Kent Kaled was born and raised in Chicago's Englewood area and is a lifetime "south-sider," White Sox fan, and Old Style drinker.  He started his musical quest early in life, playing trombone for the school band and singing in the church choir at Visitation grammar school and then switching to the bass guitar during the transition from grade school to high school.

After a few years of jamming to typical three chord blues standards in various garages and basements, Kent eventually gravitated towards hard rock, and then drifted into the realm of "progressive" rock and fusion jazz.  The main reason for this musical evolution was the discovery of such out-in-front  "lead" caliber bassists as Yes's Chris Squire, Genesis's Michael Rutherford, Mahavishnu Orchestra's Rick Laird, Return to Forever's Stanley Clarke, Weather Report's Jaco Pastorius and (primarily) King Crimson's John Wetton.  These influences can still be heard in Kent's aggressive, high-profile playing style today.

The first "real" band that Kent played with was "Northwind," an 8-piece horn band that primarily did covers of "Chicago," "Blood, Sweat and Tears," and various other brass rock bands.  "Northwind" was together for roughly two years.

After a hiatus of several years, a couple of Kent's ex "Northwind" band mates began a new musical project called "NETWORK." When they decided to look for a new bass player, Kent successfully auditioned and became a permanent member.  Now, over 20 years later and after numerous personnel changes, the band is still together and going strong.

From 1993 through roughly 1997, Kent also played with "Sister Swing," a side project consisting of several NETWORK members and three female vocalists performing 30's & 40's era swing music, 50's & 60's oldies and contemporary hits.

In 1994, Kent further expanded his musical horizons by accepting an offer from Irish singer Terry McEldowney to accompany him and fellow troubadour Whitey O'Day on several dates around the St. Patrick's Day holiday.  This unorthodox collaboration, (at the time), still exists to this/ day.  Kent has also played with "The Windy City Irish," who's members Tom Black and Tom Walsh, along with McEldowney, composed the infamous "Southside Irish" anthem.

In 1998 Kent did about a year long stint filling in on bass for "JAB" (Just Another Band), a Northside biker jam band that eventually evolved into another short-lived side project known as "the Reziduals."

In 1999 Kent began sitting-in with fellow longtime Chicago club circuit regulars "Cirrus Falcon," and has since become a regular member of the band's rotating line-up of supplemental bassists.

In 2000 Kent became a permanent "temporary" member of Back-in-Stride for about a year, a Chicago-style blues band that also hosted the weekly Thursday night open-stage at the now defunct "Limerick Public House" on Old Western Avenue in Blue Island.

 The high point of Kent's musical career (so far) occurred in August of 2001 when he got the opportunity to sit-in on bass with his favorite band, (Grammy Award winners Brave Combo), at his favorite club, (Fitzgerald's).

Along with touring the Midwest with the KSB,  Kent's is busy with other musical projects to include "Dave Schmidt and the Snouts," a hard rocking high energy guitar-oriented power-trio consisting of only the basics: guitar, bass and drums.

Links: