MUZIK MAFIA

In 2001, Kenny founded the MuzikMafia with John Rich, Jon Nicholson, and Cory Gierman. The group was an eclectic mix of musicians involved in various genres of music. They originally held late shows each Tuesday at The Pub of Love in Nashville, TN. Each performance was acoustic, free-of-charge, and featured acts reminiscent of Kenny’s LuvjOi shows. These shows consisted of musicians diverse in genres, spoken-word artists, a juggler, a fire breather, and even a painter. 

Regardless of age, ethnicity, sex, gender, financial status, social ranking, or belief system welcoming everyone at performances, promoting an atmosphere of acceptance. The MuzikMafia did not promote a single musical idiom which might seem like a disqualifying factor in the industry. Their unifying trait was its diversity. The evenings roster included artists who specialized in blues, rock, pop, rap, country, bluegrass, gospel, R&B, and soul.

Kenny wrote several of MuzikMafia’s numerous mottos; “Music without Prejudice,” and “Love Everybody.” He describes the MuzikMafia as follows:

“We’re a family; we check each other when one of us gets too far out of hand, everybody pulls them back. It’s hard to screw up with so many people behind you. It’s like a group of trees standing int he forest with their branches touching. No one tree can fall. If it does, there are trees on all sides there helping him stand tall.” 

By 2002 The Pub of Love was too small to accommodate the rapidly growing fan base of the MuzikMafia. Between 2002-2006 the group started performing in larger clubs like The Tin Roof, Two Doors Down, and The Dan McGuiness Pub. On April 6, 2004 they began performances at the Mercy Lounge till the end of 2006.

In 2004 MuzikMafia performed on several tour dates with Kid Rock. They received massive public exposure when articles were written about them in The Wall Street Journal, Rolling Stone Magazine, The Los Angeles Times, US Today, Entertainment Weekly, The Tennessean, Country Music Today, Billboard Magazine, The Washington Post, Blender Magazine,Country Weekly, and The New York Times.

In the late summer of 2004, Ivan Dudynsky (producer of MuzikMafia TV) of Live Animals Productions approached the godfathers with the idea of producing a show around MuzikMafia for CMT. In 2005, the reality television show MuzikMafia TV aired. A six episode series included behind-the-scenes footage of life on the road during their first stadium tour, The American Revolution Tour (Sponsored by Chevrolet) in addition to documenting the community’s rise to national prominence. The first episode aired on CMT on January 15, 2005.

Big & Rich, Gretchen Wilson, and members of the MuzikMafia contributed to a significant change in the Nashville commercial recording industry, selling over eleven million albums in less than five years. Final MuzikMafia shows were held January 2007 at Fuel.