Kevn Kinney: Songwriting, Sobriety, and 40 Years of Doing It His Way

Wheels Off with Rhett Miller

Rhett Miller

Music, Performing Arts, Arts

4.9 • 609 Ratings

🗓️ 31 March 2026

⏱️ 36 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Rhett catches up with Kevn Kinney, frontman of Atlanta roots-rock institution Drivin N' Cryin, one day after his 65th birthday and on the eve of a new album. Recorded while Rhett's the Old 97's are deep in sessions at Sonic Ranch in El Paso, the conversation is a warm, wide-ranging exchange between two lifers. Kevn talks about the new record (produced by former bandmate Sadler Vaden, with Peter Buck on guitars), why he's likely done making full albums after this one, five years of sobriety, and the philosophy that has kept him performing with genuine joy for four decades. Pre-order the new Drivin n Cryin album here Follow Kevn @kevnkinney312 Follow Rhett @rhettmiller Wheels Off is hosted and produced by Rhett Miller. Executive producer is Kirsten Cluthe, Studio Kairos. Music by Old 97’s. Episode artwork by Mark Dowd. Show logo by Tim Skirven. Watch the podcast on Spotify, and listen wherever you get your podcasts. You can also ask Alexa to play it. Revisit previous episodes of Wheels Off with guests Rosanne Cash, Rob Thomas, Jeff Tweedy, Lucinda Williams, Stewart Copeland, Jennifer Egan, Nick Hornby, and more. If you like what you hear, please leave us a rating or review. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Wheels Off, a show about the messy reality of the creative life.
0:04.9	I'm Rhett Miller.
0:10.4	How do you all, Rat Miller coming to here from my bedroom at Sonic Ranch Recording studios outside El Paso in Torneo, Texas,
0:24.6	where the old 97s are currently hard at work on a new album.
0:27.6	And I took a break from that recording to log in with Kevin Kinney of Driving and Cryin,
0:35.6	which is what you're about to see slash here.
0:38.8	And it was so great getting to catch up with his old friend of mine, somebody I've looked up to for a long time.
0:44.6	His band Driving and Crying in case you're not familiar, has been together since the mid-80s.
0:49.6	He's from up in Milwaukee.
0:51.2	I'll talk about that in the interview.
0:53.0	And the band, he moved down to Athens, Georgia,
0:56.0	which is where the band got rolling. And he's great, you know, he's done so many incredible
1:02.3	things over the years and had so many great experiences. And he's still a great raconteur,
1:07.3	a very sweet, funny, humble, charming guy.
1:11.6	You know, he's in the Georgia Music Hall of Fame.
1:14.6	He's, you know, been playing for literally decades.
1:18.6	And yet he's, you know, he's just a sweetheart of a fellow.
1:21.6	He's got a new record coming out called Crushing Flowers.
1:25.6	The new single should certainly have dropped by the time this
1:28.8	interview does. Mirror, mirror, he said, well, he'll tell you about it during the course of the
1:34.8	interview. Album produced by Sadler Vaden, who should already have a wheels off of his own now
1:40.2	that I think about it. Anyway, Kevin Kinney is great artist, great dude. I really think you guys are going to love this. I'm excited to have him on Wheels Off. Please welcome Kevin Kinney. Welcome to Wheels Off, Kevin Kinney. Thank you so much for joining me. And happy belated birthday. We're taping this one day after your 65th birthday.
	...

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