Kevin Hearn

Kevin Hearn first rose to prominence as a member of the Canadian alt-rock outfit Barenaked Ladies, contributing to every album the group has released since he came aboard in the late 1990s. Outside that affiliation, the keyboardist, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter has maintained an independent path, fronting his own ensemble Thin Buckle and delivering solo releases such as 1997’s Mothball Mint, 2011’s Cloud Maintenance, and 2014’s Days in Frames.

Born in Grimsby, Ontario, Canada, in 1969, Hearn developed his earliest musical passions as a child through repeated listens to the Beatles and the Beach Boys. He later trained in classical piano and enrolled at St. Michael’s Choir School. His first professional engagement arrived in 1988 when he joined the Look People, an association that continued until the band dissolved in 1993.

In 1995 he replaced keyboardist Andy Creeggan in Barenaked Ladies, making his recorded debut with the ensemble on the 1996 concert album Rock Spectacle just as the group began breaking through in the U.S. market. His own debut solo project, Mothball Mint, followed in 1997 and contained the track “This Is It,” captured live during the Rock Spectacle performances. He remained with Barenaked Ladies for their breakthrough fourth studio album, 1998’s Stunt. Shortly after its release Hearn received a diagnosis of chronic myelogenous leukemia and spent time hospitalized in Toronto while the band toured in support. Several bone marrow transplants donated by his brother, Sean Hearn, eventually sent the disease into remission, permitting Hearn’s return to Barenaked Ladies in 1999.

His second solo album, H-Wing, appeared in 2001 and drew directly from the period of illness and recovery, taking its title from the hospital wing where most of the songs were written. By then he had formed Thin Buckle to serve as his regular backing group for solo work. He continued expanding his role within Barenaked Ladies, contributing songwriting as well as performance. A third solo album, Night Light, again recorded with Thin Buckle, arrived in 2003, followed by a fourth, The Miracle Mile, in 2006. Additional projects during these years included collaborations with the long-running Ontario band the Rheostatics and touring stints with Lou Reed.

Havana Winter, his fifth solo effort with Thin Buckle, surfaced in 2009. The ten-track Cloud Maintenance arrived in 2011 on Hearn’s own Celery Music label and featured a guest appearance from Garth Hudson (the Band). After participating in several further Barenaked Ladies albums, including 2013’s Grinning Streak and 2017’s Fake Nudes, he returned to solo activity with 2019’s Calm and Cents.