The biography of Kevin Russell "a true guitar man."
Motor-City-born and raised, Kevin Russell has mastered a unique blend of rock, blues and soul -Kevin says; “you see, it's a Motor City thing!”
Kevin's solo acoustic record "Stripped" was released to rave reviews. It was recorded "live' at San Francisco's premier blues club "Biscuits and Blues.
Kevin is a contemporary artist known in hip musical circles and by fans worldwide. He is a provocative player and his daring spirit is always apparent.
Long-time friends, other artists, and fans all seem to share a common view - you can feel Kevin's heartbreaks, struggles and triumphs when he plays. It connects us all to the music!
Kevin formed the classic rock band 707. Taking the music industry by storm, he scored rock radio classics such as "I Could Be Good For You" and "Megaforce". 707 toured and played arenas throughout the 80's. After calling 707 quits, Kevin joined forces with Bill Kreutzman and the late Brent Midland (Grateful Dead) to form Kokomo. They played sold-out show after sold-out show all over the U.S.
Next, Kevin got together with (Stray Cats) Slim Jim Phantom and Lee Rocker, along with David Bowie guitarist Earl Slick. The band scored an MTV heavy rotation favorite, "Men Without Shame". Kevin toured and recorded with the band, but left the band to join forces with Clarence "The Big Man" Clemons (Bruce Springsteen's E St. Band). Shortly thereafter, the two musical philanthropists put together a record and touring band and hit the road. as The Red Bank Rockers. Playing sell out shows across the U.S. and Europe these shows would often feature special guests like; Joe Walsh (The Eagles), Bruce Springsteen, Ringo Starr, Jackson Brown, Jon Bon Jovi,& Ritchie Sambora (Bon Jovi), Levon Helm (The Band), Dr. John…just to name a few. Good times and even better music!
Kevin was also doing plenty of recording sessions and making records with other artists as a much "sought-after guitarist." Namely Whitesnake while working side by side on many records with producer Mike Clink (of Guns & Roses fame.) Nils Logren, Levon Helm, Sea Hags, Bob Gaudio, Ted Nugent, The Temptations, Joe Simon, Frankie Valli, etc.
Kevin is considered a very soulful guitar player as well as a singer/songwriter and record producer. So he decided to use that soul to produce music for TV & Films ; Weird Science, Nightmare On Elm St. Pt. IV, Rug Rats The Movie, Murder In Greenwich, Fall Into Darkness, Sci-Fi Network, Grown Ups, Megaforce, Secret Of My Success, Thief, No Small Affair, Tony Hawks III ,Levi's, Nat Geo and the list goes on.
Kevin produced blues & rock cd’s for guitar legends; Rick Derringer, Leslie West, Pat Travers, Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple) , Steve Lukather (Toto), Rickey Medloce (Lynyrd Skynyrd),ZakkWylde (Ozzy Osbourne) Steve Hunter (Alice Cooper), George Lynch (Dokken) , Billy Sheehan (Daivd Lee Roth).
In 2006 Kevin's CD "My Generation" was the #2 most added CD on smooth jazz & soul radio across the nation for 8 weeks in row!
Having recently finished over 380 shows in the cast of the Broadway Smash Hit Show "Jersey Boys" (NYC on Broadway & San Francisco's Curran Theater)
Kevin is now back doing what he loves to do most and that is playing his style of contemporary rock-blues "live" in support of the new releases ; "Stripped", "Soul Generation" & " Kevin Russell Best Of Vol. 1".
Kevin had a song featured in the block buster film "Grown Ups" starring Adam Sandler.
Today, Kevin has his own record label, Guitar Slinger Records, and, state-of-the-art, digital recording studio. As a solo artist Kevin has many cd’s released and they keep coming!