{"id":33506,"date":"2023-04-25T09:05:24","date_gmt":"2023-04-25T13:05:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/?p=33506"},"modified":"2023-04-25T09:05:28","modified_gmt":"2023-04-25T13:05:28","slug":"on-stage-spotlight-john-kim-faye-is-a-true-renaissance-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/?p=33506","title":{"rendered":"On Stage Spotlight: John Kim Faye is a true Renaissance man"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Denny Dyroff<\/strong>, Entertainment Editor, The Times<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"

John Kim Faye<\/p><\/div>\n

John Kim Faye is a modern-day Renaissance Man.<\/p>\n

He is a singer. He is a guitarist. He is the founder of a band. He is a drummer. He is a songwriter. He is a producer. He is a front man for a rock band. \u00a0He is a mentor. He is one of Delaware\u2019s All-Star musicians. He is a vocal coach. He is the creator and presenter of a podcast.<\/p>\n

Now, after more than 30 years of success in the music business, Faye is also an author.<\/p>\n

His book is titled \u201cThe Yin and Yang of It All: Rock \u2018n\u2019 Roll Memories\u201d. The book, which was released on hardback and e-book format on April 4 in stores and online, has a full title of \u201cThe Yin and Yang of It All: Rock \u2018n\u2019 Roll Memories from the Cusp as Told by a Mixed-Up, Mixed-Race Kid.\u201d<\/p>\n

On April 25, Ardmore Music Hall (23 East Lancaster Avenue, Ardmore,\u00a0www.ardmoremusic.com<\/a>) will host \u201cThe Yin and the Yang of it All: Book Release Celebration — An evening of electric songs and eclectic stories.\u201d The show will be presented by Faye and feature The Caulfields and special guests.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started writing the book back in 2017 after about five years ruminating,\u201d said Faye, during a phone interview last week from his home in the Jenkintown area.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe catalyst was my mom\u2019s passing in 2012.,\u201d said Faye. \u201cAt my mother\u2019s funeral, I was reading the little remembrance pamphlet,\u201d said Faye. \u201cIt struck me how \u2018Reader\u2019s Digest\u2019 it was. My mom was so much more than that. By telling my story, I could tell her story too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her story is a complicated one \u2013 a story of an educated widow who had to raise four children as a single mom.<\/p>\n

Faye was born in 1966 out of wedlock to a 40-year-old Korean mother and a 62-year-old Irish father. Faye grew up in Delaware, where laws forbidding interracial marriage were not abolished until the year after he was born.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a very small family,\u201d said Faye. \u201cMy father died of cancer when I was six. I have three older half-sisters from my mom\u2019s first marriage. I saw one of my grandparents — once. My half-sisters are all a decade plus older than me. I grew up in a household with four Korean women.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of the kids I was growing up with had big families \u2013 mothers, fathers, grandparents, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins. This kind of situation wasn\u2019t a possibility for us.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy family experience was concentrated on my mom. I spent my whole life navigating my experience with her \u2013 in a tenuous way.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was born in Korea. She came to America to become a doctor \u2013 which she was. She was a psychiatrist.\u201d<\/p>\n

Faye\u2019s mother spent time working on the staff of the Coatesville VA Medical Center.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I would play her a song of mine for my mother, she would ask me, \u2018is that great?\u201d said Faye. \u201cThroughout the book, I have chapters of letters written to my mom.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Faye was growing up in Newark, Delaware, he had to deal with life as an immigrant \u2013 an Irish Korean youngster in a land where prejudice against Asian Americans flourished.<\/p>\n

Asian Americans are projected to become the largest minority group in the United States by 2055, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. With this rise in population, there is a very real potential for the already increased anti-Asian hate crimes to increase.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m Irish and I\u2019m Korean but not really connected to either,\u201d said Faye. \u201cKorean wasn\u2019t spoken at home and my father died when I was very young. Growing up as mixed race, I was either not seen or I was seen as a target.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I\u2019d go outside my house, I\u2019d be the target of a lot of racial slurs. Because I was Asian, the slurs would be about being Chinese or Japanese. Even though I didn\u2019t even identify as being Korean, all this abuse would be directed at me only because of my eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Faye moved on and found success in a variety of endeavors \u2013 the most recent of which is his highly entertaining new book.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything I do starts with a place of \u2018doing this for me\u2019,\u201d said Faye,\u201d Generally, when I\u2019m going to do something, I\u2019ll do it. I had something that I needed to get out. An album about this stuff would not be the way. It had to be a book. I had a story and I had to tell it. I wanted to bridge all the musical iteration \u2013 to have a book that someone could read and know about me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Faye found music back in his younger days.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started music — playing drums when I was around 14,\u201d said Faye. \u201cI got into my first band when I was in high school. I went to Tatnall School in Delaware.<\/p>\n

\u201cMusic never stopped. It\u2019s just a long progression with other people along the way. There was my college band which was The Caulfields.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over the past three-and-one-half decades, Faye has released more than 150 original songs in a variety of iterations \u2013 solo, duo, and leader of bands including The Caulfields, Beat Clinic, The John Faye Power Trip, IKE, \u00a0John & Brittany, and John Faye & Those Meddling Kids..<\/p>\n

The Caulfields\u00a0were an American\u00a0alternative rock\u00a0band which recorded two albums for\u00a0A&M Records\u00a0in the late 1990s. Their first album was 1995\u2019s\u00a0\u201cWhirligig.\u201d The album\u2019s initial single was \u201cDevil\u2019s Diary,\u201d which received radio play as well as exposure on\u00a0MTV.<\/p>\n

Two weeks prior to the release of the band\u2019s second album\u00a0\u201cL\u201d\u00a0in 1997,\u00a0A&M Records\u00a0fired the\u00a0A&R\u00a0executive representing the band \u2013 and that was the beginning of the end of the band\u2019s major label journey. Six months later The Caulfields disbanded.<\/p>\n

Now, at least for one night, The Caulfields are back — as part of Faye\u2019s concert\/book release at Ardmore Music Hall.<\/p>\n

Faye issued this invitation on his website \u2013 Come out and be part of a one-of-a-kind show to celebrate the release of\u00a0\u201cThe Yin and the Yang of it All!\u201d I\u2019ve invited 13 fellow musicians to join me as I tell stories from the book and play songs from the stories. The Caulfields \u201csupa-charged\u201d eight-person line-up (myself, Sam Musumeci, Ritchie Rubini, Brett Talley, Jill Knapp, Matt Casarino, Jim Verdeur, and David Kershner) will be playing Caulfields\u2019 songs, while a killer line-up of Those Meddling Kids (myself, Joey DiTullio, Ron DiSilvestro, Michael O\u2019Brien, and Steven LaFashia) will play the \u201cnon-Caulfields\u201d material. Plus, there will be special guest appearances by Sug Daniels and Sam Nobles. Don\u2019t miss out!<\/p>\n

\u201cThe show will be songs and stories format,\u201d said Faye. \u201cMany of the stories center on specific songs. There will be a lot of musicians on stage. As I read passages, they will be playing along.\u201d<\/p>\n

Video link for John Kim Faye \u2013 https:\/\/youtu.be\/qni43YYMEfA.<\/p>\n

The show at Ardmore Music Hall on April 25 will start at 7:30 p.m.<\/p>\n

Tickets are $18.<\/p>\n

A \u201cVIP Upgrade\u201d is available that includes \u201cMeet & Greet with Pre-show Book Signing;\u201d \u201cEarly Access to Merchandise\u201d with 10% discount until 7 p.m.; Book-themed Goodie Bag; and one-hour \u201cEarly Entry\u201d at 6 p.m.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times John Kim Faye is a modern-day Renaissance Man. He is a singer. He is a guitarist. He is the founder of a band. He is a drummer. He is a songwriter. He is a producer. He is a front man for a rock band. \u00a0He is a mentor. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33505,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5166],"tags":[3912,11942,11944,11943],"class_list":["post-33506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-d-arts-entertainment","tag-featured","tag-john-kim-faye","tag-mixed-race-kid","tag-the-yin-and-yang-of-it-all-rock-n-roll-memories-from-the-cusp-as-told-by-a-mixed-up"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33506","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33506"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33506\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33507,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33506\/revisions\/33507"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/33505"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=33506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=33506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}