Life is meant to be a collection of experiences. Getting out there and enjoying the journey is a gift. When we are able to slow down it is the artist’s responsibility to share these experiences with others. Our new friend KD Bantz enjoyed an interesting life and now turns those stories into a string of songs that reach deep into our souls on new album The Blue Sky Sessions.
Growing up on a family farm in the midwest was where it all started for the talented guitarist and songwriter. A series of travels and adventures ranging from working 10 on and 10 off in the summer heat of glass factories, to living and backpacking in the great Northwest, to working for John Mellencamp have taken KD Bantz on quite a journey. This has provided him with plenty of inspiration to draw on for his music.
Over two decades KD Bantz has gotten better and better and learned from some of the best. The most recent result is his fourth studio album The Blue Sky Sessions. With over three years put into writing it we expected nothing but the best, and we were not let down.
The 10-track record opens as it should with “Blue Skies and a Smooth Stretch of Road.” The blues flavor welcomes us in showing off supreme guitar talent reminiscent of a Carlos Santana sound on this one. We are in for something very pretty here.
KD Bantz puts it right out there on “Citizen” that his music is here to have a meaning. The droning deep bass beat sits back as the lyrics provide a raw declaration of Constitutional freedom, rights, and responsibility for all of us to make this world a better place. A lighter and more relaxed tone is taken on “Going To Mexico” aiming for a slower paced life.
The genre expansion does not end there though as KD Bantz shows off a reggae vibe on “River Of Hope” adding his own flavor and guitar leads to make it his own. The deep Blues show up on “September Kind OF Day.” This is a man who can truly take us anywhere he wants with the help of his trusty guitar.
The album seems to all lead up to the big emotional energy of the closer “We Can Make It If We Try.” At over 8 minutes long, KD Bantz takes his time building the story with his guitar leading the way. The full band comes in to pick up the pace and pour in emotions to match the vocals. Here we get a taste of pure rock that then evolves into a soaring guitar lead that brings us all to the side of the songwriter ready to go to war for what is right. Music that truly makes you feel something.
Keep up with KD Bantz on his WEBSITE for more.