Kasey Anderson and the Honkies A Rising Star Feature by Melissa Minners               Some time ago, I had the opportunity to review Heart of a Dog, a rock-n-roll album from Kasey Anderson and the Honkies.  The Seattle/Portland-based band features Kasey Anderson as the lead vocalist.  He also writes the songs and provides guitars and percussions for the band.  I recently had an opportunity to talk with him.  Here’s what he had to say:  Tell us a little about your musical background before creating Kasey Anderson & the Honkies. When did you begin to realize that you wanted to have a career in music? I realized pretty young that there was nothing else I was any good at.  As far as a career, it's tough for a musician to know when he's out of work.   We'll see how it goes. The musical style of Heart of a Dog is much different than the music you have produced in the past. What steered you in this direction. I just got burnt out on reading and hearing the word "twang" every time I put out a record.  That music - alt. country or whatever you want to call it - and that community are important to me but it started to feel really reductive and I started to get really claustrophobic.  I needed to make a rock 'n' roll record with no hyphens involved. When some people write songs, they already have lyrics in mind and write the music around them. Some have the music and write the lyrics to fit. What is your song-writing style? They go hand in hand for me.  There's a line here and there that'll come to me or a melody that shows up in a dream but it gets a little foggy as to which was there first in any given case.  Even if I'm just writing lyrics, there's usually a guitar in my hand. Of all the songs you have recorded, which has the most meaning for you and why? "I Was a Photograph," which is about a man named Lance Corporal James Blake Miller.  Blake's story, and every story like it, should be told and told again until everyone has heard it.  Look him up.  Look up James Blake Miller and Luis Sinco. What sort of message do you hope to send with your music? There's not one message because there's not just one song, and even if there was just one song, there still wouldn't be just one message.  It's never that easy, and it shouldn't be.  I don't enjoy being spoken to in rhetoric and platitudes and I don't think I'm alone in that.  I think if you respect your audience, if you trust them, then they're as much a part of the message as you are. Is there anything you would like your fans to know about you that hasn't been previously revealed? No, I don't think so. There's plenty of me out there. Any upcoming recording or touring plans? We'll be out this year, yeah.  SXSW and after, probably.  This Heart of a Dog record just came out so I doubt we'll be back in the studio any time soon but you never know.               Kasey Anderson is a man who takes his music very seriously, something well-appreciated by his fans, myself included.  We wish Kasey and his band the best of luck in the music scene.  For more about Kasey Anderson and the Honkies, visit their website at http://www.kaseyanderson.com/, their MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/kaseyanderson or their Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/kaseyandersonmusic.  And don’t forget to check out their album, Heart of a Dog!   To read more rising star features, visit the Rising Star Feature Archive. For feedback, visit our message board or e-mail the author at talonkarrde@g-pop.net.