Water Towers, Global Travels & Overcoming Addiction Feat. Kenny Feinstein

In this episode Durell is joined by singer, songwriter, music teacher, and the front-man of the folk band called Water Tower Kenny Feinstein. Durell and Kenny begin the episode talking about him being the driving force behind the band. Kenny shares that he’s originally from Northern California but spent his early years overseas due to his dad being an executive in international business. Kenny shares that he came back to the states to finish off high school in Portland, Oregon. Durell and Kenny talk about his earliest memories of music and he distinctly remembers being him crawling into his brother’s room and finding a cassette tape of Paula Abdul in the trash can and putting it into the cassette player and loving her music.

Durell and Kenny talk about the ability to see other parts of the world and the opportunity to visit places and how that really makes a difference. Durell shares that he’s been to six different countries and that attending the Midem conference is what helped to create these great opportunities to see the world through music. Kenny shares that he has booked 7 UK tours but he remembers booking the first one on Myspace in 2009 and how that not only got his fans excited in the states but really helped to create the building blocks of establishing a worldwide fanbase. Durell talks about creatives being able to understand that the journey to success takes time and that comparing themselves to other people's experiences will ultimately cause you as an artist to go crazy. Durell shares that the main goal for indie creatives should be to find their tribe and serve them.

Kenny shares that early on when he first started his band (originally called the Water Tower Bucket Boys) he thought that he had to follow and emulate his musical heroes and that started him down a path of battling with addiction and now that he is headed down a path of sobriety he only wants to put clean water into the bucket and this has been the driving force behind his rebrand. Durell says that when indie creatives begin to chase fame there’s no metric to quantify it and fame is something that is always fleeting. Durell and Kenny talk about how most people need to be ready for success and often times aren’t.


Kenny and Durell talk about the reason he left Portland was because of how much it rained there. One of the ways he funded his move to Los Angeles was to hone his craft by playing for tips in the early morning traffic. Durell says that everyone’s story is different and finding what works is what really matters. Durell and Kenny talk about his experiences as a music teacher and also playing as a hired gun for other people as what brings him joy to be able to do what he loves. Durell shares that he loves to share knowledge and the opportunity to make a difference can never be taken lightly.

Kenny shares about his experiences producing for several incredible gifted artists like Tim Armstrong, Coffey Anderson, Mondo Cozmo. He has also had the opportunity to work on some great projects for Disney, Sesame Street as well as teaching at the School Of Rock and being featured on Netflix. Durell and Kenny speak about how his global travels around the world have intertwined directly with his songwriting which came to show with a song called “Fromage” which was inspired by a trip he took to Paris. He shares that music is a reflection of what is going on around him and he loves to channel that energy into his songwriting.

Durell and Kenny end the episode talking about the origin and history of his band Water Tower. He said when he first started the band it was about having fun and then by the time he was 21 years old touring the world he knew he wasn’t ready for that kind of success personally. He talks about signing with an indie label in Portland in 2013 and it took the band 7 years to put out their album called “Fly Around” and all of the experiences up until now have shaped the way he looks at the journey.


For More Information On Kenny and his band Water Tower, please visit their website:

https://www.watertowerband.com/