On a late summer night at the end of the last decade, in a house in British Columbia, three university friends talked about music. As the conversation went on, it shifted towards one of them who had written songs before.
Kenny Jeon’s heart started pounding and he was filled with anxiety – but this was a close group of friends. They were very similar to Kenny, and they had a close bond. He wanted to share his music with them – this was a safe space. A song plays on Kenny’s phone, a first attempt at a recording. When the recording ends, Kenny performs the song live, in front of his friends. This was the first time Kenny connected with other people through his music.
“I know it had a big impact on one of my friends,” said Kenny. “When your music has an impact on someone, when whatever I was trying to put into that song reaches someone, I think that’s something very powerful for me.”
Kenny Jeon is a singer/songwriter from Calgary who recently released an EP in January this year. The EP, Once Was, No Longer, is a deeply personal and emotion-rich EP where Kenny bears his soul for his audience. The mostly acoustic songs shine a light on what kind of person Kenny is and the emotional struggles that he goes through.
As a child, Kenny took violin lessons but didn’t really stick with it. It wasn’t until high school that Kenny started pursuing music more seriously. Influenced by Ed Sheeran and John Mayer, Kenny took up the guitar as his main instrument, dabbling in drums and piano sometimes, and started writing songs.
“I put a lot of my own personal self-expression,” said Kenny. “My inner feelings that I don’t express day-to-day and I try to use music as a way to express those emotions.”
Kenny pours a lot of himself into the songs that he writes – his history, his experiences and his Korean roots. Recently, he has been listening to Korean songs, and it has had a big influence on him as a writer and as a Korean living in Canada, which is evident as one of the songs in his EP is in Korean.
“My music is just for whoever is in the same type of situation [I’m in and] they just can connect to what I’m trying to express,” said Kenny “Even if it’s in a different language, you could still understand the general feeling that’s coming from the music and connect with that.”
Moreso than language, Kenny prioritizes the connection his listeners can feel when listening to his songs.
One of the songs in Kenny’s EP, “Chasing Ghosts”, is a melancholic personal story about his inner struggle to accept the past and how it should be left behind. He wanted to express that struggle not only in words, but also with emotions and music.
One of the most important things for Kenny as an artist is forging a genuine connection with his listeners. He uses his music to express powerful emotions and personal thoughts, hoping to create something that resonates. By sharing his experiences, he wants others to feel seen and understood, to recognize themselves in his songs and, perhaps, find a sense of catharsis in the process.
Originally, Kenny planned on writing an EP that was more blues-inspired, but that vision shifted as he found himself drawn to a deeper, more personal theme; the struggle of being caught between the past and the future, and the fear of missing out on the present. As time went on, the blues concept faded, and Kenny focused more on the acoustic ballad vibe of the EP. He wanted to write about where he was at this point in time, and the songs came to be that way naturally.
“I didn’t want to fight back against it,” said Kenny “The biggest theme of that EP is that struggle with nostalgia, moving on and leaving [the past] behind.” Despite the thought that went into the EP, the actual release came about without much fanfare. Kenny wanted to release the EP as soon as possible and while talking with a friend, they just decided on a date to release it which was January 24, 2025.
“[I] went on my computer, made sure everything was in order and I just went for it,” said Kenny. He did not experience any anxiety during the release of the EP. Unlike the heart-pounding anxiety he feels during live performances. Despite this, he still prefers live performances over releasing songs on streaming platforms.
“When you’re playing live in front of somebody, it’s very authentic and very raw,” said Kenny. “I feel like that has so much charm and I love playing music. I always have so much fun doing that.”
Performing music in front of people is something that Kenny would pick over recording every single time. In a recording, the vocals are always going to have the same vocal inflections, and the instrumentals will always be the same no matter how many times you listen to that song.
“When it’s just you in person in front of somebody, I feel like that just makes that connection so much more tangible,” said Kenny. “I don’t necessarily know why it is. Maybe they just see your expressions. They can see the emotion that you’re putting into the song. It’s real and I think that just helps to establish and strengthen that connection.”
Though he hopes to perform more in the future, Kenny is currently focused on his solo projects. For the summer and the rest of the year, he’s staying grounded—writing, experimenting, and letting the next chapter take shape in its own time.
