William Kenneth Alphin
(born in Culpeper, Virginia on November 1, 1963) is an American country music singer, known professionally as Big Kenny
. He and John Rich comprise the duo Big & Rich, which has recorded three studio albums for Warner Bros. Records and has charted ten singles on the Billboard
Hot Country Songs charts.
Before Big & Rich, Big Kenny recorded a solo album, Live a Little
, for Hollywood Records in 1999 (although it was not released until 2005) and fronted a band called luvjOi. Kenny has also written or co-written several of Big & Rich's songs with Rich, as well as singles for Gretchen Wilson, Jason Aldean, McBride & the Ride and Tim McGraw. His first solo single, "Long After I'm Gone", was released to country radio on August 3, 2009.
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BIG KENNY TICKETS
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Biography
William Kenneth Alphin was born on November 1, 1963 in
Culpeper, Virginia. He was raised on a farm. In his 20s, Alphin worked at a
construction company, but lost his money during the
savings and loan crisis.
He later decided to move to
Nashville, Tennessee, locking his house and leaving his possessions behind. There, he found work at
Famous Music.
[1]
Solo career and luvjOi
Crediting himself as Big Kenny, he signed to
Hollywood Records in 1999 and recorded the album
Live a Little
for the label. The album's release was delayed repeatedly, and was ultimately canceled, and Hollywood Records retained control of the songs for five years.
[2] One of these songs, "Under the Sun", was featured in the
soundtrack to the film
Gun Shy
.
[3]
After departing the label, he founded the band luvjOi, which included Adam Shoenfeld (
guitar), Larry Babb (
drums) and Justin Tocket (
bass guitar).
Although luvjOi had a degree of local success, including the single "Discoball" and two albums,
the band eventually broke up. By this point in his career, Big Kenny had befriended
John Rich, formerly the bass guitarist and co-lead vocalist of
Lonestar. The two founded
Big & Rich in the early 2000s after years of collaboration, including co-writing
McBride & the Ride's 2002 single "
Amarillo Sky" as well as "She's a Butterfly", an album cut for
Martina McBride.
[4] Big & Rich also founded the
MuzikMafia, an association of singer-songwriters which also included
Shannon Lawson,
Gretchen Wilson and
Cowboy Troy.
Big & Rich
Big & Rich signed to
Warner Bros. Records in 2004. The duo recorded three studio albums for the label:
Horse of a Different Color
(2004),
Comin' to Your City
(2005) and
Between Raising Hell and Amazing Grace
(2007), as well as two
EPs and ten
singles, including the Number One hit "
Lost in This Moment".
Both halves of the duo wrote songs for other artists, in addition to co-writing most of Big & Rich's material. Big Kenny's co-writing credits include "
Here for the Party" for Gretchen Wilson and "
Hicktown" for
Jason Aldean (who also released a
cover of "Amarillo Sky"). He is also the sole writer of
Tim McGraw's Number One hit "
Last Dollar (Fly Away)".
Return to solo career
Big & Rich went on hiatus in 2008, as Kenny had to rehabilitate a neck injury that occurred when he was hit by a drunk driver in 2001. He launched his official online community at www.bigkenny.tv in mid-2009. There, he made his first solo single, "Long After I'm Gone", available as a free download. It was released to radio in August 2009 as the first single from his second solo album,
The Quiet Times of a Rock and Roll Farm Boy
, and it has entered the country charts. Kenny also became a judge on the television talent show
Can You Duet
.
Personal life
On January 23, 2005, he married Christiev Carothers. She has two sons from a previous marriage: Christopher Carothers, Cameron Carothers, and together they have one son, Lincoln William Holiday Alphin, born on November 2, 2005.
In October 2007, Big Kenny traveled to
Darfur,
Sudan to deliver medical and educational supplies.He also traveled back to Akon, a remote village in Northern Bahl Ghazel in Sudan for a similar Mission together with My Sisters Keeper Group
[5]
Discography
Studio albums
| Year
| Album details
| Peak positions
|
| US Country
|
| 2005
| Live a Little
- Released: March 1, 2005
- Label: Hollywood Records
| —
|
| 2009
| The Quiet Times of a Rock and Roll Farm Boy
- To be released
- Label: Love Everybody/Bigger Picture
| TBR
|
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart
|
Singles
| Year
| Single
| US Country
| Album
|
| 2009
| "Long After I'm Gone"A
| 48
| The Quiet Times of a Rock and Roll Farm Boy
|
Music videos
| Year
| Video
| Director
|
| 2009
| "Long After I'm Gone"
| Christian Holiday/Big Kenny
|
References
- Feeling the Luv After departing Hollywood Records, "Big Kenny" Alphin moves on
- Feeling the Luv After departing Hollywood Records, "Big Kenny" Alphin moves on
- ''Gun Shy Soundtrack'' review
- Big & Rich biography
- Big Kenny delivering school supplies to Sudan