New York City based drummer Kenny Kramme, of The Joe Bonamassa Band has risen through the rock & blues ranks and established himself as a prolific drummer in New York City and nationwide.  He has played an endless sea of arena and club gigs, and has recorded from New York to
Los Angeles.

ALBUMS:
HAD TO CRY TODAY - JOE BONAMASSA, PREMIER ARTISTS RECORDS, 2004
BLUES DELUXE - JOE BONAMASSA, MEDALIST ENTERTAINMENT, 2003
SO, IT'S LIKE THAT - JOE BONAMASSA, MEDALIST ENTERTAINMENT, 2002
A NEW DAY YESTERDAY LIVE, 12/21/01 JOE BONAMASSA, MEDALIST ENTERTAINMENT, 2002
SLAM - JOE LYNN TURNER, PONY CANYON RECORDS, 2001
HOLY MAN - JOE LYNN TURNER, PONY CANYON RECORDS, 2000
UNDER COVER II - JOE LYNN TURNER, PONY CANYON RECORDS, 1999
GARBO TALKS - GARBO TALKS, MTM RECORDS, 1999
HURRY UP AND WAIT - JOE LYNN TURNER, PONY CANYON RECORDS, 1998
WE'RE ALL GOOD PEOPLE - THE FOURTH FLOOR, PARIDIGM ENTERTAINMENT,1996
See the almost full list of Kenny's album appearances in the Discography

PERFORMED AND TOURED WITH:
B.B. KING, GEORGE THOROGOOD AND THE DESTROYERS, BLUES TRAVELER, LITTLE FEET, BAD COMPANY, THE FABULOUS THUNDERBIRDS, BUDDY GUY, TED NUGENT, BONNIE RAITT, LYNYRD SKYNYRD, THE GIN BLOSSOMS, LOS LOBOS, JOHNNY LANG, THE SPIN DOCTORS, JOE COCKER, ZACK WYLDE, KISS, ALICE COOPER, THE SCORPIONS, VERNON REID, LESLIE WEST, RICK DERINGER, RICHIE HAVENS, PETER FRAMPTON...

TELEVISION:
CBS MORNING SHOW, FOX8 NEWS, CLEVLAND, OH COUNTRY MUSIC TELEVISION, VH1, KENNY HAS DONE COUNTLESS SESSIONS IN NYC, MOST RECENTLY MILLER LITE SESSIONS FOR THE JOEL SIMON MUSIC HOUSE, NYC


WHEN DRUMMERS are asked the question, "Who are your influences?" the most common answers are Buddy Rich, John Bonham etc. Although those names mesh into the growth of New York City based drummer Kenny Kramme, there's more to him then the obvious & obligatory rock gods. "It's The Music," he says. "You get a piece of music, take what it is and breathe life into it." It's that humble attitude focused right on the music, a natural style behind the kit, and relentless dedication to his craft that has made Kenny Kramme the monster behind the Joe Bonamassa Band and one of New York City's most sought after session drummers. Born and raised in Baldwin, NY, Kenny began playing drums at 15. A long island 70's punk raised on Phil Rudd, Neil Pert, Ian Paice, Buddy Rich, yes also John Bonham, and anything that could give a mad child drummer the needed rage.

After nearly 10 years of drumming with various bands, Kenny made that leap of faith across that great abyss called the East River and relocated to New York City. He set up shop in the musical nook of New York,  renting at  184 Thompson St,  Apartment 2R. Kenny remembers the awesome omen of possibilities when during his firstdays on Thompson St, while reading the biography of mastermind Frank Zappa, he suddenly learned Zappa's humble beginnings in NYC began at 182 Thompson St, Apartment 2R.  "I was so amazed that Zappa lived right next door and in the same numbered apartment as me. I ran downstairs, got into the building next door, ran up to 2R, Zappa's old apartment, and stood outside reading the rest of the Zappa Biography. I was in New York."

Determined to be the best drummer in New York Kenny settled into the dedication of endless gigs.  He began to hone his musicality through constant gigging with local musicians, singers and songwriters. Through the better part of the 1990's, Kenny could be found seven nights a week in one band or another, at one club or another on New York's infamous bleeding ground of Bleecker Street. "There was a period of a couple years when I was paying my rent with ten different bands, often with two sometimes three gigs a night." Kenny soon became THE drummer on Bleecker Street playing in countless bands through endless gigs. His constant presence on the scene led to jamming with such notables as Zack Wylde, Glen Tilbrook, Sean Koos, Tony Bruno, Tommy Burns, Sid McGuiness from Letterman and a smoke filled memory of many others.

By 1996, Kenny was the kick behind THE FOURTH FLOOR, a NYC comedy skit turned madhouse booze band signed to Paradigm Records. Through Paradigm Kenny met Bobby Held, a fantastic platinum selling record producer for artists like Alice Cooper, Joe Lynn Turner and a close friend of Kiss's Paul Stanley. Bobby produced THE FOURTH FLOOR'S  debut album "We're All Good People." To support their first release on Paradigm Kenny set out with the group to open for Alice Cooper, The Scorpions and the glam blazon return of Kiss on their 1996/97-reunion tour. Overnight Kenny went from playing Bleecker Street clubs to blasting his kit through massive front of house systems for arena crowds. When asked what it's like to play in front of twenty-five thousand people rather than in clubs he says:  "The difference is like riding a moped or piloting a war plane."  

Kenny and Bobby Held became good friends and developed a great working relationship. Over the next few years Kenny became Bobby's premier session drummer playing on Joe Lynn Turner's four most recent solo recordings, GARBO TALKS which includes tracks by Paul Stanley, and a host of other internationally released albums. He took those opportunities to prove he was more than a slam slop drummer good for the clubs only, but that he was a crafted and versatile machine behind the kit. Kenny's reputation as a solid in the pocket session player with an endless work ethic began to get around and has since grown into sessions with Leslie West, Rick Derringer, Vernon Reid, Akira Kajiyama, Jeff Golub, Al Pitrelli and Andy Timmons of Joe Jackson among others.

In addition to the sessions, to help pay the rent, ever the dedicated craftsman, Kenny rented a rehearsal studio on 8th Ave between 38th & 39th. Kenny's studio was stocked with his kit, amps, and a small PA system and was the perfect way for him to keep a place to practice.  From early 1997 through all of 1998 Kenny found countless bands that needed both a drummer and place to rehearse. He would play in every band he could, which gigs helped pay the rent at home and who would in turn help him pay for the rehearsal space. "I remember thinking that during those years if I didn't have a place to set up my kit I would have gone mad."

In late 2001, after a decade of relentless hard work and proficiency in NYC, Kenny's reputation had grown to a point of undeniable expertise.  His widely known brilliance as a live performer and his professionalism in the studio landed him an audition with the most shattering blues/rock guitar player, singer songwriter to emerge in decades, Joe Bonamassa. The audition was held at The Studio on West 30th in late 2001 and of among the many drummers who attended Kenny was clearly the man for the gig from the moment he sat behind the kit.    

With Kenny at the core of this mind blowing power trio, also featuring the consummate prolific Eric Czar on bass, Joe Bonamassa was finally ready to be realized. Bonamassa's sophomore record "So, It's Like That," produced by Grammy Award winning Cliff Magness who most recently produced Avril Lavigne's Let Go album, and protégé of Quincy Jones, was released by Medalist Entertainment on August 13th 2002.  The album is the startling product of Joe's brilliant singing/songwriting and guitar magic and the supernatural gathering of three overwhelming musicians.

This astonishing power trio, built around Kenny's kit, has launched "So, It's Like That" into national acclaim. The album received a full star review in Billboard magazine (their highest rating), a four star review in Guitar World and ultimately went number one on the Billboard Blues chart. "I am really happy about the So, It's Like That reviews," said Kenny. "Number one.  It's unreal and I love every minute of it." "So, It's Like That" was originally released as a two disc set, the second a DVD of a roaring live show filmed at Fort Wayne, Indiana on 12/21/01. The DVD is simply impossible to stop watching and features, among many highlights, a crowd smashing entrancing solo by Kenny. Although the two-disc set was a limited release there may be a few remaining on the random shelves of America. Following So, It's Like That the band eveolution continues through the release Blues Dluxe in August 2003 and Had To Cry Today in August 2004.

This shocking power trio has now thoroughly blasted onto the North American circuit touring at a feverish pace. Kenny has helped take the Joe Bonamassa Band from the Beacon Theatre in New York to The  Fillmore in  San Francisco, from El Paso Texas to Mont-Tremblant, Quebec, logging over 160,000 miles and any where from 200 to 220 gigs a year from 2002 through 2004. The band played alongside The Fabulous Thunderbirds, George Thorogood and The Destroyers, Blues Traveler, Buddy Guy, Ted Nugent, The Gin Blossoms, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Little Feet, Bonnie Raitt, Los Lobos, Johnny Lang, Bella Fleck, Three Doors Down, B.B. King, 38 Special, Cheap Trick, Kansas, Coco Montoya, Bad Company, Foreigner, Night Ranger, The Spin Doctors, Journey, and more. Kenny and the band have also been seen on various television shows nationwide including the CBS Morning Show from New York, Country Music Television, Fox 8 in Cleveland, OH, and Kenny hs done sessions at the famed Joel Simon Music Jingle House in New York including a Miller Lite commercial.

Even More exciting, November 2004 European tour dates are pending, where the band is now spreading across the airwaves.

From the sugar blazed tune blasting childhood of a long island inspired and fearless punk, to the endless smoke filled boozed clubs of blood thirsty Bleecker, Kenny Kramme has paid his dues through sheer perseverance, made his bones with the best of them at the strangest hours, and arrived where he belongs, alongside the likes of the best in music today. Be absolutely sure to see the Joe Bonamassa Band live as dedication and perfection explode with these three guys together. Not since Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble and since Jimi Hendrix and the Experience has such a power trio attacked the musical conscience.
Look for
So, It's Like That (some copies are two disc sets with the Live DVD),
A New Day Yesterday Live,
Blues Deluxe, and
Had To Cry Today at stores everywhere.
All Bio Photos:
S. K. Vemmer
Except Black & Whites
and funky shirt
AND EXCEPT
Blue Colored
which is
Joanie Da Goddess
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