My name is Kevin Hendrickson and I’m probably best known as one of the originators of Pirate Rock — a mix of metal, pop, and sea-chanties which came to prominence in mid-90s Portland through my two buccaneer-themed bands Pirate Jenny, and Captain Bogg & Salty.
I mainly work as a composer for television animation, but I’m also an avid songwriter, producer, orchestrator, and engineer with a long list of credits mostly revolving around the theme of pirates.
“Some people ask me why I write so many songs about pirates. I blame the many trips to Disneyland that I earned by selling Oregon Journal newspaper subscriptions door-to-door when I was 15. On each trip to Disneyland I would just keep riding Pirates of the Caribbean over and over…”
As a kid I trained on piano, but as an adult I’ve learned to play numerous instruments including guitar, bass, and accordion. I often add live instruments and vocals to my scores, as was the case with Disney’s Jake and the Never Land Pirates where banjo, accordion, and lusty sea-faring vocals became musical characters in the show.
In 2009 my songwriting partner Loren Hoskins and I began collaborating with Walt Disney on the animated series that was to become the four-season hit, Jake & The Never Land Pirates. This is approximately how it came to be, according to the internet:
“After show creator Bobs Gannaway found Captain Bogg & Salty’s music on a web search, Gannaway introduced the band to Jay Stutler, vice president of music for television animation at Disney. Stutler reached out to the songwriting partners Hendrickson and Loren Hoskins and asked them to write a theme song for the developing show. The song was a success, and the two were then recruited to write and produce all of the show’s music for its four-season run.”
In addition to performing the singing voice of the goofy but lovable “Bones,” and composing music for 114 episodes of Jake and the Never Land Pirates, I was lucky enough to get to perform as the live-action version of Bones — both on stage, and in translated music videos around the world.
During my tenure as Bones — Lead Guitarist and Singer for Disney’s Never Land Pirate Band — I shared the stage with, or opened for numerous stars, including Sharon Osborne, Dan Zanes, Selena Gomez, Bella Thorne, Zendaya, and China Anne McClaine. Our live performances as The Never Land Pirate Band included shows at Disneyland, Disney World, New York’s Central Park, Chicago City of Lights, UpFront, and Disney’s premiere fan event D23.
Along with engineer Jeff Saltzman and my co-writer Loren Hoskins, I helped produce three Disney Sound Tracks for Jake and the Never Land Pirates. I also contributed to Disney’s Sofia the First as a song producer, and to Disney’s 7-D as a session accordionist on composer Parry Gripp’s song “Shapeshifter.”
Jake and the Never Land Pirates was nominated for four Daytime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Pre-School Children’s Animated Program and won the Disney Sanya Awards.
My compositions been featured in Disney’s Jake and the Never Land Pirates, Sofia the First, 7D, One Animation’s Oddbods, Mongadillo Studios Shawks, Knock First Productions, Feld Entertainment’s Pirate & Princess Adventure, Oregon Children’s Theater, and Bad Reputation Productions, as well as numerous toys, video games, and theme park attractions in Disney World and California Adventure.
I recently completed scoring 41 episodes of One Animation’s hit series Oddbods which received a 2016 Web TV Asia Award and was nominated for a 2017 and 2019 International Emmy Kids Awards (Nominee).
In 2008 I was appointed music director and arranger for an original musical rendition of Treasure Island, which was commissioned by The Oregon Children’s Theater, and performed and written by my band Captain Bogg & Salty.
Throughout the 90s—with my band mates Eric Furlong, John Morgan, and Paul Iannotti—we established a genre which would come to be called “pirate rock,” performing the circuit of popular Portland clubs as the buccaneer-themed rock band Pirate Jenny, and later as Captain Bogg & Salty. Previously I had developed many of the songs and concepts for the Pirate Rock genre with drummer Matt Giger in our influential pirate-punk band Hucklescary Finn.
Upon its 1996 release, the first of Pirate Jenny’s four albums — Never Sea Land — was dubbed “The Pet Sounds of Pirate Music” by Willamette Week.
Captain Bogg & Salty’s second album Pegleg Tango received the 2009 Parent’s Choice Recommended Award, and was said to “conjure the Monkees, Elvis Presley, and the Beach Boys” by Entertainment Weekly.
My music is represented by BMI, SAG-AFTRA, and Scabbydisc Music (my label and publishing company).