{"id":2135,"date":"2020-06-22T14:35:50","date_gmt":"2020-06-22T14:35:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/skyemediaonline.com\/wordpress\/?p=2135"},"modified":"2020-06-22T13:37:11","modified_gmt":"2020-06-22T13:37:11","slug":"arlington-va-based-singer-songwriter-ken-francis-wenzel-releases-new-single-healing-heart-today-about-societys-struggle-with-covid-19-and-quarantine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/skyemediaonline.com\/wordpress\/arlington-va-based-singer-songwriter-ken-francis-wenzel-releases-new-single-healing-heart-today-about-societys-struggle-with-covid-19-and-quarantine\/","title":{"rendered":"Arlington, VA-based singer-songwriter Ken Francis Wenzel releases new single, “Healing Heart,” today about society’s struggle with COVID-19 and quarantine"},"content":{"rendered":"

For Immediate Release
\nJune 22, 2020<\/b><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Arlington, VA-based singer-songwriter Ken Francis Wenzel releases new single, \u201cHealing Heart,\u201d today about society\u2019s struggle with COVID-19 and quarantine<\/strong><\/p>\n

Arlington, VA-based Americana\/roots rock singer-songwriter Ken Francis Wenzel has released a new single, \u201cHealing Heart,\u201d today, his first new music in almost six years. Written in late April and recorded at Sucker Punch Recording Studios in Bethesda, MD, the song is available at all digital outlets today, with a video premiere at\u00a0Americana Highways<\/em>\u00a0on June 26th. The\u00a0track premiered at\u00a0<\/a>Elmore Magazine<\/em><\/a>\u00a0on June 18th.<\/p>\n

Wenzel says, \u201cI wrote this song on a Sunday night in late April, deep in the middle of quarantine. At that time, we had yet to hear any whispers of re-opening the country, and we were all left with our own thoughts on how to get through it.\u201d The initial idea came to him as he woke up, and he had it finished by day\u2019s end. \u201cCOVID-19 was already political by then, and I wanted to describe common themes that we all, as people, were dealing with: isolation, uncertainty, fear, worries about getting sick, getting our loved ones sick, wanting to \u2018do something\u2019 but not knowing what, financial pressure, depression, all of it,\u201d he says. \u201cAt that time, there was no light at the end of the tunnel, and I wanted to try to shine a light somewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

He began playing it during his weekly livestreams and decided to record it after receiving many positive responses. \u201cI recorded it with my old producer and friend, Mark Williams, at Sucker Punch Studios in Bethesda,\u201d Wenzel says. \u201cWe social-distanced in the studio, which had two main rooms separated by glass. I never went into the control room where he was, and I left the recording room whenever he\u2019d position a mic. We knocked it out in one day. I remember it going pretty quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wenzel says he put out a call for photos on Facebook for a video for \u201cHealing Heart.\u201d \u201cI thought about what a video might look like, and the first thing I decided was that I didn\u2019t want to be in it,\u201d he recalls. \u201cI knew I needed photos from my fans, friends, and family. Folks sent in photos that described their reality during COVID-19 \u2013 front-line workers, families, masks, pets, donation drives. Anything that was significant to them for getting through the pandemic. Response was huge, and I was happy with what we came up with.\u201d<\/p>\n

He says that the song and video were finished before the murder of George Floyd on May 25th, and that the ensuing protests and national conversations about racism and police brutality changed how he viewed the song. \u201cI knew that although the song was not written about racial injustice or police brutality, it had themes that could possibly \u2013 hopefully \u2013 speak to those topics,\u201d he says. \u201cObviously, it would have been completely tone-deaf for the video to not acknowledge, and include in some way, demonstrations, marches, and our current national conversation about racial inequality and justice, so we went back and re-worked the video a bit. Hopefully, this song and video now capture a more complete snapshot of these unprecedented times we\u2019re living in.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHealing Heart\u201d is Wenzel\u2019s first release since 2014\u2019s full-length, …Beneath Potomac Skies, which garnered national AAA radio play, and was nominated for four WAMMIEs (Washington Area Music Awards). Originally from Champaign, IL, he performs solo, as well as with his band Cross Kentucky. Wenzel is also a saxophonist, and he has played with artists such as Carlos Santana, Noel Gallagher\u2019s High Flying Birds, and Ruston Kelly.<\/p>\n

Wenzel is donating a portion of the proceeds from the sale of the \u201cHealing Heart\u201d single to\u00a0www.colorofchange.org<\/a>\u00a0and to\u00a0www.cdcfoundation.org\/coronavirus<\/a>.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/kenwenzelmusic.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For Immediate Release June 22, 2020   Arlington, VA-based singer-songwriter Ken Francis Wenzel releases new single, \u201cHealing Heart,\u201d today about society\u2019s struggle with COVID-19 and quarantine Arlington, VA-based Americana\/roots rock singer-songwriter Ken Francis Wenzel has released a new single, \u201cHealing Heart,\u201d today, his first new music in almost six years. Written in late April and … <\/p>\n

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