Bap Kennedy

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Bap Kennedy
Background information
Birth name Martin Kennedy
Born (1962-06-17) 17 June 1962
Origin Belfast, Northern Ireland
Genres Rock
Country
Americana
Blues
folk
Soul
Occupations Singer-songwriter
Instruments vocals, guitar, harmonica
Years active 1978–present
Labels Lonely Street Discs, Proper Records
Associated acts Energy Orchard
Website Bap Kennedy official website

Martin "Bap" Kennedy (born 17 June 1962) is a singer-songwriter from Belfast, Northern Ireland and older brother of singer Brian Kennedy.[1][2] He is noted for writing the song "Moonlight Kiss" which was on the soundtrack for the film Serendipity (starring John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale).

Kennedy was in a successful band, Energy Orchard for many years and has written and performed songs with artists such as Steve Earle and Van Morrison.[1] He has also recorded a number of well-received solo albums including Domestic Blues, Lonely Street and The Big Picture. Following the release of The Big Picture, he toured the USA with Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits and also performed for five nights at the Royal Albert Hall in London, England.[3]

Musical career

Kennedy's first band was the punk band Sellout formed in 1978 when he was sixteen years old. The band was formed to support rock group Uncle Waldo, playing in a local Belfast club.[3]

After receiving a phone call from Steve Earle, Kennedy joined him in Nashville, Tennessee and recorded his first solo album which was produced by Earle. The album entitled Domestic Blues featured vocal contributions from Nanci Griffith and was a critical and commercial success charting at number eight on the Billboard 200. Remarkably, four of the songs on the album would feature in award-winning movies.[3]

His album, Lonely Street, released in 2000, featured Herbie Flowers on bass and one of the tracks, "Moonlight Kiss" appeared in the movie, Serendipity. In the meantime, Kennedy also developed and produced records for London record label, Dressed to Kill which included Gravelands, a tribute album to Elvis Presley featuring Jimmy (The King) Brown. The record became a firm favourite of John Peel and Red Hot Chili Peppers.[3]

Kennedy's 2005 album, The Big Picture was highly acclaimed, with a four out of five star rating by Mojo. One of the songs on the album was the song "Milky Way" that was co-written by fellow Belfast born friend and mentor, Van Morrison.[4] Another song, "On the Mighty Ocean Alcohol" featured Shane Macgowan who also appeared (in secret) with Bap Kennedy at several gigs in London, England at the Boogaloo bar.[3][5]

Kennedy recently performed in the US on the 17 and 18 March 2009, at the Belcourt Theatre in Nashville, Tennessee and South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, respectively.[6]

Kennedy released a new album entitled Howl On on 3 August 2009 on his label, Lonely Street, that is available in both CD and download format.[7] One of the songs on the album is a cover of "Hey Joe" previously covered by Jimi Hendrix. Kennedy and his band appeared at the Black Box in Belfast on 4 July 2009 performing "Hey Joe", along with others from the new album.[8]

Kennedy performed at the 2009 Glastonbury Festival at the Acoustic Stage on 27 June 2009.[9]

Kennedy recorded a new album in early 2011, entitled The Sailor's Revenge, produced by former Dire Straits frontman Mark Knopfler at Knopfler's British Grove Studios in London. The album was released on 30 January 2012.

Personal life

Bap Kennedy is married to singer-songwriter and author Brenda (Boyd) Kennedy and resides in Holywood, Northern Ireland.[10]

Discography

Recorded with Energy Orchard

Solo releases

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Bap Kennedy biography". artistdirect.com. Retrieved 2009-01-26. 
  2. ↑ "Bap Kennedy plays in Sligo for one night only". sligoweekender. 22 March 2005. Retrieved 2009-01-26. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 "Biography: Bap Kennedy". bapkennedy.com. Archived from the original on 12 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-26. 
  4. ↑ "Bap Kennedy: The Big Picture". loosemusic.com. Archived from the original on 22 December 2008. Retrieved 2009-01-27. 
  5. ↑ "Bap Kennedy, Paddy Nash 2007-04-27". cellarbar.info. Retrieved 2009-02-27. 
  6. ↑ "Bap's First Blog". brendakennedyireland.com. Archived from the original on 13 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-26. 
  7. ↑ "Bap's blog for march 09". 
  8. ↑ "Bap Kennedy Goes to Glasto". famemagazine.co.uk. Archived from the original on 29 June 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-05. 
  9. ↑ "Glastonbury Festival 2009". nme.com. 25 May 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-04. 
  10. ↑ "Bap Kennedy Bio". bapkennedy.com. Archived from the original on 24 January 2010. Retrieved 2010-03-02. 
  11. ↑ "Domestic Blues: Review". allmusic.com. Retrieved 2009-02-27. 
  12. ↑ "Hillbilly Shakespeare: Review". allmusic.com. Retrieved 2009-02-27. 
  13. ↑ "CD Shakedown; reviews for the week of December 15, 2000". psnw.com. Retrieved 2009-02-27. 
  14. ↑ "Bap Kennedy a review of his album:The Big Picture". cluas.com. Retrieved 2009-02-27. 

External links

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