Six Strings And A Story (E.P.)
June 2021
Previews and Order/Stream/Download link :
https://tonyfloydkenna.bandcamp.com/album/six-strings-and-a-story-e-p
‘Six Strings And A Story’ evolved following the release of ‘Wheels Of The World’ in Spring 2017. Constant Solo acoustic gigging and sessions in 2017/2018/2019/2020, guitar in hand travelling with the stories in the songs. Many new ones were written along the way even as I was introducing a new set with a bunch of the ‘Wheels Of The World’ songs included.
Originally planned to closely follow on Wheels Of The World a 2019 release date was scheduled. Tracks 1 to 7 were written and in various stages of arrangement and recording. Gigs and badges were branded and the continuous ‘tour’ of Dublin ensued. Six Strings And A Story became it’s own world. With the recording and release delayed the first three fully completed tracks (I Dreamed I Was A Good Man, We Can Always Be Kids and The Healing Power Of Love) were included on the Footsteps compilation in September 2019. These were essential to complete the ten year retrospective. As 2021 dawned one of the newer songs ‘Love You To Bits’ had been written and added to the Six Strings story. So with three of the tracks already out I decided to set the CD release as a five track E.P. of the 2021 recordings/mixes. This would close a chapter and allow a new canvas to be placed on the sonic easel.
(You can hear all eight tracks in the originally planned order plus Love You To Bits, on Bandcamp, also see below under 2022)
‘Love You To Bits’ was only completed during lockdown, first on the record, last to be recorded. The verses sprung from words and images in one of my poems to give opening line ‘Words fall, times change..’ written one Autumn day, having walked a tree lined country lane where the leaves were falling… one Season turning leading to another and another to come around to the same place again year after year… constant… I imagined the falling leaves as falling words which quietly carried and then told the story as the Seasons changed.. the refrain of ‘I love you to bits’ was floating around in my head and just seemed to land here as if fate had decreed it 
I started the recording one Saturday morning, lost all my work (due to a technical crash), restarted on Monday morning, no guide track just straight in and first take, did a quick mix after a few hours and what you hear is that mix. It seemed to sound fine and communicate exactly what the song is all about … used my brand new Vocal Mic for the very first time on this, first take lead and backing vocals. Exactly as I like, working quickly, capturing the excitement and energy that are present when you first start the recording. This can easily be lost with too many retakes looking for ‘perfection’.
‘My Safe Place’ – song two on the CD. I had the verses for this for a while, back as far as Winter 2019, Musically the chorus came to me but with no words, I was just singing variations on ‘Hey…’ over the chorus chords. I guess I picked the words ‘night’ and ‘day’ to phonetically mirror ‘Hey’ … and completed the story which the verses were telling .. Being very much a ‘play what you want, the way that you want and mix as you go’ producer I tried my usual fast way of working but still ran about six mixes and changed the bass line … ‘If you’re not there, the wind gets in …’
‘Dressed In Blue’ – the idea for this came in 2017, I experimented with chords and arrangement. I wanted to keep it acoustic, to reflect some of the style that had developed in my never ending acoustic gigs. Only settled on the final arrangement when recording. Having had some mic problems with this I re-did it with the new one getting a technically perfect recording but one which had lost the spontaneity and storyteller passion of the original, the original is what you hear, a little rough around the edges but performed as it should be. I like it.
Six Strings And A Story – Although this was the working title for the record as far back as 2017 it wasn’t a song then, just a title and a concept. I had been thinking of it being closely autobiographical but as I started writing, in 2018, it became much more, taking in other people’s lives as well. A story about and for all Performing Songwriters … ‘With six strings and a story he earns his bed and board’.
‘It’s Nice’ closes the record. A very simple little song about finding a peaceful quiet place and sitting back, relaxing and watching the world go by, as distinct from constantly driving it. I wrote the words having done exactly that one Autumn evening in 2016.
The vision for the next full album is already bubbling under since 2020, about fifteen songs at various stages of completeness, watch this space ..
Review by Robert Craven (2021 Release).
Six Strings And A Story
2022 – Album Version.
Yep, originally the CD was to be eight or nine tracks but having used the ones already finished on the Footsteps Of The Alien collection I decided to issue the remaining completed songs as a 5 track E.P. in June 2021. But … as time went by I felt they really should all be together and also I wanted to remix a few, having had a fresh listen after six months and having worked out how to ‘fix’ a few bits (where the multitracks were lost). So the 2022 edition comes out January 19th. as an 8 track album complete with the remixes (this is the version now on Bandcamp).
Love You To Bits
My Safe Place
Dressed In Blue
Six Strings And A Story
I Dreamed I Was A Good Man
We Can Always Be Kids
The Healing Power Of Love
It’s Nice
Having written ‘Am I A Good Man’ for The Wheels Of The World album it seemed to make sense to do this one … We Can Always Be Kids is exactly as ‘it says on the tin’ and The Healing Power of love … well, that’s a big story …
Selected Radio Plays.
November 15th. and later – See main Radio Play page:
Radio & Media Plays, Appearances, Covered Live & More.
November 8th. LCCR – Pat Foley.
‘What Colour Is The Sky ..’
November 7th. Sunday Groove with Andy John Bradford.
‘This Alien Has landed’
‘She’s The One’
November 5th. LCCR – Pat Foley
November 4th. LCCR – John O’Regan
‘Love You To Bits’
November 3rd. LCCR – John O’Regan
‘Love You To Bits’ – .. the wonderful Tony Floyd Kenna ..
October 28th. LCCR – Pat Foley, Outside Broadcast.
‘Love You To Bits’
October 26th. LCCR – John O’Regan
‘Love You To Bits’
October 24th. Sunday Grooves with Andy John Bradford.
‘Furnace Of Life’ by T.F.K. & Jed McConkey.
October 21st. LCCR – John O’Regan.
‘Love You To Bits’
October 20th. LCCR – John O’Regan.
‘Love You To Bits’
October 19th. LCCR – John O’Regan.
‘Love You To Bits’
October 18th. LCCR – Pat Foley.
‘Love You To Bits’
October 14th. LCCR – Nicky Woulfe.
‘Hearts Beating As One’
October 9th. 2021. LCCR – Pat Foley.
October 5th. 2021. LCCR – Nicky Woulfe.
‘Hearts Beating As One’
‘gorgeous song …’
October 1st. 2021. Pat Foley.
‘My Safe Place’
October 1st. 2021. Nicky Woulfe.
‘Love You To Bits’
September 30th. 2021. LCCR Nicky Woulfe.
‘Love You To Bits’
September 29th. 2021. LCCR Nicky Woulfe.
‘Love You To Bits’
September 27th. 2021. LCCR Pat Foley.
‘Love You To Bits’
August 27th. 2021. LCCR Pat Foley.
‘Love You To Bits’
‘My Safe Place.
August 17th. 2021. LCCR Pat Foley.
‘Love You To Bits’
August 16th. 2021. After Midnight with Noel Casey on Dublin City FM.
‘Love You To Bits’ (Last song on show)
August 9th. 2021. Pat Foley, Limerick City Community Radio.
‘Six Strings And A Story’
‘Love You To Bits’
Plus live interview.
July 21st. 2021. Pat Foley, Limerick City Community Radio.
‘Love You To Bits’
July 21st. 2021. Sean Brophy, Dublin City FM, First Radio Play.
‘Love You To Bits’
Six Strings in Co. Kildare … July 2021 (Gonz Houlihan).
‘.. bopping away here to it, a little gem, Six Strings And A Story, great title.. ‘
Kilkenny – August 2021 (Eamonn Walsh).
‘loving the music 
‘
Wexford – August 2021 (Brian Brody).
‘Blasting this in my kitchen since receiving it in the post .. ‘
*
Canada – August 2021 (Ritchy Nails)
England – August 2021 (Julia Helen)
France – August 2021 (Molly & Valérie)
U.S.A. – August 2021 (Tommy Mauro)
‘As you know I support all Indie Artist mostly because I am one . I have a buddy from over the pond , that is a rare find a wonderful songwriter & musician, Tony Floyd Kenna, from Killiney, Ireland. You can find him all over my news past , present and on Sound Cloud. He put out a new record SIX STRINGS AND A STORY, Check him out he is a great artist’
Artwork by Katie Ceekay. Photo by Tony.
Artwork and layouts by Tony. Photo by Juha Forsberg (Finland).
Love You To Bits – Link to photo video on FB.
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1226887611092010&id=100013123470048
Artwork and layouts by Tony. Photo by Bernie.
Artwork and layouts by Tony. Photo by Bernie.
Artwork and layouts by Tony. Photo by Courier Guy.
Artwork, layouts and photos by Tony.
Photo above, selfie by Tony.
tony floyd kenna music 