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Name: Meet Me - Kenny Lee Young

Unique ID: CM8I62BY



Website URL:

Who is Kenny Lee Young and what makes you the person you are today?

I am most days a kid at heart and love to play games of all sorts. I had a pretty phenomenal upbringing and always knew I was loved and supported and because of that I have tapped into that inner child in me throughout the years. I enjoy learning about what makes people tick and generally try to dig past the surface in conversing with people. I like following my curiosities as they tend to lead into hidden passions. Overall, I like getting in depth with culture while keeping things light hearted. I definitely have found that I am starting to value my alone time as I get older.

You are a musician, what kind of music do you perform, who are your musical influences and why?

The music that I am mostly known for is my acoustic project and I like to refer to it as “acoustic soul”. I play either as a solo or duo and on the very rare occasion as a trio. I also have a 5 piece band called “Earth to Belka” and we play funk, blues, rock in general. I have played in many bands previously and done hip-hop and country tunes as well.

I have an affinity for a lot of singer songwriters, funk jam bands, underground hip hop, and heavy distorted blues bands. Ray LaMontange, Joey Landereth, Justin Nozuka, Snarky Puppy, Lettuce, Vulfpeck, Brother Ali, Run The Jewels, Immortal Technique, Eyedeas and Abilities, Gary Clarke Jr., The Marcus King Band, Tedeski Trucks Band are a few groups I listen to on the regular these days. During highschool, I was pretty keen on the grunge scene along with classics like Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, and The Who just to name a few.

What instruments do you play, and how long did it take you to learn those instruments?

I have always loved singing and oddly I find that people don’t list that as an instrument. I have played the guitar (mainly acoustic) for the last 17 years. I recently started messing around with learning the keys, but I have not been very diligent in my lessons.

Who are your influences in your life, and why?

List: My father, my sister, Leonardo Da Vinci, Gary Vaynerchuk, Nikola Tesla, Joe Scott, Neil deGrasse, Marcus Aurelius, The Buddha, Tyson, Michael Jordan, Tom Bilyeu, Aang (from Avatar the Last Airbender), Finn ( from Adventure Time).

All these people either display innovation, compassion, imagination, problem solving skills, empathy or some type of mastery in their field. All of these characteristics I highly admire and have made a huge impression on me.

Have you competed in any music competitions on the Meet Me App, and if so how was your experience with them?

I was a part of Season 4 of HOOP’s MeetMe’s Got Talent before it was changed to “Search for the Star”. I was very honored to be named the winner of that season and I did have a positive experience. I was able to get connected with a few other musicians and get my name out there a bit on the app (which was my main objective). For the most part, I shy away from competitions when it comes to talent because I feel that art is so subjective and if you truly love creating then you do it simply because you enjoy it.

What are your streams like? What kind of theme is your stream?

I stream with the purpose of entertaining, uplifting, and educating my viewers. 90% of the time I am playing music and chatting about my daily endeavours or future plans. Other times, I like to stream myself video editing and or creating animations.

You run a Meet Me promoted show called The Music Box Showcase. Would you like to explain what that is all about, and who else is involved with the show?

The Music Box Showcase is an open mic that I co-host with Steve T every Thursday at 7PM EST. We wanted to cultivate a show that would unite the musical community outside of hosting another music talent show. Anyone can participate that wants to and all you have to do is request the box at the start of the show. We typically do the show for 3 hours and have 16 people play with an intro and intermission where Steve and I play a few tunes. At the end, we pick two people to come back to do encore performances.

Would you like to expand Music Box showcase outside the application, and if so what kind of platform would you like to expand it on?

That is something that has come to mind, but for right now we are focusing a lot on MeetMe, because other than Instagram it is the only platform that allows you to have a guest while live streaming.

Do you have any albums out, if so where can we listen to them, or purchase them?

All my music can be downloaded for whatever price you would like to pay at www.kennyleeyoung.com. Other than that you can hear me on Spotify, iTunes, Google Play, Amazon Music, Pandora, Shazam, Deezer, Tidal, and Soundcloud. I have a Youtube page (www.youtube.com/kennyleeyoung) where we release a new song and music/lyrics video every month. You can also find me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Tik Tok.

If someone wanted to start learning how to play an instrument, what kind of tips would you give them to get started?

I personally would suggest referring to Youtube. There are countless tutorials that you can find effortlessly and if you have a certain person that you idealize you can most likely find them giving you tips on how they play. I would also suggest Skillshare which is a platform where you can learn practically anything technical and a yearly subscription for just over $100 a year.

The main thing with learning anything new is to have fun with those curiosities and to have patience. The more time you focus and repeat the processes on whatever you are learning will allow you to grasp it in a timely fashion. At the same time, taking breaks are important to solidify what you are learning.

What are your hobbies outside of Meet Me, and music? What do you like to do for fun?

I had mentioned that I do animations and video editing and honestly that has intrigued me more than playing music recently. There will always be a place for music in my life, but working with Adobe software has been a rabbit hole I love venturing further down. That is probably why I enjoy our open mic show on MeetMe because it allows me to create overlays that I animate with transitions while producing, playing music, and connecting with other musicians.
I enjoy working out on a regular basis, disc golfing, and spending time with my wife and puppy. I am a sucker for podcasts that talk about new technology, culture, and motivation. I adore documentaries and kid cartoons as well.

Are there any tips you would like to give to streamers who are starting out?

Embrace the things that make you weird, allow yourself to be vulnerable and show that. Remember that you are in control at all times. Pay little attention to trolls as well as people that put you on a pedestal. Streaming is just like real life. You have the power to let the people you want in and exclude the ones that you don’t want to associate with. Also, you should have fun and don’t take it too seriously.

If there is something on the app you would like to change if Meet Group were to be reading these articles, what would that be, and why?

I think that all the things that I have an issue with they are in the mists of fixing. I would like to see them implement a stream key for OBS, make it easier to find people, have categories that you can label your streams, allow the desktop streamers to have the same function capabilities as mobile users, make the process of signing up for an account harder to get rid of bots, and to fix the current bugs with the guests that are in your box.

Is there anything else you would like to mention that I might have missed?

I could eat pho at least 5 times a week and not get tired of it.


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