The October Cover Story: Water Tower – A Slam Dance Between Punk and Traditional
When Kenny Feinstein first started playing music, he probably had no idea he’d some day end up being a vital part of the Los Angeles, California, bluegrass community. Traditional music wasn’t a part of his life. Yet.
“I picked up the guitar after hearing Offspring, Nirvana, and Blink-182,” Feinstein said, of his beginnings as a musician.
One day he set up shop to busk outside a Target store in Santa Cruz. He played Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and received his first ever five-dollar bill for making music.
“I was completely changed by that five-dollar bill,” he laughed.
At age 16, he first encountered a banjo. It was owned by a neighbor. Not long after that, he went to his first square dance.
“Something awoke in my blood,” he said.
Eventually, he and his neighbor would start a band. Since they both lived next to a water tower, that looming part of their everyday life would become a part of the story. That first iteration of the group was called The Water Tower Bucket Boys. After some years and several band lineup changes, that name would eventually be shortened to Water Tower.
Yes, Feinstein moved into bluegrass, but this evolution wasn't a simple parting of ways as you’d expect; he brought his early influences along for the ride. He blended bluegrass with the rebellious spirit of the grunge and punk bands he liked.
“I believe punk rock and bluegrass come from the same spirit,” he explained. “A bluegrass circle isn’t that different from a mosh pit.”
He added that an emphasis on energetic playing – speed, essentially – is a common thread. As anyone who is familiar with both rock (in all its forms) and bluegrass can attest, they’re both infused with an in-your-face sense of noncompliance. A vibe of being an outsider. A refusal to abide by things that are too genteel. Once the genres are examined not for sound, but for their base zeitgeists, what Feinstein said rings true.
He said those unexpected parallels were on full display at one of the band’s most memorable outings. It happened as part of the Van’s Warp Tour, which is mainly focused on punk and skate culture. The video appears on the band’s website.
“We were the very first bluegrass band to ever do it in 30 years,” he said, adding that what happened at that show illustrated how the two genres he loves might at first seem to be strange bedfellows, but in his opinion, are compatible. The crowd was feeling it for sure when the band got them to start some of the oddest square dancing ever. They began to line up and do what they were accustomed to doing at gigs in the mosh pit.
“Screamo, punk and hardcore…they all call it the wall of death,” Feinstein said. Instead of slamming when the walls of people meet up, he said at Water Tower gigs, everybody faces off in a kinder, gentler way that’s more aligned with bluegrass. “We call it the wall of love, and made everyone hug each other.”
This fall, Water Tower will appear primarily in California, Oregon, Washington, and Colorado. In March of 2027, they’ll set sail on a 311 Caribbean Cruise. There’s a steady supply of online content available as well.
“We put out new music every month,” he said. “We do traditional and punk rock covers.”
He said another record is also in the near future. They’re aiming for a release sometime in early 2027 that features their unique sound, with a more traditional bluegrass album to follow shortly after.
Feinstein said he loves being a part of the Los Angeles (and beyond) music scene.
“I’ve been in a lot of bluegrass communities,” he said, adding that music can “connect us to each other.”
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