Just when you least expect it, Kevin climbs out from behind his monumental drum kit and transforms himself into Johnny Cash, and then a very scientific Thomas Dolby, before also becoming a“ Whip It”-singing Devo, with many more impersonations in the pipeline.
Don’ t think that everything is confined to the stage area. Every member of Smash Hit Carnival is equipped with radio linked instruments and microphones and will eagerly“ invade” the dance floor and even rush your table and seating area, to invite you to become part of the shenanigans!
So how on Earth did all this amazement happen to ignite right here on our very doorstep? To bring you the full picture I had to do quite a bit of background digging.
Kevin, the Carnival’ s founder, was born into a very established musical family here in Spokane. Kevin gained much inspiration from his mother, a popular local pianist and drummer. His grandfather played saxophone alongside Bing Crosby and Warner’ s Mel Blanc who was a singer at that time, and his great-grandfather played violin in the early part of the 20th century. Being constantly surrounded by music Kevin quickly followed his family’ s musical tradition and, like his mom, picked drums as his instrument of choice. As his drumming skills developed Kevin began attracting the attention of many other young up-andcoming local musicians, and early group collaborations started to develop.
Listening to early progressive rock albums galvanized Kevin into writing and arranging original material, resulting in the recording and release of several albums by his“ prog rock” band Madrigal. Their albums were well received regionally, and particularly in Europe, eventually leading to several radio airings and TV appearances.
It was around this period that highly proficient bass guitarist, vocalist and audio guru Steve Springer came into the picture. Steve had begun teaming up with Kevin on several early projects, some that included Madrigal, and because of his tight precision playing and keen progressive styling he easily locked into Kevin’ s timing exactness on drums, and together they formed a very precise and inventive rhythm section. This long-lasting association would play a key role in what would occur in later years!
Being that multi-tasking“ juggler” as I described him, Kevin at this time was also very busy working behind the scenes as a professional studio session drummer, creating various percussion tracks that would be, and still are, used as soundtracks in major films and TV productions. Weaving between recordings, he was also playing live shows for several other bands and musicians, one of which included Motown recording artist Peter Rivera, of the band Rare Earth, who’ s also now a Spokane resident.
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