Meet Kenny Feinstein | Musician

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kenny Feinstein and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kenny, do you have some perspective or insight you can share with us on the question of when someone should give up versus when they should keep going?
I am so grateful to be able to do what I love, so I don’t want to give up. I practice gratitude every morning. The first thing I do is meditate, and during this time I think about how grateful I am to be alive again today. Another day to do what I love.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I play music. I started doing it when I was 12 years old. The first time I made money playing music I was playing nirvana songs outside of a store while I waited for my parents to come out. I got hooked on this feeling. I spent the rest of my life chasing that feeling. I had much success with my band (Water Tower) up until I fell into addiction. This changed everything about my life and career. I overcame these challenges with a lot of therapy, self-help, diet and lifestyle changes and the support of friends and family. I learned that gratitude is an important habit to cultivate. I moved to LA from Portland to try and run away from my problems, but my problems came with me, so I continued my practice of meditation, eating right, loving my friends and family, and playing music on the streets of LA. Many people here in LA have seen me playing fiddle/banjo/guitar on freeway offramps. As a band we have been doing this out here for 7 years. We have spent time busking (street performing) on the Crenshaw offramp (Compton), the Pacific Avenue (Glendale off 134), The Los Feliz exit (I-5) and the Burbank (170) offramp. These are not the only ones you may have seen us at, but these are ones that we have spent a lot of time at.  The reason I decided to do this is because I wanted to have a job that enables me to play music for people whenever I want. LA is tough for that because to get a show here isn’t easy. It is known as “pay to play”, which means you have to guarantee people show up, and if they don’t you owe the venue money after the show. So luckily we found a way to play and get paid in LA. Plus we get to meet all kinds of cool people around the city. Last week we were performing and Bill Burr drove up and handed us a $20. The next day he came back and our banjo player Tommy Drinkard said to him “You are my favorite comedian”, to which Bill responded: “You are my favorite banjo player.” It is interactions like these that make what we do the best job for us. We get paid by people to share the joy of our music. What more could we want? In my book we have “made it”.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I would take them to The Last Bookstore on Earth. Such a great store to get lost in. The LA section has many great books as well as a great Joan Didion section. I would tell them to go to Playa Del Rey and eat at The Good Pizza. It is literally the best pizza I have ever had. I would say go see a show at the Echo in Echo Park. They put on amazing shows there. I would tell them to shop at Erewhon because they might see a celebrity, or pay $20 dollars for a small salad (good salad, organic). I would also recommend they walk Echo Park Lake because it is beautiful, and you can view the city there. Go drink at Seven Grand downtown on a monday because they have bluegrass music there every monday. Oh, and check out the Silverlake Lounge where Third Eye Blind just filmed their new music video… not to mention I run an event there every third sunday from 12-5 called Hillbilly Hype House…

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would like to shoutout to Joanne Ledesma, my manager. She has assisted in helping my career thrive.

Website: www.watertowerband.com

Instagram: watertowerband

Twitter: watertowerband

Facebook: watertowerband

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/watertowerband

Other: Tiktok: @watertowerband Twitch @watertowerband