Site design by Sharon Kenaston Promotions
About Us
Now booking for your dance, festival, show or event.
The Kenastons perform throughout the Midwest and are
available for bookings in your area no matter the distance,
occasion, or size of venue. Roger, Sharon, Vanessa and Bobbi
Jo would be glad to entertain you and help you celebrate life.
Who are the Kenastons?
The Kenastons are family. Not only to each other, but to all their
friends and musicians they consider as family. Five generations
of Kenastons have entertained and shared their talent on stage. Beginning with Great-Grandpa Kenaston, Dewey,
who played drums; Grandpa Kenaston, Bob, who played fiddle and other instruments; and on to Bob’s children,
Roger & Vanessa; their kids and grandkids. Roger and Vanessa’s mother, Arvilla, was also a musician and played
lap steel for the family band. Roger’s daughter, Bobbi Jo is the drummer with the band and does a fine job of
singing lead and harmony vocals. Roger’s wife, Sharon (Harre) Kenaston, is the upright bass player and lead
singer. Click on the links below to learn more about the Kenastons.
Click Here to Learn About The Kenastons in South Texas 2022/2023
Traditional Country Dance Music
from the Sandhills of Nebraska
From the Midwest Country Theater in Sandstone, MN as seen on RFD-TV
Roger is an outstanding musician, playing pretty much anything with strings and
a little bit of piano when the mood strikes. He’s a multi-award winner in various
contests for Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Mandolin, Dobro, Fiddle and Vocals.
He’s a member of the National Traditional Country Music Association Hall of Fame
and was honored as 2019 BMAI Dobro player of the year.
In addition to his musical talents, Roger spent many years working as a mechanic
and over the road truck driver. He can fix anything that has a motor or moving
parts. He loves old cars, old tractors, antique garden tractors, animals and his
family.
Roger’s daughter, Bobbi Jo, Mrs. Randy Faaborg, has three kids, Shelbi, Shelden and Stetsen. Shelbi added a
great-grandson, Kaesin, to the family in October 2019. Bobbi Jo is an LPN, ambulance transport driver and all
around hard working mother, rancher and farmer. Randy is a Deputy Sheriff and owns a mobile communications
company. Roger’s son, Marty, has four kids, Alison, Lindsay, Katelynn and Brianna. Marty is an over the road
truck driver and, like his dad, is a master mechanic and motorcycle rider.
Roger is currently enjoying his “semi-retirement” as he hauls grain for the neighbor. His hobbies include
restoring classic automobiles and tractors and playing music. See the image gallery below for some of our
favorite Roger pictures.
Vanessa is one of the most awarded vocalists in Nebraska, having won
dozens of International, National, Regional and Local Country Music contests
beginning in the 70’s. Besides being a powerful singer, she’s also been
awarded for her guitar and mandolin picking. She mostly plays rhythm
guitar for the band but can occasionally be seen playing the upright bass or
drums. She’s a member of the NTCMA Hall of Fame, a nashville recording
artist and is often seen on RFD-TV’s Midwest Country Show.
Her full time work is as a cattle rancher on the Kenaston home place in
North Central Nebraska. The ranch that she operates has been in the family
for over 125 years. She’s one tough gal, often wranglin’ calves twice her size, plus ropin’ and ridin’, feedin’, fixin’,
fencin’, hayin’, doctorin’ and doin’ whatever it takes to keep the cows fat and happy. The cow-calf operation keeps
her busy year round from calvin’ in the spring, movin’, workin’ and sortin’ cows and hayin’ through the summer, to
feeding in the winter. She’s a cuttin’ horse riding champion, loves to fish and spend time with family.
Vanessa has two sons. Clifford and his wife Brittany have two girls, Bailey and Mia. Clifford also helps his mom on
the ranch and has his own cattle herd and custom haying business. Brittany is an RN at the Bassett, NE hospital.
Vanessa’s second son, Jesse, is on the run helping his mom at the Kenaston ranch, his dad at the Heese farm &
ranch and he also has a guided hunting service for birds, big game, small game and preditors. Click on this link for
more information about guided hunting packages from H and H Hunts.
Vanessa loves the outdoors, is an expert in animal husbandry, has a green thumb and a love for gardening and
flowers. Though she’d like to slow down and do more fishing, she stays busy all the time tending to her cows, more
like pets, and all her other critters. See the image gallery below for some of our favorite Vanessa pictures.
Johnny Butten is the newest member of the Kenastons, joining the band in
2022. A family friend for over 30 years, it took most of those 30 years for him
to find his way back to the United States from Somerset, England. He now calls
Springview, Nebraska his home where he’s become a real Old-West, Cattle
Ropin’ and Chasin’, Gardenin’, Jack of All Trades, Midwesterner.
Johnny is an amazing talent on fiddle, guitar, anything else with strings and
does some mighty fine singing too. He’s a true master at the five string banjo
and is honored to have the World’s Fastest Banjo record at 260 beats per
minute as awarded by the Guiness Book of World Records in 2009. A record
that stands to this day. Johnny also creates custom recordings for people all
over the world, depending on their needs, he adds his musical and production
skills to all different genres of musical compilations.
When Johnny doesn’t have a musicial instrument in his hand, he’s working on his motorcycle, turning wrenches, or
building and doing work as a finish carpenter. He’s never at a stand still, always in a hurry and if you need
something done, ask him, he’ll make it happen.
Sharon, well, that’ me, so let me tell you a bit about myself. I have
loved country music since I was very young and was allowed to tag
along with my parents to dances whenever I could. I started playing
guitar when I was 15 and was singing and playing bass in a band when I
was 16. I first met the Kenaston family in 1987 when I attended my first
music festival in Ainsworth, NE. It wasn’t until 1994 that I would start
dating Roger and we were married in 1995 making June 17, 2020 our
25th wedding anniversary. Like my talented family and friends, I have a
few accolades, trophies and honors including membership into the
National Traditional Country Music Hall of Fame.
I’ve been employed in office type jobs and some unusual jobs over the
years such as lawn care office management, janitorial service
management, rural newspaper delivery, pizza delivery, sewing inspector,
hotel reservationist, photo developer, insurance office assistant, bookkeeper, typesetter, full-time care giver,
funeral home office manager and more. I’ve been the director of the Wahoo Country Music Show for 24
years, have published newsletters, designed websites, recorded, mixed and mastered audio recordings and
created artwork for publication. In 2014 I became a full time college student and earned an Associates
Degree in Accounting in December 2015. I’m a technology geek, I recently discovered I love to paint and do
crafty, creative things, I enjoy walking barefoot in the grass and planning the next event or gathering of
friends.
You’ve probably already read about the Kenaston family and know Roger has two kids and seven grandkids
and one year old great grandson. I do not have any children of my own, only Roger’s wonderful kids. I come
from a rather large family, the youngest of six, and my dad was one of 15, my mother was one of 12. So,
there’s lots of aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews in my life and the family continues to grow
exponentially.
When I’m not, planning, preparing, promoting or preserving music, I am an avid sports fan. I especially love
Husker football and volleyball but enjoy watching just about any type of sporting event. I love being with
family and friends, playing board games, exploring new technology and going South for the winter to play
music and escape the cold and snow. Click the image gallery below for a few of my favorite Sharon pictures.
Bobbi Jo is the happy little drummer with the band when she’s not
busy wranglin’ kids, hospital patients or cows. She adds plenty of
delightful lead and harmony vocals and occassionally you’ll find her
playing the upright bass or rhythm guitar too. She is often
requested to drum on recording projects and at festivals with more
entertainers than she can count.
She has been an LPN at Valley County Health in Ord, NE for many
years. In addition, she is on-call for patient transport by ambulance
to larger hospitals, she has a few critters to take care of, she helps
the neighbors with cattle and farming, and she’s one fantastic
mother to her three kids, Shelbi, Shelden and Stetsen. The
neighbor kids and school pals know they are loved as much at Bobbi’s house as they are at home.
Bobbi is married to Randy Faaborg after a beautiful wedding in the Spring of 2020. Randy is a deputy sheriff
and has been an awesome dad to the kids. And, he’s all about the music, being a John Phillip Sousa award
winner in his high school days. Bobbi’s daughter, Shelbi, mother of one year old boy, Kaesin, is a lovely young
lady, very intelligent, very resilient, and is an incredible mother. Bobbi’s oldest son, Shelden, is a recent
graduate of Ord High School and he’s currently working as a hunt guide and all around handyman with his
cousin, Jesse Heese. He is a great young man, has a lovely girlfriend, Emilee, and he works hard at
mechanics, farming, cattle and all things rural. And finally, Bobbi’s youngest, Stetsen, is learning all he can in
school, working for his dad on occasion and is constantly using his big heart to make sure everyone else is
doing ok. Bobbi has been blessed with a great husband, her awesome kids and one cutie pie grandson.
Taking care of everyone has been Bobbi’s thing for a long time so it’s no wonder she’s in the medical field.
She’s an excellent cook and baker, loves to hunt and fish, and always shows her beautiful smile. If there were
such a thing as free time, she’d spend it cooking and taking care of her family, just like she does every day.
Click the image gallery below for some of our favorite Bobbi pictures.
Roger and Sharon spend most of the winter, from early December through the middle of March, in the Rio
Grande Valley of South Texas. Over the years they have worked with their favorite friends and musicians to
provide some of the best, live, dance music in the
valley. They most notably have worked Wednesday’s
at the Riverside Club Event Center in Mission and
Thursdays at Winks (now Mel’s Honky Tonk) in
Brownsville. Through their performances in the
Midwest and the Rio Grande Valley, they have enjoyed a
dedicated fan base, affectionately referred to as The Rowdy
Bunch. These friends
are often in attendance
at
every possible
performance. The
Kenastons have been
Valley Star Award nominees for Country Band of the Year several times
and are scheduled for numerous performances, shows and dances in the
valley this season.
The Kenastons will again be working with local talent, Epi Martinez on drums and vocals. Epi is a local legend
in Texas Cojunto Music, playing Bajo Sexto, Drums and various other instruments in the local, traditional
style. He started his music career at 8 years old playing drums in
his mom and dad’s traditional country dance band and enjoys
spending the Winter Texan season playing drums with the
Kenastons and singing along with some of his favorite old country
songs. Epi is a remarkable entertainer and the crowd always
enjoys Epi’s mother, Cruz, who occasionally joins him on stage for
a South Texas flavored country tune or two.
Joining us again for the 2022/2023 season is, Mike Hughes of
Oregon, MO. A multi-talented instrumentalist and vocalist, Mike adds his
vocals on some of the best traditional country dance music along with old
time rock and roll and rock-a-billy tunes. He’ll be playing rhythm guitar for
the Kenastons again this season but will also offer his work on bass and
lead guitar from time to time. Recently, Mike was awarded “Honky-Tonk
Music CD of the Year” for his recording, “To Make An Angel Cry”. He’s
currently recording another album which is certain to be well received.
Dedicated to traditional country dance music, Mike is looking forward to
working with the Kenastons again this season.
Combining efforts with Barry and Linda
Burton (AKA High Country) of Bethany, MO
for the 2022 season has been an exciting and excellent combination. Barry is a
very talented steel guitar and lead guitar player and he provides vocals on
many songs by request. His wife, Linda, is a solid bass player and an
incredibly gifted singer. Her recent recording, Beneath Still Waters, was
produced by Justin Trevino and released in 2022. It showcases Linda’s great
vocals and her love for traditional country music. The Burtons, together with
the Kenastons, Epi Martinez and Mike Hughes do indeed have the “biggest
band and are the biggest name in the valley” billed as Roger Kenaston with
High Country, Mike Hughes and Epi Martinez.
Also throughout the winter, other friends and family will join in as their time permits. Roger’s sister, Vanessa,
plans to be in the valley for a couple weeks mid-season if she can get away from feeding her cattle for a little
while. Stay tuned to the website and schedule for updates and details of special performers and added
performances. We’re available for additional bookings this season and next and we’re willing to cover for last
minute cancellations, or know someone who can. We are dedicated to promoting ourselves with advertising,
flyers and fan support. Give Sharon a call to check for availabilty anytime at 402-936-0638.
The Rowdy Bunch
Riverside Club. Mission - 2019
Winks, Brownsville - 2015