RIP Phil Kennemore; October 20, 1953 ~ January 7, 2011

Today, I am PROFOUNDLY bummed. Phil Kennemore, bassist and one of the founding members of one of my favorite bands of all time, Y&T, passed away this morning at the age of 56.

For those who may not know, Y&T was a Bay Area hard rock band that started in 1974. They began as Yesterday And Today and then shortened their name to Y&T in 1981. Y&T was one of those bands that was never flashy or "gimmicky", and as such, they were unfortunately never a mega commercial success. They just came at you with an assault of kick ass rock-n-roll. But the rest of the world's loss was the Bay Area's gain. As an SF Bay Area native coming of age in the late 70's/early 80's, I always thought of Y&T as "my' band. It was such an awesome thing to have such an incredible band in my "backyard" so to speak, and I was always so proud to spread the gospel of Y&T everywhere I went. I've seen them live everywhere from small, intimate clubs like the Old Waldorf to mega venue's like Day On The Green, and one thing never changed...they always kicked ass!

Even though they never hit the "mega heights" that other bands might of hit, I always held onto that pride that Y&T belonged to the Bay Area and were the superstars of our hearts. I was so glad that the band has continued on to this day, and I had the pleasure of meeting the band when in more recent times they would hold "meet and greets" after shows. I was able to tell my heroes how much their music meant to me.

I remember seeing them at the Independent in San Francisco where they played two of their seminal albums; Black Tiger & Mean Streak in their entirety. Two days later a friend and I were flying to Vegas and heard some people on the plane talking about going to see this "kick ass" rock band at a club in LV that night. The band, of course was Y&T. We had no idea they were playing in Vegas, but automatically made a change in plans and went to the show. As we were walking up to the venue, I saw Phil near a backstage door. I approached him and told him how great the show was a couple of night before in SF. He actually remembered me from the meet & greet. We shared a smoke and talked about the band. He was a genuinely sweet guy. No big time "rock star" ego, just an awesome soul!

Today is a sad day indeed. A member of my "musical" family has left, but his impact on my life will never be diminished. Rock on Phil. Thank you for being part of the soundtrack of my youth! You will never be forgotten!

This is a song that Phil sang lead on from their second album in 1978. The song is called "Stargazer" and it seems very appropriate at this time.



This one is called "God Only Knows", which Phil wrote. His words are quite touching at this moment, as the last lines of the song says..."Lay my head down, turn out the light, as I pray it all will be all right, silently I close my eyes, as I whisper to the world, goodnight"





"Lay my head down, turn out the light
As I pray it all will be all right
Silently I close my eyes
As I whisper to the world, goodnight"
~ Phil Kennemore