So how in the world do I summarize the crazy, careening ride that I call my life? Well, maybe I should just stick to the facts. I was born and raised in Kirkwood, Missouri, the youngest of four opinionated, imaginative kids raised by Mark and Annabelle Renick. Lived at the legendary 1050 Barry Court address for umpteen years. Grew up surrounded by energetic playmates who helped nurture my imagination even further; the most significant of these were Karen Ahlquist (nee Bowles), Melinda and Julie Farrar, and the late Patty Burns. Attended Kirkwood High School, where evocative memories and existential angst occurred in equal measure. Grew up listening to glorious 60s pop music, worshipping the Beatles but listening to everything with attentive ears. Discovered Neil Young, and that was more than a milestone; Neil's music resonated deeply with me, and set me on a unique new creative path. This website and my music would likely not have happened but for Neil's enduring influence on my life. In the late 70s, I discovered Brian Eno, and this, too, altered my creative aesthetic in a series of profoundly influential waves. Eno's ambient music and ideas about creativity were intoxicating for me, and made me realize there was a whole world of creative options out there.
I attended Webster University, earning my B.A. in "English with a Journalism Emphasis." Won a St. Louis Journalism Foundation Scholarship in 1981. Wrote for the Webster University Journal like mad, getting attention for my music and film reviews, and various feature stories. Evocative memories and existential angst again occurred in equal measure. Met four of my closest and most amazingly talented friends: Ted Moniak, Debra Mitchell, Tina Carl and Annalise Raziq. They continue to enrich my life in surprising ways. Also offsetting my intensity during some troubled years were Brett and Barry Brazier, brothers who proved a perfect foil to my typically brooding disposition. It's hard to maintain that "tortured artist" blather when you're laughing your butt off.
My work life has been a little erratic; my creative impulses tended to make me restless. Significant jobs included managing a record store called Record Bar in the late 70s (got a terrific music library out of it), working in Chicago as a news clipper and freelance writer 1984-1985, refining my skills as a proofreader and copy editor at the Riverfront Times from 1996-2000, and serving as proofreader at top advertising/marketing agency Momentum North America from 2000-2008. I was laid off that November, an event that kicked off the odyssey you are reading about right now.
I've written reviews and articles for many publications in the St. Louis area through the years, including Concert News, Esprit, Metro, Reverb, Jet Lag, the Riverfront Times, NoisyPaper (for which I served as Managing Editor for two years), Sauce and Playback:STL, a wonderful online entity that houses many of my significant writings at www.playbackstl.com. I've also contributed reviews to the Scandinavian music site It's a Trap, the ambient music site 2350.org and amazon.com. I've completed a hefty book of poems and autobiographical writings titled SELF, which I may edit and try to actually SELF-publish. And I am working on a novel, with the working title SHAEMON, which is a combination horror/love story about an ethereal young woman named Sabine who has an aunt that is...not all there. And in 2008, I collaborated on an ambient and spoken word CD titled The Road to Olandra with Canadian soundscape artist John Sobocan; the disc will finally be released in summer of 2010.
I love writing songs and playing guitar. Since Fall of 2008 I have been playing gigs as “Kevin Renick and Friends,” a trio including lead guitarist Ned Watson (of the Blue Lemmings) and vocalist Kathy Pour, with guest appearances by other musical colleagues. People say I sound like Neil Young, but I can also hear the influence of other artists like Paul Simon, Nick Drake and my favorite Norwegian girl group Ephemera, in my sound. My dream for many years was to record my own songs. Many different things interfered with this pursuit, but at last I've released my debut recording, titled Close To Something Beautiful. Also out is the official soundtrack for Up In The Air, which I'm honored to share with my musical heroes Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. And I am currently in the early stages of recording a CD about grief and transition, as a tribute to my mother, Annabelle Renick.
Mom was my best friend in the world, and she passed away in April 2009. Life has been different ever since. But surprises await, and any time you're lucky enough to have devoted friends, or to meet cool, visionary artists like Jason Reitman, all things are possible...
Kevin's Official Biography
Who is that guy singing “Up in the Air,” the high, breathy tune playing as the closing credits roll in the new Paramount Picture of the same name, directed by Jason Reitman (Juno, Thank You For Smoking) and starring George Clooney? That guy is singer-songwriter Kevin Renick, and his wonderful, evocative little song about the uncertainty of life may not only cause moviegoers to stay in their seats a few extra minutes at the tail of Reitman’s new film, but it appears on the soundtrack to Up in the Air alongside contributions from artists such as CSNY and Elliott Smith. Renick's song is also featured, in a fresh new studio version, on his debut full-length CD, Close To Something Beautiful, now available on CDBaby.com and itunes (see next page).
The story of
In the Fall of 2008, after an unexpected layoff from his long-standing advertising agency job as a proofreader, Renick was moved to take his dream public. With guitar in hand, he began performing live for the first time – mainly to an audience of close friends and family – bravely including a handful of originals on his set lists, which mostly consisted of Neil Young, Dylan and Beatles covers. Only a few months later, in February 2009, Renick’s chance to meet director Jason Reitman at a college lecture provided him with the opportunity of a lifetime. Renick handed Reitman a cassette tape featuring his original composition titled “Up in the Air” and told Reitman the story of his recent layoff. After Reitman looked at the primitive format and wondered aloud where he would be able to listen to the cassette, Renick admits he left the encounter without a lot of expectations. But thanks to Reitman’s unique diligence in seeking out a cassette player, the song – which echoed the movie's theme and aesthetic – would not only become the title track of Reitman's new movie, but the version appearing in the film would be the same one Renick recorded that night, sitting on the couch in front of his old cassette recorder, specifically to give to Reitman.
"I find songwriting an immensely challenging and rewarding process,” says Renick. “It's weird, though — for the first time I’m on the other side – someone is researching my music and interviewing me! It's surreal.”
Renick’s biggest musical influence by far is Neil Young, but his other major influences include The Beatles, Paul Simon, Nick Drake, Brian Eno and a whole host of lesser-known Scandinavian singer-songwriters, whose “intimate, upfront, usually melancholy vocal styles” have long entranced him.
With Close to Something Beautiful now released, Renick is busy promoting it with concert appearances, interviews and active communication with fans on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Official-Kevin-Renick-Page/220775148224?ref=ts) and MySpace (http://www.myspace.com/kevinrenick). Plans for other artistic ventures are under way, including the imminent release of an Eno-inspired ambient/spoken word collaboration with Canadian soundscape artist John Sobocan entitled The Road to Olandra, which has already been recorded, and the publication of a volume of compiled original poetry and “existential prose” entitled Self. But Renick’s most heartfelt project will surely be a planned CD commemorating his mother, who died in April 2009, and the stages of grief one endures after a profound loss. Most of the songs for this project, which bears the working title Our Mother's Place, have already been completed, and the disc will feature contributions from many of the musicians Renick has met over the past few years. Some of the tunes, such as “Light a Candle” and “The Woods Around That House” have become favorites at Renick's regular gigs in St. Louis.
As for the unique journey Renick now finds himself embarking upon, thanks to an old cassette recorder and a little help from Jason Reitman and Paramount Pictures, Renick couldn’t be more humbled and amazed. “I truly love the movie,” he says, “and I’m captivated by the parallels between my song and the movie's underlying themes. I’m grateful to Jason Reitman for opening this door for my music, and proud to be a small part of this terrific film.”
A. Nonymous
