After my fourth album, Matters of the Heart, was completed in 2011, Carolyn and I kept writing songs together, especially during the Real Life by kjbandtime we were expecting our miracle child to be born (Adam). This, my sixth album, Real Life, tells the story of life after the happily ever after of the Matters of the Heart album. The title track is the lead song and lays out how we love this real life (no more pseudo-relationships) and enjoy living it with gusto. Real Life is full of happy and joyful songs celebrating love and welcoming the joy a child can bring. This time, Gary Georgett got in on the ground floor and Chris Delis returns on guitar, and we were lucky to have Kevin Presutti play saxophone and flute. Kevin has toured with the Beach Boys and Gary US Bonds and has played with Frankie Avalon and Chubby Checker. Ken Adessa on drums, Brian Connell on bass, Marco Vitali on violin, Sage Shiraishi on trumpet, and Gary on organ round out a stellar crew of musicians. We were also fortunate to get Kayla Scott to lend her powerful and soulful vocals. She has worked with the likes of Stevie Wonder and Tony Bennett. Carolyn sang harmony vocals on Life’s Surprise, and plays mandolin on a couple of tracks, and I dusted off my trombone for songs with the horn section. This is the best sounding album I have ever made. Recording of this album started in 2013 and was completed in 2014. The 2014 kjband album Real Life and 2015 album Noise are available to download on Itunes, and the CDs can be ordered from amazon.com.

Songs on Album

(click for lyrics)

Johnston/Moses

A wife and some kids / A home and car with the payments
Seemed so authentic / Just like a real life arrangement
You said there’s not a lot under the surface
To hold it in place
To hear you describe it
This was your big fall from grace

The longterm girlfriend / With the true and steady love
Always had someone to be her man
But no one was there when push came to shove
Devoted as any wife you’d ever know
Just like a real life engagement
But the truth never showed

Where was the real life, real life
There’s nothing sweeter than real life
Where was the real life, real life
For better or worse, I’ll take the real life

Then there they were / With luck to spare and abide
Though it don’t always hold / It’s been a helluva ride
But into each life
Some rain’s gonna fall
Never as bad as the old days
When we were dead to the call

Yeah, this is real life, real life
There’s nothing sweeter than real life
Yes, this is real life, real life
For better or worse I’ll take the real life

Alongside the love / We’ve had our share of pain
We’ve fought and forgotten / And we’ve weathered the storm again
But at the end of the day
There’s nothing left to fear
You wrap me tight in your arms
Whisper in my ear

Babe, this is real life, real life
There’s nothing sweeter than real life
Yes, this is real life, real life
For better or worse I’ll take the real life

Keeping things private is no way to go
Living in part is a tough row to hoe
Living with you where we can be whole
I call that real life …

Ken Johnston

People just can’t believe
When they hear our story
Even we can find it hard to see
Just how good our life can be

We’re living it
Living a dream
We’re living it
Living a dream

A love too pure for young hearts to know
Lost in the wake of just growing up
Through all the years, it never went away
It was waiting for this day

It’s as real as it will ever be
Organically grown, our love for the ages
Nothing left for us to do
But to keep turning the pages

Johnston/Moses

We knew it wouldn’t be easy
So much time had passed us by
But we were sure the fates were with us
Didn’t give up ’til all was tried

First we went old fashioned
Then we traveled the high tech road
No stone left unturned
We were in high gear success mode

No one was ever wanted more
Than you were by us two
We were not to be denied
‘Til you made our dreams come true

We said “In whatever way it happens
In whichever way it comes
It’s bound to be the right way
If it delivers us the one”

But the strength of Mother Nature
And true love reigned supreme
Life can’t help but happen
It could never not have been

No one could ever dare to say
That you weren’t meant to be
Living proof of destiny’s power
Our perfect fait-a-complete

Ken Johnston

What can I say to describe how I feel
Words that will ring for years
You’ve already said it better than me
Words that will ring for years

Words fall short, our love stands tall
Big dreams borne on something so small

A testament to lives lived well
Words that will ring for years
It’s our story, we live to tell
Words that will ring for years

One day you’ll read this but you already knew
Words that have rung for years
The talks have all been walked, we’ve lived true
To the words that have rung for years

Johnston/Moses

What do days to come hold?
Who will you be?
Is there room in this love
For two to be three?

Is this too much?
Should we have let the dogs lie?
Can you break the spell
Of this powerful tie?

So many unknowns
Growing inside
Slow down, deep breaths
Trust life’s surprise

Will you be our mirror?
Reflection of this great love?
Will you draw us closer
Than we ever dreamed of?

Can you magnify
What was meant from the start?
Is there space for another
Inside a full heart?

Flooded with questions
As time too quickly flies
Relax, deep breaths
Trust life’s surprise

We will be a better us
You will be who you’ll be
The math’s elementary
Simple as can be

Love squared must be greater
Times the power of three

Johnston/Moses

We signed up for this game of chance when
we signed on for romance
We placed our bets, spun the wheel with our own true force
We laid it all on the table, then let it all ride
Where it lands for the future, only fate can decide

Do we want lucky seven or was one toss of the dice enough
Did we use up our good fortune, the first time we threw down
A kiss for good luck, blowing hard on the roll
Won’t change the game, it’s a crapshoot, that’s all

It’s no gamble when the deck’s been stacked with hearts in spades
Four leaf clovers and diamonds that tie you to me
It’s hard to play down on your luck
When you’ve already won life’s lottery

The thing about the dealer is he holds all the cards
And you never know just what he’ll turn up next
Sometimes it’s a full house and sometimes you go bust
Sometimes three of a kind is more than enough

With odds at 50/50, either way we’re still winners
Already hit the jackpot, nothing more to want for
Can cash out, walk away and never look back
It doesn’t matter what the next spin might have brought

Ken Johnston

So many plans laid out
Good intentions all
Sounded so good when they were just thoughts

Always planned to act
Make the dreams come true
But always found a reason not to try

Turning water to wine
Just OK to fine
I’m on my way
Turning water to wine
Just OK to fine
Allowing me to shine

Thought that if things
Were meant to work out
They would just take care of themselves

I was waiting for you
Had to be happy first
Had to truly love and be loved

I needed someone there
Steady by my side
Didn’t want to do this on my own

Johnston/Moses

Chasing down love for love’s sake
In search of the storybook end
Isn’t a sin, it’s what romantics do
When I ran after you

Running circles around you
Running circles around you

The urge to hold tight and squeeze love
To freeze raw emotion in time
Isn’t a crime, it’s what romantics do
I held on like glue

Color us guilty if that’s where we were
Color us guilty if that’s who we are

Longing for a love long lost
Both of us ready to claim
Isn’t fool’s gold, it’s what romantics do
Old love that feels brand new

Johnston/Moses

I am the standard bearer
Who makes no mistakes
Every I’s dotted
All Ts in their place
Keep life on a schedule
No room left to err
So much to get done
Such little time to spare

Set out to build a life that’s full
Calendar’s topped out
Work, errands and to-dos
Seems like all it’s all about

By the seat of your pants
Is how you like to fly
Know things need to happen
But it’s not do or die
Wait to the last second
See how we make out
Just go ahead and pick it
It’s a waste to doubt

On this treadmill what we find
Running, rushing, daily grind
Concentrating on the family tree
Lost in the shuffle is you and me

You’re not perfect
That I’m not is news to me
But it seems you can let it go
I’m too wound tight to let things breathe
Gotta find some middle ground
Between our styles a balance
An equal weight, an even keel
A rhythm to this dance

Thank god we’re together
And we’re thick as thieves
To make it picture perfect
Just need to prune life’s weeds

Ken Johnston

It was my life, passing time
Thrown to the wind, drifting by
Making the most of what I had
Didn’t think it was so bad…

Didn’t know at the time it was only act one
Had no idea my best days had not yet begun
Now I have the future to look forward to
All I want is as much time as I can have to be with you

It was never up to me
Or what I thought it should be
Sacrifice for the common good
Doing what I thought I should

Now I live a life so true
Right where I belong, next to you
My one true wife
So sweet, this second life!

Johnston/Moses

The drama’s all over
Love songs have been writ
What’s left for us to say?
From the perfect place we sit

As long as there’s a tune
As long as there’s a pen
There’s stories left to tell
The music has no end

One of us is song
The other gives thoughts a name
Together we paint portraits
Of this real life that we frame

As long as we breathe life
We give voice to our spirit
Each life weaves a tapestry
In our art you’ll hear it

We are father, we are mother
Creative halves of one great whole
All these songs borne from us
Is what gives our life its soul

Johnston/Moses

You were my companion
I owned you completely
You laid the whole world at my feet
All things seemed possible
I told you repeatedly
I’d dazzle you and would not be beat

You were my roadmap
To the dreams that I held
I knew that I’d make it there
I was bold, I was brash
I conquered my fears
Proved I’d make it anywhere

I found my voice
I let it ring out
With my youth along for the ride
I laughed under your lights
Took in all of your sights
Seeds you planted in me still survive

I loved you, I loathed you
I took you by storm
Gobbled you to your core, bite by bite
I danced on your pavements
I fell in love
Climbed the ladder to respectable heights

Now I walk these same streets
With hope dulled by the years
All I think is the luster’s stripped bare
The young girls who keep pace
This now is their place
Nothing left for me here, I want there

I spent decades of time
Building life on that shore
But that was never the goal
Who would have guessed
That there’d be so much more
At the end of the river’s dark hole

I cross o’er the river where the real jewel awaits
Quiet streets are the ones I long for
The bus doors creak open
I fly down the lane
As I near, my heart starts to soar

I peek in through the window
My favorite of scenes
My life lies beyond this front door
Arms reach out to meet me
And welcome me home
To the real life that I’ve waited for