Ballots Not Bullets

"This is a question that I ask myself often. While the answer is 'both' it’s more complicated than that. As someone who is not an elected officeholder I wouldn’t consider myself a politician- just an advocate and activist..."

Politician or Musician? – Ballots not Bullets As someone who is not an elected officeholder I wouldn’t consider myself a politician- just an advocate and activist. Politics has taken up a lot of my time and COVID-19 has for practical purposes killed my industry so I don’t feel like a musician so much, either.

We seem to be in an era where involvement in politics/activism requires one to be in a perpetual state of rage. Is there a better way?

Good morning!!! Stay tuned for out programming schedule. The BallotsNotBullets Podcast will be getting fired up very soon. In the meantime:
How do you deal with the challenge of balancing work, home, recreation, and politics/activism?

"One element of campaign strategy (and music promotion) is numbers. Numbers, numbers, numbers. Let’s talk about numbers."

What Day Is It? I Mean, Until the Election… – Ballots not Bullets One element of campaign strategy (and music promotion) is numbers. Numbers, numbers, numbers. Let’s talk about numbers.

As someone who raises 2 small children, the first thing that I hear in the morning (at the crack of dawn a.m.) is “Daddy!” from the kids’ bedroom...

First Thing in the Morning… – Ballots not Bullets As someone who raises 2 small children, the first thing that I hear in the morning (at the crack of dawn a.m.) is “Daddy!” from the kids’ bedroom. So starts my day- bookended by way that it ended- parenting. Brushing teeth, tucking in, and goodnight hugs and kisses at one end and back to paren...

Testing 1, 2... is this thing on???

Ballots Not Bullets- What is this thing??? – Ballots not Bullets I'm working on gluing my political and musical lives together while also providing more personal and behind-the-scenes perspective on politics in our area, State, and Country.This effort is called "Ballots not Bullets" and I'm creating an online presence on the popular social media channels and beyo...

What is this "Ballots not Bullets" thing? Well, I'm John Kiehne and most of you know me as a musician and someone who has become very involved in politics in recent years as an organizer, activist, and candidate. I'm now running for State Senate in Missouri's 26th Senate District as well as trying to navigate my music career through a global health crisis at the age of 54. Needless to say I'm facing a number of challenges in not only making things work but making the different elements of my life exist in the same space including family, domestic responsibilities and of course sleep.

I've created a space here on the internet for me to give people a behind-the-scenes look at what it's like to run for office and what it takes to be a successful musician/artist. A place that's less formal, more personal, and potentially more insightful.

We're on Instagram:
We're on Twitter:
We're on TikTok:
We'll be on Youtube, Twitch, etc. soon as well.

Join me (and us) if you're interested!