05/21/2026
Saturday night catch the return of Kenny Howes & The Wow at The Garden Club with special guest Mathis Hunter & The Rinse. Doors at 7pm and it's all ages. Get your tickets at the link in the comments.
Kenny Howes is a singer-songwriter/multi-instrumentalist, specializing in power-pop.
Raised in Florida, Howes began his recording career in the 1990s in Tallahassee. Overdubbing all voices and instruments (except drums, performed by schoolmate Kelly Shane), Howes released his first collection Nothing Wrong With That, first as a DIY cassette EP in 1993 and then (after adding songs) as a full-length CD in 1995.
He then recorded and released his CD Kenny Howes’ Second Album in early 1996, which is known for the track "Girls With Glasses" ("one of the finest power pop tracks of the '90s," - Goldmine). The disc was ranked #157 on The 200 Greatest Power Pop Albums list in the 2007 book Shake Some Action: The Ultimate Power Pop Guide.
In 1996, Howes and drummer Kelly Shane relocated to the Atlanta, GA area, began work on Howes' next CD Back To You Today! (released 1998), and stabilized a lineup for his new group, Kenny Howes & the Yeah!.
In 2000, indie label SecondHeaven.com released The Right Idea, a compilation of songs from Howes' first three CD releases, which were now out of print. Many of these early recordings were featured on MTV "reality" shows such as Sorority Life and Fraternity Life.
Kenny Howes and The Yeah recorded their 2001 album, Until Dawn, in Athens, GA with David Barbe of Sugar, with pre-production by producer Don Fleming. The album was released on TallBoy Records in 2002.
Howes then released his CD Lady Friend in 2004. He also relocated to California; there, his side project Hautewerk licensed three songs to the Rockband video game in April 2009.
Kenny closed out 2010 with an East Coast Solo Tour, and in 2011 joined The Smithereens' Pat DiNizio in the Las Vegas r***e Confessions Of A Rock Star, for a year.
Kenny's album Tornadoes Here And Past was released in November 2012, with a vinyl version following in December 2012. PowerPopAholic.com had this to say: "A triumphant comeback in a year full of them. Don’t miss this one."
In 2017, Kenny released a music video for his single She Knows What I Mean.
Howes has performed with The Smithereens as their fill-in bassist, and in Summer 2017 toured with the Retro Futura Tour, as bassist for Katrina of The Waves, Paul Young, and Annabella of Bow Wow Wow.
Mathis Hunter & The Rinse
Multi-instrumentalist-turned-songwriter Mathis Hunter has been a journeyman in the Atlanta music scene and beyond for decades. When looking for ways to categorize his music, it is hard to ignore the diversity of ideas and the endless genre experimentation that characterize his discography. While this approach may at one time have seemed puzzling, in today’s musical landscape it proves to be Hunter’s overarching strength as a songwriter. Woven through his albums are threads of clever melodies, hypnotic riffs, prominent grooves, and earworm-inducing hooks from an artist that can pull from and operate within various genres. Hunter is seemingly able to find inspiration from the past and the future simultaneously, while crafting songs and a sound that, while hard to pin down, offer a great deal to the willing listener.
Despite Hunter’s history of broad experimentation, his solo albums have taken a somewhat more probable path where sequencers and samplers give way to a more traditional “rock band” setup: two guitars, bass, and drums. Influences still reign in from all angles, however there is a strongly traceable guidance from UK rock of the ‘60s through the ‘90s such as The Stones, Small Faces, Traffic, Budgie, Iron Maiden, The Stone Roses, Primal Scream…and there and back again.
Hunter’s active and prolific musical odyssey began on bass guitar with mid-90s punk rock luminaries Quadiliacha, while the latter half of the ‘90s saw him as a guitarist, and later as drummer, of the space rock outfit Good Friday Experiment. In 2006, he co-founded his longest lasting project, the cosmic disco entourage Noot d' Noot. In 2007 he joined The Selmanaires as a percussionist/guitarist where he remained until 2009. 2010 saw the release of Hunter’s first solo album, Soft Opening, on which he performed most of the instruments but also utilized many members of his other bands for overdubs. After the release of Soft Opening Hunter remained focused on Noot d' Noot until it disbanded in 2014. It was at this time he also began a somewhat parallel career as a DJ.
In 2015, Hunter formed Frosted Orange with former Noot d' Noot members along with drummer Lee Corum and guitarist Andy Morrison. After the release of Frosted Orange's debut album Hunter became a full-time DJ and then went "solo" again, bringing Corum and Morrison along for 2017's Countryman album, 2019’s Mother Tongue, and 2020's Mood Lighting. Frankie Sparks joined the group on bass in February 2020, just in time for the pandemic to shut down live performances.
Two more albums and an EP followed- 2023's V and Can't Stay, and 2025’s The Way In Is Not The Way Out. A new album, Relentless, is set to be released 30 April 2026 and the band will celebrating its release at this show.
