Captain Kennedy profile picture

Captain Kennedy

Captain Kennedy ~ Sweetest Friend

About Me


Captain Kennedy serve up a blend of bluesy, harmony filled, semi-acoustic rock and roll. The 7-piece band have firmly established their position on the Irish music scene with a number of impressive gigs in high profile venues across the country, including a sold-out Mandela Hall.
Other gigs, including support slots for highly rated Cambridge-based outfit “The Broken Family Band”, and appearances at Belfest and GIFTED @ The Empire, have helped Captain Kennedy build up a solid and loyal fan base.
2006 saw the release of Captain Kennedy’s debut EP “Sweetest Friend” which has received excellent feedback from the press and regular airplay on local radio stations. A video for Sweetest Friend, produced by Manchini.co.uk was released in summer 2007 and caused quite a stir on various internet sites.
The band recently reached the semi-final of Deis Roc on TV station TG4, featuring 16 of the best unsigned acts in Ireland.
The band were also recently featured on BBC Radio Ulster's ATL programme as their "Product of Northern Ireland" which highlights some of the best up and coming talent on these shores.
With another EP planned for release and further gigs scheduled throughout the next few months, expect to hear a lot more from Captain Kennedy in 2008
What the Press have said…
The Irish News: “Sweetest Friend walks a fine line between pop balladry and indie soul and would be playing on daytime radio stations right now if there was any justice in the world.”
BBC Across the Line: “When you’ve got the Americana sound as polished as these guys do, it’s no surprise it goes down as well as a Mississippi Mud Pie!”
Alternative Ulster: “Sweet, simple, Dylan-influenced songs about drinking and the minutiae of life”
Americana-UK: “I was so impressed with ‘Sweetest Friend’ that I played it on my radio programme this morning before I’d got round to reviewing the EP for this site. 8/10”
Sounds XP: “If you’re into anthemic, bluesy rock then you’ll be hard pressed to find much better than this.”
You can buy copies of the new EP from:
Discs ~ Lurgan
Backbeat ~ Belfast or
bruisedfruitpromotions.com

Or email [email protected] and we'll post one out.
New video for Sweetest Friend!
Gig Archive
~12th April, The Bunker @ Lavery's ~20th March, The Ceili House, Lurgan ~14th March, Common Grounds, Belfast ~10th Mar, Queens University, Belfast ~23rd Feb, The Ceili House, Lurgan ~16th Feb, The Woodville, Lurgan ~31st Jan, BBC, Acoustic Session ~ 29th Jan, Auntie Annies, Belfast ~18th Jan, The Ceili House, Lurgan, ~ 21st ..he Ceili House, Lurgan ~3rd Dec, Queens Students Union ~ 5th Oct, The Rotterdam ~ Sep 27th, GIFTED @ The Empire ~ Aug 18th The Ceili House, Lurgan ~ July 27th Gasyard Feile, Derry ~ Jun 22nd The Ceili House ~ Mar 23rd The Woodville, Lurgan ~ Mar 7th The Ceili House, Lurgan ~ Feb 16th The Front Page ~ Feb 10th The Bunker @ Lavery's, Belfast ~ Feb 2nd The Ceili House, Lurgan ~ Dec 27th The Courthouse, Lurgan ~ Dec 8th The Courthouse, Lurgan ~ Nov 28th The Empire as part of BELFEST 2006 ~ Nov 27th The Mandella Hall with The Waiting Room ~ Nov 25th The Empire, with the Broken Family Band, ~ Nov 16th The Pavillion, Belfast ~ Nov 7 06 Auntie Annies, Belfast ~ Oct 19 06 The Railway Bar, Lurgan ~ Aug 31 06 The Empire Music Hall, Belfast ~ Sep 01 06 Lurgan Celtic Social Club ~ Aug 18 06 Cheers Bar, Lurgan ~ Aug 05 06 West Armagh Festival ~ Apr 07 06 The Ceili House Bar, Lurgan ~ Feb 23rd 06 GIFTED at the Empire, Belfast ~ Feb 02 '06 Sandinos, Derry ~ Jan 20 '06 Cheers Bar, Lurgan ~ Dec 09 '05 The Derryhirk Inn, Aghagallon ~ Dec 01 '05 The Speakeasy Bar, Queens Students Union ~ Nov 11 '05 The Menagerie, Belfast ~ Nov 03 '05 The Bunker, Lavery's, Belfast ~ Oct 28 '05 The Ceili House Bar, Lurgan ~ Oct 22 '05 Duke of York, Belfast ~ Oct 15 '05 The Attic, Glasgow ~ Sept 23 '05 Cheers Bar, Lurgan ~ Sept 06 '05 The Menagerie, Belfast ~ Aug 30 '05 "Up the Attic", Auntie Annies, Belfast ~ Aug 20 '05 The Pavillion, Belfast ~ Aug 19 '05 Cheers Bar, Lurgan ~ Aug 12 '05 The Ceili House Bar ~ July 18 '05 INF Warrenpoint ~

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 10/25/2005
Band Website: captainkennedy.co.uk
Band Members: Ciaran Lavery (Vocals, Harmonica) ~ Stephen Kerr (Backing Vocals, Rhythm Guitar, Harmonica) ~ Mo Lavery (Lead Guitar) ~ Stephen McGurk (Drums) ~ Dee McAlinden (Bass) ~ Chris Molloy (Keys/guitar) ~ Laura Kerr (Fiddle)
Influences: The Band, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Johnny Cash, Ryan Adams, the Old Crow Medicine Show, the Beatles, AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Creedence Clearwater Revival etc. etc. (List subject to change!!)

Sounds Like: Catch us live at a gig and we'll let you decide!

New Video for Sweetest Friend.......

Just click on our Videos tab above!

Video by http://www.manchini.co.uk
Type of Label: None

My Blog

Breakthru FM

Hey y'all.  We've been featured on a new Northern Ireland based website Breakthru FM.  Its a style site showcasing some Nortern Ireland bands.  You can ceck out our page at: http://www....
Posted by Captain Kennedy on Wed, 21 May 2008 10:55:00 PST

New EP

Captain Kennedy will be recording their new EP at the end of May/start of June at the new Start Together Studio at The Oh Yeah Centre, Belfast. Further details to follow.
Posted by Captain Kennedy on Sat, 26 Apr 2008 06:06:00 PST

Be in TV audience for Deis Roc programme!

See Below, we're on Monday at 7pm: The Semi Finals for Deis Roc will be filmed on Sunday 9th March and Monday 10th March in Queens University Students' Union. The Bands who will be performing are...
Posted by Captain Kennedy on Wed, 05 Mar 2008 12:36:00 PST

"Caroline" ~ Live Acoustic track for BBC Radios ATL

Hullo y'all. We have uploaded one of the tracks (Caroline) from our recent live session at BBC Radio Ulster's ATL programme.  We would love to hear your thoughts on the song. Please visit http://...
Posted by Captain Kennedy on Thu, 07 Feb 2008 07:05:00 PST

BBC Radio Ulster ATL Acoustic Session

Hey. We're just back from recording an acoustic session for BBC Radio Ulster's ATL programme.  It should be aired this Monday (4th February) between 7.30 p.m. and 10 p.m. You can tune in at ...
Posted by Captain Kennedy on Thu, 31 Jan 2008 01:55:00 PST

Deis Roc ~ Next Round!!!

We have made it through to the next round of Deis Roc! Thanks to everyone for their votes!  We will be filming the semi-finals sometime in March so watch this space!  
Posted by Captain Kennedy on Wed, 23 Jan 2008 12:38:00 PST

Deis Roc Official Press Release

Ireland's hit battle-of-the-bands show, Deis Roc is returning to our screens this Tuesday the 15th of January 2008 at 11.00pm on TG4. This second series of Deis Roc, which was recorded in the Students...
Posted by Captain Kennedy on Wed, 09 Jan 2008 10:39:00 PST

Captain Kennedy on Deis Roc plus Free Gig!

Having finished filming in December for Deis Roc, a battle-of-the-bands style competition for Irish TV station TG4, Lurgan band Captain Kennedy's heat will be televised on the 15th January at 11pm and...
Posted by Captain Kennedy on Sat, 05 Jan 2008 11:48:00 PST

Captain Kennedy selected for Deis Roc

Deis Roc is back for a second series to be recorded in Belfast in December 2007 and we're on it.Its a battle-of-the-bands style competition for TG4 and will give independent/ unsigned acts from all ov...
Posted by Captain Kennedy on Tue, 20 Nov 2007 02:03:00 PST

ATL Interview and Empire gig

A couple of us were interviewed for ATL's Product of NI which will be aired this Monday night (24th September). Should be good craic! We're playing the Empire on Thursday 27th September with Swanee Ri...
Posted by Captain Kennedy on Fri, 21 Sep 2007 07:26:00 PST