By Chad Neal
Alex Kerns, son of the late Michael Kerns and Cheryl Kane, is a traveling rock star. Alex grew up in Ellicottville and graduated from Ellicottville Central Schools. Now, he and two other musicians are touring the globe doing what they love – playing the music they write. They started the band Lemuria in 2004 and began touring full time in 2005.
A modern band with age on their side, Lemuria can easily be found on the internet. Rolling on an indie label and pumping out tunes from an indie, power pop, and punk genre, Lemuria has the talent and know-how to entertain educated fans of music and art. They have a professional gig going on, with six albums and merchandise like T-shirts for sale on their website Lemuriapop.com. Not to mention, they have played over 100 shows a year since 2005 all over the United States and Canada, England and Germany.
The other two band members roving around this globe with Kerns are Sheena Ozzella from Allegany, N.Y., and Max Gregor from Burlington, Vt. I asked Alex when he was last home in Ellicottville and if he planned to play around the area. “I was just in Ellicottville yesterday. My mom, stepdad, brother, sister-in-law, niece and nephew all still live there. Also, I have many aunts and uncles there as well. Ellicottville will always hold a place in my heart and I’m always excited to come back. I live in Buffalo now, so when I’m not on tour I make sure to get down there a few times a month. One of my goals is to start skiing and snowboarding more because I loved it when I was younger. We have played in Olean (New York) before, but never Ellicottville. Hopefully someday soon we can make that work out,” Kerns said.
How did they come up with the name Lemuria? “When we first started the band, I was reading a lot about ancient continents and myths along the lines of the theory of Atlantis. Lemuria was an ancient continent in the Pacific similar to Atlantis. The name captures the fascination that I had at the time,” Kerns edified.
About his aspirations for music, Kerns admitted, “Taking after my brother, Mike, I started playing trombone in the 4th grade at ECS. That definitely sparked my interest in music and helped me understand how music is written, considering you have to learn how to read music. Mike had an acoustic guitar laying around the house, and I would always be sneaky and play it, even though I didn’t think he wanted me touching it at the time. That is how I learned to play.
“Now, I’m a drummer in my main group Lemuria, and that all stemmed from playing with some local Ellicottville folks and my good friend, Steven Fitzgerald, leaving his drum set at my house between our practices. I learned on his kit. He’s a great saxophone player now, and hopefully someday him and I will reunite musically to work on some songs.”
Through some snooping around on MySpace and Facebook, I learned that Alex has done some solo work. His record label is called Asian Man Records/Art of the Underground and it is on an indie label. I never call myself a critic because I like to be liked, but I do have an opinion, and the music Alex produces and plays solo or with his band is definitely intricate and deep. Like all music and songs, the meaning is what the listener makes of it, but there is a depth to the sounds, pitches and beats that show the expertise of his art form. Lyrics do have an esoteric meaning, but the words can mean anything depending on how the emotional mind interprets them.
With a heavy beat, Kerns rocks out tunes like the professional he is. Lemuria’s record label is Bridge 9 and it is also the name of their merchandise department. Their tunes and merchandise can found on the Lemuria MySpace page and this writer suggests checking it out.
Lemuria has the tour schedule for this year on their website. There is also more information on Lemuria on their website, and you can listen and buy their songs on their MySpace page. Kerns also told me they plan to do some more world travel going to Russia, Japan, and Australia. Ellicottville is a special place and not only hosts but also produces special people.
Maybe his brother, Mike, will give them a slot during Rocktoberfest in the big tent behind Balloon’s this coming Fall Fest so Ellicottville can enjoy Alex’s and Lemuria’s music along with the rest of the world.
