Not your average rockers

Paul Saitowitz

Jeremy Hartshorn has literally decided to step off the bus.

After working as a school bus driver in the Newport-Mesa School

District, the bearded, spectacled, trucker-hatted troubadour has

chosen to eschew the world of student transportation to work in

music, in one capacity or another, full time.

The 28-year-old owns and runs a recording studio, teaches guitar

lessons, plays a handful of coffee-shop gigs every month, hones his

guitar chops working as a worship leader at the Costa Mesa church

Faith Worship Community, fronts and is the principal songwriter for

the band Kendall and is generally way too nice to play rock ‘n’ roll.

“I started playing in Kendall because I have always enjoyed

performing in front of people and started feeling guilty about using

my time at church to accomplish that,” said Hartshorn, brimming with

positive energy. “I needed something that would allow me to only

focus on music and performing.”

Kendall -- rounded out by Hartshorn’s younger brother Jon on bass,

Pete Dawson on lead guitar, Andy Struck on keyboard and Travis Goode

on drums -- is the January Monday residency band at the Westside’s

Detroit Bar. While they seem too polite and congenial to fit into the

ultra-hip Detroit scene, the month-long residency has been fruitful.

“It’s definitely our favorite place to play,” Jeremy Hartshorn

said.

“I think it has really helped our fan base grow,” said the equally

affable Dawson. “I see more and more people each week.”

The band met while its members were students at Vanguard

University, but didn’t officially form Kendall until a year ago.

“The nice thing is we know each other so well and have been

playing for so long that we don’t really have to practice,” Jeremy

Hartshorn said. “We just go over a couple of things before we play

and then we’re ready to go.”

The band has been working on its debut album over the last couple

of months at Jeremy Hartshorn’s Costa Mesa studio. The members get

together and jam and then record a track or two every few weeks.

“Having my own studio really gives us the freedom to do whatever

we want to do whenever we want to,” Jeremy Hartshorn said.

It has also helped diversify the songs.

“I think there is a common thread with every song, but because we

have recorded sporadically, it helps set the songs apart from one

another and give them a different feel,” Dawson said.

The album should be done by the summer, but there are no plans to

hit the road heavily, be signed or garner the attention of a manager.

One label, however, has already shown interest in possibly putting

something out.

“We do this because it’s fun and that’s really the only reason,”

Jeremy Hartshorn said. “When there are expectations on things they

usually go bad, and we have no expectations regarding the band.”

Kendall’s last residency show will be Monday at the Detroit Bar;

however, the group will return there Feb. 12.