Bio

Kenn Youngar was born in Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada. Having a father as a diplomatic courier and a mother working for The International Social Service Kenn’s family traveled non stop. By high school, Kenn had traveled the world several times over. Some of the highlights of his journey were Africa, Paris, England, Spain, Thailand, Philippines, and Austria to name a few.

His drumming career started in Paris when he spied a “California Percussion” kit in the window of a music store that he passed on his way to the bus stop everyday.
He really didn’t get serious with his drumming until moving to Canada for high school.

There he started a garage band called “Stone Angel” that only performed a few times, but gave him his first lesson in a group atmosphere rather than bashing away with other drummers in the basement to Faster Pussycat and Cinderella tapes.
His real taste at performing and touring was with a cover band called “Caught in the Act” That was an interesting project from the beginning. The singer was a blind, female albino. She was classically trained and had an amazing voice. She later moved state side to join the “Hindu Love Gods”

The next singer was French with a heavy accent. That was humorous in it’s self at times. That project lasted several years and Kenn honed his skills three sets a night with material ranging from Boston to Elvis all over the regional circuit.
During that project a band called “Boomerang” came back from a cross Canadian tour. They lost their drummer and were looking for someone to rehearse with to keep their chops up until they found a replacement. Kenn agreed that there may be better suited drummers out there and jumped at the chance to play with a original touring band. After a few weeks and a handful of shows the band welcomed Kenn on board and the search for a new drummer ended.

During that 4 year stint he had created or joined a total of 4 bands at once. He then had 5 drum sets, one for each band and one to practice on at home when he wasn’t out touring. Some of those bands included The Graveyard Shift, Spock, Jim and Bones, The Discount Escorts and Loose Booty. To keep himself even busier he often rented out his tour bus to other bands and played bus driver, roadie and light guy. Those trips took him on the road with bands such as Jackel, Love Chain and Voivod to name a few.

By 26 he had been playing the circuit for 10 years. Karoke was getting popular and clubs were no longer paying $2500 a night for bands to bring PA and lights. Kenn knew it was time to look at the bigger picture. It may be time to jump state side.
After a year of working his actual 1st real job at a graphic design and display firm, he realized that the money was great, but it was unfulfilling musically. His only band at that time was a three piece cover band called “Taste like Chicken” and had no serious merit to his future.

He lined up auditions in Phoenix, Arizona and San Jose, California. Phoenix was a good a place as any and he had family in San Jose if Arizona didn’t workout.

After stopping in Dallas, Texas the trip went no further. With $68.00 and a close to maxed out credit card, it seems like fate. The music scene was vibrant and alive compared to the dwindling scene in Canada. This looked like the place to grow roots. It was hard to miss the fact that Dallas was home to Pantera. Almost every bar in Deep Ellum either had a tribute to them or had a well used CD in the jukebox. It was a heavier scene than Ottawa and the local hot spot for bands named Deep Ellum was stomping grounds to bands such as Drowning Pool, Damage Plan and Hellyeah.

There he decided to form his own band. Having to jump the border with only a duffel bag was all good to fly under the customs radar, but having no drums was a bit of a problem when starting a band. The search was on for a cheap kit to keep his chops up. A garage sale would fix that problem when a vintage 4 piece silver sparkle 1966 Slingerland kit caught his eye and fit his budget of $300.00. He would later head back to Canada to pick up his tour bus and Drum Workshop kit before the border tightened it’s security after 9/11.

He first found a guitarist then a female singer fell in his lap when out one night in a country bar. Of all the places to find a vocalist, a country bar in Dallas, Texas was completely out of the ordinary. Blonde hair, blue eyes and stunning beauty was only second to her powerful, soulful voice. After a revolving door of bassists and guitarist, 11 songs were written. Unfortunately the singer came to realize that the stress of the music business wasn’t for her. So the search was on for a front man.
One night at a strip club proved to be better picking grounds for the rock and roll attitude that was missing. Singer Gary Parson introduced him self and the rest as they say is history.

Deriving from the plant that takes over a “host” plant, the name Strangleweed was born. Instantly the creative juices flowed and the pedal was to the metal. Countless shows, rock rallies and festivals spread the word and international tours came to fruition thanks to joining the Armed Forces Entertainment Program. TV, radio and sponsors jumped onboard as shows for the troops sent Strangleweed around the world to Japan, Singapore, Diego Garcia and beyond the Indian Ocean. Canadian, British, Australian and US troops witnessed the 7 year honing of their skills to capacity crowds. Some soldiers hadn’t been on land in 8 months and walked right into a Strangleweed show. It was an independent bands dream come true

If that wasn’t enough to keep Kenn’s plate full, his then guitarist Josh Allen invited him to play for his side project Turning Point after Strangleweed’s hiatus got prolonged due to offers of a national tour as main support for Adema. Within 4 weeks Turning Point had recorded a video and submitted it to Fox’s “The Next Great American Band; performed their 1st show at the American Airlines Center, recorded a 9 song album in 48 hours entitled “Advolo” (meaning “rushed” in Latin); toured with National recording act Adema through close to 20 states, and signed a management contract with 3 D Entertainment based out of Boston, Massachusetts.

In a world of people waiting for their ship to come in, it’s always refreshing to find someone that swims out their ship and takes the wheel of their own destiny.

No one has written the final book on rock and roll, and Kenn believes that only at the end will we truly know the secrets to this life or this animal that we call the music industry. But from his perspective it’s not the destination that counts but the journey.