Myles Kennedy

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Myles Kennedy
Birth name Myles R. Kennedy
Born November 27, 1969 (1969-11-27) (age 38)
Origin Spokane, Washington, U.S.
Genre(s) Hard rock
Alternative metal
Post-grunge
Alternative rock
Occupation(s) Musician, songwriter, vocalist
Instrument(s) Vocals, guitar
Label(s) Epic Records (1997–2002)
Wind-Up Records (2004–2006)
Universal
Republic Records (2007–present)
Associated acts The Mayfield Four
Alter Bridge
Website www.myles-kennedy.com
Notable instrument(s)
Dean Guitar

Myles R. Kennedy (born November 27, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist originally from Spokane, Washington who possesses a 4-octave vocal range, with his longest held on note timed at 22 seconds (in Mayfield Four's "Summergirl". His longest note streak with one breath is 31 seconds in Alter Bridge's "Blackbird") Kennedy, a former guitar instructor in the Spokane area who has appeared as a guest of both live performances and recording sessions of numerous bands over the years, currently fronts Alter Bridge, a United States rock band and the brainchild of former Creed guitarist Mark Tremonti. Despite suffering from tinnitus, Kennedy claims he has "the standard amount of hearing loss for someone who has been doing it (singing) as long as [he has]" and continues to "keep it in check."[1] As of January 2, 2008 Myles Kennedy has created his own Myspace.

Contents

[edit] Music career

Kennedy began his career in a local Spokane band called Bittersweet. He played in other coverbands including Moment's Notice with Seattle Jazz bassist Clipper Anderson.

Early in his career, Kennedy played guitar for a jazz-fusion group called Cosmic Dust. Kennedy's guitar-work with Cosmic Dust was very advanced; using his knowledge of jazz theory in conjunction with his advanced technical abilities, Kennedy created the sound of traditional jazz guitar coupled with a more fusion-rock tone by implying chord changes and shredding with speed and precision. When Clipper Anderson left Cosmic Dust and Moment's Notice to move to Seattle, he was replaced by Spokane bassist Dave Turner. Myles had been working on a new band that would be an outlet for his original material and they were in need of a bassist. Dave Turner joined Myles, guitarist Craig Johnson, Trumpeter Geoff Miller and Drummer Mike Tschirgi to form Citizen Swing.

Following his stint with Cosmic Dust, Kennedy provided vocals and played guitar for Citizen Swing, a '90s band. A MySpace page dedicated to the band provides full tracks of "Motor Mama" and "Can't Complain", two of the band's songs original songs (link). Citizen Swing played their first gig in late 1993 at the Big Dipper, Spokane, WA and their last gig in June 1996. Myles had been collaborating with the future members of The Mayfield Four since summer 1995, and with the departure of Citizen Swing's bassist in late 1995 to pursue family and other interests, the door was opened for Citizen Swing to wind down and Mayfield Four to rise.

By August 1996 Kennedy had became the lead singer/lead guitarist of The Mayfield Four, a rock band formed in 1996 with childhood friends Zia Uddin, Marty Meisner, and Craig Johnson (also of Citizen Swing). The Mayfield Four enjoyed a lot of success opening for bands like Creed, Fuel and many others. Due to undisclosed reasons, Craig Johnson was fired in 1999 and the band continued on with a substitute guitarist up through their final gig. They released 3 CD's, Motion, Fallout and Second Skin. Though popular, they never garnered enough popularity to break the big time.

After the Mayfield Four officially split in 2002, Kennedy was asked by Slash to audition as lead singer of Velvet Revolver, but turned them down to join the former members of Creed to form a new band, Alter Bridge.[2]

During his current stint with Alter Bridge, Kennedy appeared on Fozzy's 2005 album All That Remains as a guest vocalist on the song "Nameless Faceless", and also appears on the Sevendust song sorrow from 2008 album Chapter VII: Hope and Sorrow

Kennedy has been known to use Fender, Gibson and Dean guitars as well as mesa boogie amps. With Alter Bridge he uses PRS Guitars and Dean Guitars (both acoustic and electric). He also plays through Mesa Boogie Mark IV and Roadster amp heads.

[edit] Equipment

Guitars

  • Paul Reed Smith Guitars (uses Singlecut 245, McCarty, and Hollowbody models. These are his primary guitars)
  • Dean Guitars (an orange sunburst Time Capsule model and a Resonator. Used as a backup and on the song Rise Today and Buried Alive)

Amplifiers

  • Mesa Boogie Amplifiers (uses a Mark I head exclusively for clean tone. Occasionally uses a Road King head as well. Uses exclusively Mesa Boogie cabinets)
  • Diezel Amplifiers (A Herbert head. Myles has said this is his favorite amplifier and uses it for nearly all his distorted tones)

Effects

  • Fulltone Clyde Wah pedal
  • Line 6 DL4 Delay
  • Line 6 Modulation Modeler
  • Fulltone Deja Vibe Uni Vibe Clone
  • Fulltone Octaver
  • Boss Chromomatic Tuner
  • TC Electronics Effects processor (for reverb only)
  • Radial Tonebone

[edit] Acting career

In addition to playing the role of glam metal character "Thor" in the 2001 film Rock Star, Kennedy has appeared along with the rest of Alter Bridge on an August 29, 2005 episode of WWE Raw with WWE superstar [[Adam Copeland|Edge.

[edit] Influences

Myles was influenced by Led Zeppelin, Jeff Buckley, Alice In Chains, Soundgarden, Guns N' Roses, U2 and Radiohead.

[edit] Collaborations

Myles appears on Sevendust's seventh album "Chapter VII: Hope and Sorrow", lending his voice on a track entiled "Sorrow". Alter Bridge bandmate Mark Tremonti also appears on the album on the track "Hope".[3]

[edit] Discography

[edit] With Cosmic Dust

[edit] With Citizen Swing

[edit] With The Mayfield Four

[edit] With Alter Bridge

[edit] References

  1. ^ "7 questions with Myles Kennedy"
  2. ^ VH1 Interview
  3. ^ Sevendust (2008). In Chapter VII: Hope and Sorrow [CD booklet]. Atlanta: 7 Bros.

http://myles-kennedy.com

http://www.mesaboogie.com/Reviews/CustTestimonials/2007-Bracewell-Roadster/Bracewell-Roadster.html http://www.deanguitars.com/myles_kennedy.php

[edit] External links

v • d • e
The Mayfield Four
Myles Kennedy • Zia Uddin • Marty Meisner • Alessandro Cortini • Craig Johnson
Studio albums
EP's
Demos
Thirty Two Point Five Hours
Singles
Sick and Wrong • Eden • Don't Walk Away • Always
v • d • e
Alter Bridge
Myles Kennedy · Mark Tremonti · Brian Marshall · Scott Phillips
Albums
Singles
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