Santino’s front man goes solo

With the number of aspiring artists hoping to make it big on the local scene, exposure is crucial. One musician, already part of a popular group, is hoping to cash in on his solo performances. Jacqueline Woods reports.

Jcaqueline Woods, Reporting

He’s no stranger to the music scene, however, when he entertains, Kenneth Gladden is usually with a group. Gladden, better known as Kenny G, is the lead singer for Santino’s Messengers Band. It’s an eight-year-old relationship that continues, but on this day, we found Kenny G alone, not out in the cold but stirring up some heat of his own.

Kenneth Gladden, Singer/Songwriter

“I’m in Messengers and you want to break out, like Messengers bring out they’re own release, and that’s Messengers, but when I bring out my own stuff, that’s me.”

“I wanted to do a release like three years ago, and I finally come up with it. I say, okay, time for Kenny G get up and do something on his own, and so I decide to start to write. But before that, too much time you get people that say all we know to do is copy, well this is the first time I bring out something original and everything is original.”

Gladden says the production did not happen overnight. A lot of the time was spent composing the songs.

Kenneth Gladden

“Sometimes lyrics would come to mind that you really want to put down, but after that you say, this no really sound good and then from there on you say, okay, we’ll change this to this and that. So that’s the thing that takes up most of the process, the songs.”

One song speaks of the increase of violence in society that affects people’s lives and the development of the country.

Kenneth Gladden

“Concerning the violence, everyday in the country and it’s getting worst. I sing about too much violence, let us stop the violence. It’s like everyday you get up you hear on the news that somebody get juk, somebody get shot, and that’s one of the things that we need to look at. And by doing this in my song, I think it could touch some people and let them sit back and realise that the violence is hectic in our country.”

Gladden says he intends to continue to perform with Santino’s Messengers Band, but has plans to produce other solo releases. Reporting for News 5, Jacqueline Woods.

“Breakin Out” is available at local record shops for twenty-five dollars each.