bio
From as early as he can remember, music has always been present in Kevin’s life. His mother played piano and accordion while his dad though he did not play a musical instrument, listened to a lot of music. On any given night there could Herb Albert & The Tijuana Brass to the The Kingston Trio being played on the family stereo.
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About the age of eight, Kevin’s mother signed him up for piano lessons with local Piano Teacher Jean Shell-Holm and it was with her that he learned to read music and be shown basic music theory. He would continue with the piano lessons until the age of twelve and it was right around about the time where the family had an acoustic guitar lying around the house and he began to take up an interest in it. When Kevin got to the junior high school he played in the concert band doing percussion and found that his piano training helped him out immensely especially when it came to reading the mallet and timpani parts. In high school he again played in the percussion section for the concert bands, and also began to play guitar in the school jazz band as a sophomore. He also played in various local rock bands during this time.
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After graduation Klemenok attended Santa Rosa Junior College receiving his AA degree and then transferred to Cal State Fullerton to major in business with an emphasis in marketing. While at Fullerton he played in local bands with friends and completed is BA in Business in 1983. He then returned to Petaluma. While trying to find a marketing job, Klemenok got hired to work behind the counter at a local music store. It was also during this time that he began giving guitar lessons and his roster of students quickly began to multiply. At his peak of teaching private guitar lessons, he had a roster of over 50 guitar students.
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Local guitar player, sideman, and teacher Keith Allen had a profound effect and influence in Kevin’s career path. It was through Allen’s recommendation that he started teaching guitar lessons and subbed for him many times on gigs when he was double booked. Through Keith he learned how to cover many styles of guitar playing and was shown the “tools of the trade” in what it was to be professional guitar player. Klemenok studied with Allen from 1985 until 1992 and still considers him to be the best all around guitar player he has ever heard. During this time he also studied classical guitar from local player Dave Blakey which helped in reading of guitar literature and sight reading on gigs. From 1985 through 1991 Klemenok was teaching a small army of guitar students and gigging in various bands that performed throughout the bay area stretching from the oregon border to the Nevada state line covering everything from T40 to big band gigs.
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Growing tired of the gigging scene and wanting to have a guaranteed income for his family and a stable retirement, Klemenok went back to school in the fall of 1991 and earned his degree in jazz studies from Sonoma State University in 1993. He entered the Sonoma State credential program in the fall of 1995 and completed the program in spring of 1997 earning a single subject credential in music while working concurrently as the part-time music director for Saint Francis Solano School in Sonoma CA. In 1998 Kevin then was hired as a full time music teacher with Petaluma City Schools instructing grades K-6 in general music, and the next year he applied for and got the positions of band director at Kenilworth Junior High School and Petaluma Junior High School. Klemenok held the post of Band Director at Kenilworth Jr. High from 1999 until 2016 where the bands earned superior and unanimous superior ratings at festivals while performing at numerous local civic events including AT&T Ball Park, Sonoma State University, and Disneyland Resort in Anaheim CA. In the fall of 2016 Kevin made the move across town to the west side of Petaluma to take over the music program at Petaluma Jr. High School where he teaches the bands and vocal programs along with the after school jazz band. Klemenok still gives guitar lessons a couple of days a week at Tall Toad Music in Petaluma and performs with his fusion group KJK Band, and the 70’s, 80’s rock cover group Brothers Aesop. Kevin’s proudest accomplishments in life are his three children Hailey, Hayden, and Connor, and the fact that he has been able to teach and perform music for a living.