment come over him and he began writing. He sat on a wall outside someone’s house on a private beach and started writing in a little handheld notebook. He was inspired by all the sad looking old people that would walk by him. Some of them were alone…others with their wives/husbands. The all looked so lonely, so sad…and old.

The song could not be finished in one day. The next morning, Ken remembers having breakfast and went back to the beach he was writing the previous day. He was able to quickly finish the song and recorded it once he arrived back in Connecticut.

This song sat in the archive files for many years before Ken would take it out and re-record the song once again. Ken plays this song out at Harvey’s Bar & Grill in Huntersville, NC every now and then. You can also find a recording of this on ReverbNation at the website link below.

http://www.reverbnation.com/artist/song_details/11558048

-Admin

There are so many things to be thankful for and many of us take them for granted. Just being healthy, having enough food to eat, a roof over your head, and surrounded by the ones you love is more than enough.

This year, I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and safe holiday season.

-Ken

On December 16th, 2011, Ken uploaded his first attempt for a You Tube video under the ID Name ‘Itsgr82bMax’. Ken used to have a dog called Max, so this is where the phrase, “It’s Great To Be Max” comes from.

Ken uploaded the old Buck Owens song, ‘Arms Full of Empty’ and his song ‘I Won’t Give it Another Try’ as a test. Both songs were in very poor quality due to the old camera he had to work with. He will redo these videos in the next week or so with a better camera he found in the garage. Hopefully it will produce a better quality than what is already out there. He will also figure out how to deal with his dark beard under his nose compared to his gray beard everywhere else!

Video # 1 – Arms Full of Empty – (http://youtu.be/5OH93OCYePw)
Video # 2 – I Won’t Give It Another Try – (http://youtu.be/bM8L5BgYza8)

Look to You Tube either by searching for ‘Ken Menard’ or by his ID Name ‘Itsgr82bMax’ for all future videos coming soon.

You can also find Ken’s You Tube videos on ReverbNation – (http://www.reverbnation.com/artist/artist_videos/2015319) for your viewing pleasure.

-Admin

Ken played 7 songs: The first 5 were: ‘I Won’t Give It Another Try’, ‘I Survive’, ‘Learning To Live Again’, ‘Moment In Time’ and ‘Fourteen Carat Mind’. After the 5th song, the crowd was looking at Ken with anticipation of what the next song would be, so Ken played ‘Arms Full Of Empty, by Buck Owens’. After that song was finished, Ken was getting ready to wrap it up and had already unplugged his guitar from the speakers, when the crowd said…’Do One More’. Ken quickly thought of another song that he could do and came up with ‘Bad Bad Leroy Brown’ by Jim Croce.

The crowd seemed to really enjoy the music. Several people specifically came up to Ken and told him how good he was and asked if he would play again next week. One old guy with a beard came up to Ken and said that his song ‘I Survive’ really got to him. He was so moved he asked if Ken would do it again next week.

After a little time had passed…Ken was sitting down and several other people came up to him to say that he was really good and would he be back next week. Ken assured them he would return.

The guy that basically runs the place sat down with Ken and said that he really appreciated the songs and asked if he could return next week to do ‘Learning To Live Again’ along with ‘Fourteen Carat Mind’. Ken agreed and said he will also have a few new songs that would really show his voice off for the crowd.

So, it looks like Ken will be playing this venue every Monday night for a while. If you find yourself in Huntersville, NC anytime soon on a Monday night, stop by at Harvey’s Bar & Grill to hear Ken play around 8:00pm.

-Admin