Lighthearted and Grim

Been down this road
Know where it goes
Burned all those bridges
Seen all those doors close
Can't help but wonder
How many more times?
I'll fall and I'll stumble
'fore I lose my mind

The line between right and wrong
Has been wearing thin
I'll keep on going strong
Be lighthearted and grim

A call in the darkness
Cries out to the light
No dawn is coming
Put an end to this night
Can't help but wonder
How many more years?
I'll fall and I'll stumble
Blinded by tears

The line between right and wrong
Has been wearing thin
I'll keep on going strong
Be lighthearted and grim

Now the story's been written
The tale has been told
The joy and the heartache
More precious than gold
Can't help but wonder
Has it taken its toll?
I'll fall and I'll stumble
Then I lose control

The line between right and wrong
Has been wearing thin
I'll keep on going strong
Be lighthearted and grim

K.S. Kinsella
09-26-13

Kevin Kinsella - vocals and nylon string guitar

Recorded and mixed at Potter Studios 
Mount Arlington, NJ

Lighthearted And Grim (demo)

Black River Road

Born to this world a bastard’s boy, fair bet he'll swing a highwayman
Never knew love, or an ounce of joy, hits the ground running just as fast as he can
He hits the ground running as fast as he can
Down on Black River Road
Down on Black River Road

He was cursed and beaten more often than fed, forged and tempered by hate and pain
Never knew better than the life he led
Mercy never spoke his name
Pity never heard his name 
Down on Black River Road, 
Down on Black River Road

He took what he needed and never looked back, infamy was his fame
All that he saw was all he lacked
Losses were his only gains
Losses were his only gains
Down on Black River Road
Down on Black River Road

Live by the sword, maybe die by the knife - to this fate, born and bred
When the Hangman’s noose ended his life, and not a single tear was shed
Not a single tear got shed
Down on Black River Road
Down on Black River Road

Born to this world a bastard’s boy, 
Swung from the gallows a highwayman
Never knew love, or an ounce of joy
He hits the ground running just as fast as he can
He hits the ground running as fast as he can
Down on Black River Road
Down on Black River Road

K.S. Kinsella 
06-24-11

Kevin Kinsella - vocals, guitar and tambourine

Recorded and mixed at Potter Studios 
Mount Arlington, NJ

Black River Road (demo)

I don't write too many instrumentals, but this one just found it's way out of my classical guitar one afternoon. 

I hope that you enjoy it, for a live recording I'm pretty happy with it.

Kevin Kinsella - nylon string guitar
Mother Nature - ambient sounds

Recorded live one early evening on the porch in Mount Arlington, NJ

Almost Home

Something improvised 20-odd years ago on the mountain dulcimer that my father built for me. The recording was sent to him as part of a Fathers' Day gift.

The Big Kid (basement tapes)

A Tom Waits-inspired rambling narrative, cobbled together from turns of phrase and snatches of life, momentarily captured in song.

Broken Promises

Took a slice from the moon, the night ended too soon
A rusted guitar string rings flat
With a lumbering saunter, a clumsy sort of grace
He moved like a drunken tomcat
Still, the melody played; it was uphill both ways
Creaky floor boards belt out a song
The corner store's empty and the choir has gone home
All the words, gotten terribly wrong
Broken promises, discarded dreams
Broken promises, unraveling seams

So you go hit the bottle, sometimes it hits back
Other days you've just fallen from grace
Your thoughts are all dirty as you call out "Beer-thirty"
With an idiot grin on your face
The ashes, they scatter as you seek out what matters
Busted cuckoos chime out Twelve Past Dawn
You search for a highway or maybe a by-way
You've been traveling on all along
Broken promises, you can't take them back
Broken promises, the face in the mirror is cracked

The wind in the willows blows cold
Words left unspoken never grow old
Reach for a brass ring, maybe tell yourself something
Like "Burn out, don't just fade away"
Tomorrow's a new day, just like it was Tuesday
But Wednesday and Thursday have gone
Memory falters as you kneel at the altar
Of a lifetime of dancing and song
Broken promises you made to yourself
Broken promises that you call something else
Broken promises, you can't take them back
Broken promises, the face in the mirror is cracked
The face in the mirror is cracked
The face in the mirror is cracked
The face in the mirror...


"He was an extremely tall midget, who walked with a lisp."

K.S. Kinsella
09-25-13

Kevin Kinsella - vocals, guitars and bass

Recorded and mixed at Potter Studios 
Mount Arlington, NJ

Broken Promises (demo)

A dark tale of murder, revenge and regret.

Badlands (The Ballad of Billie Bluff)
"There was once a young'un, name of Billie Bluff, lived on a farm with family near the fringes of the Badlands. This is Billie’s story."

Got no angel looking over my shoulder, no one to miss me when I'm gone
Another life ended and another day older, my time is coming and it won't be long

My wife and lover are a rifle and a six gun
Home and hearth, a saddle and a fire
There's times I kill if I know I can't run
I'll never be free 'til I walk my last mile
Got no angel looking over my shoulder, no one to miss me when I'm gone
Another life ended and another day older, my time is coming and it won't be long

Burned the farm, killed the ranch hands
Then they shot my ma and pa
I hunted down every last man
Now I'm wanted by the law
Got no angel looking over my shoulder, no one to miss me when I'm gone
Another life ended and another day older, my time is coming and it won't be long

Leave my boots on when you bury me 
With two gold coins, cover my eyes
I need the gold to pay the Ferryman
Where I'm headed, no surprise
Got no angel looking over my shoulder, no one to miss me when I'm gone
Another life ended and another day older, my time is coming and it won't be long

You never start your life to go bad
Can't always choose who deals your hand
Upon a time, I stood a slim chance
Died long ago in the Badlands
Got no angel looking over my shoulder, no one to miss me when I'm gone
Another life ended and another day older, time is coming and it won't be long

Got no angel looking over my shoulder, no one to miss me when I'm gone
Another life ended and another day older, time is coming and it won't be long

"And just like everyone else, that's how Billie's story ends."

K.S. Kinsella
04-08-15

Kevin Kinsella - vocals, guitar, slide guitar and drums.

Recorded and mixed at Potter Studios 

Mount Arlington, NJ

Badlands - The Ballad of Billie Bluff (demo)

“Acid Country”, written sometime in the end of 2007 or early 2008, after hearing a Lucinda Williams on PBS playing a country waltz.

I’ll Be Gone

Stood in a shadow in a valley
Felt the cool breeze on the hill
You went your way, I went my way
Told you one day we’d meet again
We never will

I hear the rain beat ‘gainst my window
Storm clouds heavy in the sky
Can’t tell you all the things I long to
Ain’t no how, ain’t no way for me
To tell you all the reasons why

Oh baby, I’m coming home
Baby, baby, now it won’t be long
Hope to see you when I come
Before you know it
Before you know it
I’ll be gone

Through the good times and the bad times
All through the laughter and the tears
We shared our hearts, we shared our lives
We never have in to all our doubts and fears

Oh baby, I’m coming home
Baby, baby, now it won’t be long
Hope to see you when I come

Before you know it
Before you know it
I’ll be gone

Before you know it
Before you know it
I’ll be gone

Before you know it
Before you know it
I’ll be gone

K.S. Kinsella
2008

Kevin Kinsella - vocals, guitar, banjuitar and slide guitar

Recorded on a laptop in Sussex County, NJ

I'll Be Gone (demo)

Something written about 15 years ago after coming home from a gig. The neighbor's new daughter was crying, and a song was born.

Kevin Kinsella - vocals, guitars, bass, synth flutes and drum loops

Recorded and mixed at Potter Studios
Mount Arlington, NJ

Cry of a Child (Nyla's Song) - demo edit

Something written a few years ago for my love, to say I’ll always come home to you.

Coming Back to You

Blue skies turning grey, dark clouds rolling in
Can’t seem to find my way, 
don’t remember where I’ve been
Soon those clouds will be parting 
A light comes shining through
Brand new day is starting
Don’t you know that I’m coming back to you

Any time spent away is much too long
Any distance is too far
Love like this can’t be wrong
Let’s go dance beneath the stars
Warm nights and gentle breezes
A life that’s good and true
You’re all I’ve ever needed
That’s why I keep coming back to you

Grey skies, they’re turning blue now
Dark clouds ain’t nowhere to be seen
Your sweet line is all I ever knew
My heart is where it’s always been
Walk the road with you a while
That’s all I ever want to do
Drown in your eyes, get lost in your smile
Yeah, that’s why I keep coming back to you

K.S. Kinsella
04-18-14

Kevin Kinsella - vocals, guitar, bass guitar and ‘toy piano’ parts
Marc Walsh - drums, percussion, keyboards, piano and strings

Recorded, engineered, produced, mixed and mastered at Bubbl Studios, Butler NJ.

Coming Back to You

My EP is available on CD & for download:
KevinKinsella1.Bandcamp.com

Yet another Singer-Songwriter from Northern New Jersey.  There’s a fairly bad infestation of them in the area. 

If you contribute now, they could be eradicated forever.

KevinKinsella1.Bandcamp.com
Facebook.com/TheKevinKinsella

Kevin Kinsella

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