Kenny Radge Turns Service Into Spoken Word

The former federal disaster-response professional channels years of service, sacrifice and reflection into Diary of a Traveler: Weapon of Choice Pen.

GRAMMY season often brings new music into sharper focus, opening a wider window into projects moving through the Recording Academy’s awards-season process. For Jaro Magazine’s music section, it is also a chance to introduce readers to listening experiences shaped by distinct lives, disciplines and creative points of view.

Kenny Radge’s Diary of a Traveler: Weapon of Choice Pen belongs in that space.

The spoken-word poetry album grew out of Radge’s years supporting disaster-response deployments with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the experiences he carried home from that work. Built from poetry, jazz, piano, and testimony, the 33-track project traces a journey from public service into artistic expression.

The album is being presented for GRAMMY consideration in the Spoken Word Poetry Album category.

From Disaster Response to Spoken Word

Diary of a Traveler: Weapon of Choice Pen was shaped by Radge’s years supporting U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster-response deployments and related federal assignments.

From October 2016 through January 2024, Radge spent 2,645 calendar days supporting disaster-response missions. The work often meant 12- to 14-hour shifts for weeks at a time. In some years, he spent close to 300 days deployed or away from home.

The quiet moments after those deployments became a space for reflection on life, loss, purpose, leadership, faith, relationships, and the human experience.

After transitioning to DHS Headquarters in 2024 and later leaving federal service in 2025, Radge began turning those reflections into spoken-word poetry.

One of the central pieces, “Weapon of Choice Pen,” was originally written for a Black History Month program that was canceled in February 2025 following an administrative transition. The piece later became the title track and creative foundation for the album.

Building the Sound With Deschanel Gordon

Radge entered the recording process without a previous recording career or formal recording training. Still, he set out to turn the poetry into a full musical work.

In January 2026, British pianist, composer, arranger, writer and producer Deschanel Gordon traveled from London to Chicago for an intensive studio session with Radge and recording engineer Scott Steinman at Studio Media in Evanston.

Gordon, pianist in Olivia Dean’s band and a songwriter on Dean’s album The Art of Loving, helped shape the project’s musical foundation.

In approximately three and a half hours, Radge and Gordon developed the album’s musical direction, with the final 10 piano pieces completed in roughly 60 minutes.

Released April 17, 2026, Diary of a Traveler: Weapon of Choice Pen became a collaboration combining spoken word, poetry, jazz, piano, and storytelling. Gordon’s compositions, arrangements, piano, organ and production provide the musical language through which Radge’s words are heard.

A Traveler’s Voice

Radge’s writing moves between testimony, confession and affirmation. The work reflects a man processing the weight of service, the complexity of identity and the search for forgiveness, direction and self-worth.

“I am a man, a man that is who I am. I am man, that’s who I am, I am just a man. Running from my past, trying to accept who I am. I am a man, that’s I am who I am, I am just a man, searching for forgiveness, Lord, here I am. I am a man, that is who I am. I am a broken man, caring for my children. I am just a man. They call me a dreamer, but this is who I am, planning for the future, this is who I am.”

— Kenny Radge

Another passage speaks directly to resilience and self-definition.

“On the road to success, there will be many people who will tell you no, but all you need is one yes. Be you, be brave & be bold. Keep believing in yourself, and visualize while feeling your end goal. You are the only one allowed to put a value on your worth. Value thyself. You cannot be duplicated or replicated.”

— Kenny Radge

Listening Through a Different Lens

What makes Diary of a Traveler: Weapon of Choice Pen notable is the life experience behind it.

This is not a project built from a conventional recording-industry origin story. It is a spoken-word work shaped by federal service, disaster-response deployments, personal transition and an artist’s decision to turn memory into music.

Across its 33 tracks, the album places Radge’s voice at the center of a reflective soundscape where jazz, piano and poetry work together. The result is a project that asks listeners to sit with the emotional residue of service, the discipline of survival and the inner work of becoming more fully known to oneself.

Listen to the Album

Diary of a Traveler: Weapon of Choice Pen is available through its official listening page.

Editor’s note: For Your Consideration submissions are part of the GRAMMY awards-season process and do not indicate a nomination. Jaro Magazine highlights select projects submitted for consideration as a way to introduce readers to new listening experiences across genres, styles and creative communities.