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den 26 april 2004
Karlstad was Rocked!
Dear friends,
Since I wrote last time a lot of things has happened.
As soon as I got rid of the crutches I went on the road to visit the IndyCar race in Phoenix. It was fun being it the society that I am used to, although I was there in a little different position this time. It was also good to check my performance in real life and that too went well. I was hurting a little at nights after walking a lot during the days but all in all it was good. The team had one of their toughest times during the years there, not finding a comfortable set up for Buddy Rice. That aside they have done a great job and Honda’s engine is the thing to beat at the moment. Japan was certainly a testimony to that where they occupied the first 5 positions on the grid and won the race.
Shortly after Phoenix I took off for a little longer trip in beginning of April when I went home to Sweden for 2 weeks. I had no problems flying other than I could not go through the safety check without getting additional screening because of all surgical hardware I carry. (Although on my way back to the U.S. I went through without problems in Stockholm. I was already on my way in to the “special screening” area when to my surprise I realized the machine did not buzz. I looked at the security guard and he said “you’re clear”!).
I have not been away from Sweden this long ever since I started racing so it was nice to see all friends, and I timed the weather perfect. I think there were 2 days of rain total.
Spring time in Sweden can for sure be a bit dicey, at my parents home for example, they still had some snow here and there.
I did rehab every day and everything including my right ankle kept improving.
I joined “Sven-Ingvars”, a very popular Swedish rockband for a guest appearance when they performed in the ice-hockey arena in my hometown Karlstad in front of approximately 5.500 fans.
Christer Sjögren, who is a singer, and who was part of the group “Vikingarna”, who in turn were one of my first sponsors when I started to race cars in 1984 also joined in. Talk about connections!
As the icing on the cake, or perhaps rink, my racecar-driver friend, Jan “Flash” Nilsson joined in on vocals on one song.
It was a big production with backup singers, dance girls, horns and the whole bit.
Quite different from when KB & the Subwooofers perform.
The music style was a bit different too, not the heaviest of rock, but we played a couple of the songs “KB & the Subs” use to play.
We had a lot of fun playing and singing but what made it great was that the people who were there enjoyed it a lot as well.
Although my ankle had improved it did get very tired after jumping up and down the stage for a long while so the “back stage party” was short for my part.
While in Sweden I also did some testing of my driving abilities. I’ve felt for some time I needed some known references to get a feeling of where I stand. At first I was a little rusty but it did not take long until I was back to my old self. My ankles were working fine (e.g. I could get full throttle!), the “drive”, attack and fun part was still there, and with this in my back pocket I feel pretty sure I am ready to come back to IndyCar racing.
During the winter the “Indy 500” has been partly in my mind but I also knew it would be very tight and a long shot, at best, to make it there.
After meeting with the team when I got back from Sweden, all things considered, we decided to push the first test up a bit.
I have no problem with that. Although I want to get back in a car I want to do it under the right circumstances for everybody, and the last thing I want to do is in any way harm anyone’s preparations and chances of doing well in the seasons biggest race. It might have been different if I could with 100 % certainty say that I will for sure be OK.
I do feel that way but I have never been in this position before so the final decision has to be taken after testing is completed.
In the mean time the rehab efforts will continue to make sure I am as ready as I can be.
Despite no driving, the month of May will still be busy. I will be involved in the team’s preparations, be part of a Charity Fashion Show and also perform a rock show on “Carb. Day”, 27th of may.
“KB & the Subwoofers” will open for “Blues Traveler”, and we are currently working on the set list. We will have a bunch of new cover rock songs to perform and if all goes well also a couple of our own songs.
During the winter, I guess when I was in the proper “haze” for music writing (Morphine) we decided to write some original music.
This has been a great therapy when being laid up in a hospital bed, and also a lot of fun creating something of our own. Everybody in the band has contributed greatly and now we are in the middle of the next phase and that is to finish these first couple of songs and make all final arrangements. Unfortunately the song titles “I need no Doctor” and “I Cant drive 55” are both taken so I guess we’ll have to come up with some other names…
Karma is doing well too, growing fast and starting to make strange sounds and wants to stand up already. Luckily she has made no claims to wanting to take the wheel yet.
Talk to you soon!
Kenny
kennybrack.com
KB
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