San Diego Brothers Now Jersey Boys
March 19th, 2006San Diego Union-Tribune pop music critic George Varga features two San Diego brothers—Kevin and Ken Dow–who have made it big on Broadway as part of the band in Jersey Boys.
The two brothers – drummer Kevin, 32, and bassist-singer Ken, 35 have had a musical journey that has taken them from playing in myriad San Diego rock, jazz and hip-hop bands to doing two concerts as unofficial members of the legendary rock group Queen. Now, they are performing on Broadway in Jersey Boys, the hit musical they have been a part of since its inception two years ago at the La Jolla Playhouse.
The Dow brothers’ resumes also include the San Diego productions of The Buddy Holly Story, Forever Plaid and other musicals that enabled them to hone their theater chops. They were right at home when recording 22 of the Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons hits for the “Jersey Boys – Original Broadway Cast Album.â€
Ron Melrose, Jersey Boys’ musical director tells an interesting story that happened at the cast album recording session. Melrose states,
“Bob Gaudio, one of the original Four Seasons, was the album’s executive producer. As we finished track after track, he spoke more and more about the bass and drum performances by the Dow brothers. We did the entire album in five recording sessions, and they never missed a note or a beat. We got to the end, and – over champagne – Bob came up to me and pointed to Ken and Kevin. He asked me: ‘Do those guys know how good they are?’ I told him: ‘Probably not. But if they don’t, they will soon.’ â€
When hearing Gaudio’s comments, Ken said,
“That’s very high praise, coming from Bob, who used to work with (Frank) Sinatra.â€
Ken agreed,
“To hear that kind of compliment is a highlight of my musical life. That’s probably something to strive for in a music career – to cover up your mistakes really well, so that no one knows you made any.â€
With the show likely to earn a slew of Tony Award nominations in June, the Dows are anticipating an extended stay in New York City.
The more I listen to the show’s CD, the more amazed I am by Kevin’s talent. (Who plays in his place when he’s not filling that seat on stage?)
Also… it’d be great if someone could share an excerpt from April’s issue of Modern Drummer about Kevin; I doubt I’m going to run across the magazine. I found this posting and knew I certainly wasn’t imagining things when I saw what Bob Gaudio had to say about Kevin and Ken.
Comment by Audrey — March 12, 2007 @ 11:22 am