NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- October 26, 2009 -- Country music's Big Kenny met U2's Bono at a concert stop in Norman, Oklahoma, on October 18. The two were introduced by a mutual friend due to their similar philanthropic passions.
About Big Kenny:
As one half of the genre-bending super duo Big & Rich, "Big Kenny" Alphin sold in excess of five million albums, opened sold-out stadium tours for Kenny Chesney, hit the amphitheaters with Tim McGraw, graced the covers of
Entertainment Weekly,
Billboard,
Country Weekly and was featured in such venerable magazines as
Rolling Stone,
People and many others. Big & Rich have been a mainstay on national TV having performed on every late night talk show, morning show and all things in between.
Also an accomplished songwriter, Big Kenny was named the BMI Songwriter of the Year in 2005, and has written several top 10 hits for artists such as Tim McGraw ("Last Dollar Fly Away"), Gretchen Wilson ("Here For The Party") and Jason Aldean ("Hicktown" and "Amarillo Sky"). Big Kenny's philanthropic efforts extend to the Southern region of Sudan, where he helped build the Kunyuk School for Girls in Akon in 2008, and to the American Appalachians, where he works to end mountaintop removal coal mining. His loveeverybody.com is a fledgling foundation that is generating good will throughout the community.
Big Kenny will release his debut solo CD, The Quiet Times of a Rock and Roll Farm Boy, on November 10, 2009. The compilation features ten songs written or co-written by Kenny and will be packaged in bio-degradable materials embedded with wildflower seeds suitable for planting. Kenny's new single, "Long After I'm Gone," can be downloaded for free at his website.