Man killed in Wichita hit-and-run was an influential, beloved member of local music scene
Local music fans this week are mourning a man who they say was a key figure in Wichita’s music scene — and someone who ran some of the city’s most popular live music bars.
Kenny Ballinger, 37, was killed on Wednesday night after a hit-and-run crash at 47th and Hydraulic. Police say Ballinger was on his Harley Davidson motorcycle driving west on 47th when he was hit by a black SUV turning north onto Hydraulic from eastbound 47th Street. The SUV then fled the scene. Ballinger was taken to an area hospital, where he died from his injuries.
Police records show that Jesus Manuel Olave Jr. of Derby was arrested on Thursday in connection with the accident.
Since then, friends and acquaintances of Ballinger’s have been flooding social media with posts expressing shock and grief over his death. A GoFundMe campaign set up to benefit his wife, Dariah, and his 2-year-old son, Harlan, has raised more than $16,500 as of Saturday morning.
Ballinger — a big presence who stood well over six-feet tall and was immediately recognizable for his long beard — owned a production company called Fine Swine Productions and was known for booking well-known music acts that people were surprised would perform in a bar in Wichita. Most recently, he ran local music venue Barleycorn’s with partner Justin Brown, and he and Dariah also ran The Elbow Room, a live music venue at 1507 E. Pawnee.
Back in 2013, when he owned Lizard’s Lounge at 330 N. Greenwich, Ballinger booked a show featuring Har Mar Superstar and Lizzo, who had yet to explode onto the music scene.
Alex Thomas, who owns The Cotillion and Kirby’s Beer Store in Wichita, was at that show, and that’s where he first met Ballinger. The two went on to co-produce many shows over the following years, he said.
“I was just impressed. I was almost jealous,” Thomas said. “And that’s when I said, ‘Dude, we should work together...’ You wouldn’t think that Kenny would bring Har Mar Superstar, who plays more soulful rock. But that’s the kind of guy Kenny was. He just knew good music, even if it wasn’t what he jammed out to.”
In 2019, Thomas and his partners Adam Hartke and Brian Cunningham sold Barleycorn’s to Brown, who brought Ballinger in as his partner.
“Kenny’s contribution to the Wichita music scene was massive,” Brown said on Friday. “He not only brought amazing acts to town but supported and fostered many local musicians as well. As I’ve mentioned time and time again, I wouldn’t have bought Barleycorn’s without Kenny. Along with his obvious music chops, he had an unquestionable love for and commitment to that place.”
People on the music scene were impressed with the caliber of musicians Ballinger could get to play that tiny stage, his friends say. In November 2019, he thrilled local music fans when he booked Rob Zombie’s guitarist John 5 to perform at Barleycorn’s. But they were just as impressed by his commitment to local bands trying to get a foothold in the music scene.
Jason Catlett, who plays guitar in local band Parallax and is also a member of the Dusty Grant band, said he met Ballinger during his Lizard’s Lounge days and the two immediately hit it off, bonded by their love of heavy metal music. They quickly realized after meeting that they both had Pantera tattoos.
Ballinger and Catlett would go on to start Fine Swine Records, which would give local independent artists who didn’t have much cash a place to record their music.
Not only was Ballinger a good friend, Catlett said, but he was good to local bands.
“The great thing about it is he would bring those big bands to town and then he’d put all of us local bands on the show and give us a stage to play,” Catlett said. “He gave so many of us an opportunity that we wouldn’t have had had he not been here.”
Catlett said that Ballinger was so popular locally that they joked about getting T-shirts made that said “I know Kenny.” When Catlett would help run the doors at bar shows, he’d always be approached by people trying to get around the cover charge by saying, “I know Kenny.”
“I’d say, ‘That’s cool. I know Kenny, too. That’s five bucks,’” Catlett said with a laugh.
Ballinger had a big personality and was full of opinions he wasn’t timid to share, his friends say. He was a great husband and a great father, and he loved spending time with his young son. He also loved riding his Harley, especially in the summer.
Taryn Ivy, a local music fan and friend of Ballinger’s widow, Dariah, helped set up the GoFundMe account for the family. She said that she’s been overwhelmed by the support pouring out since news of Ballinger’s death began to spread.
“Even people who didn’t know Kenny or his wife or son could just look at the response and the support and easily see how loved he was in this community,” she said.
Catlett said he’s working on a tribute show for later this month at The Cotillion that will feature many of the bands Ballinger helped and loved. Money raised will go to a trust fund for his son, Harlan.
Catlett said that the Wichita music scene will suffer without Ballinger’s contributions.
“I think that what Kenny did for everybody is he gave us a stage to play on,” he said. “He brought us all together, and I think through that and what he did for all of us as a community, we’re all just going to pull together and do our best to continue his legacy.”
This story was originally published August 27, 2021 at 12:53 PM.
.jpg)