Brian Kennedy

THIS PAGE IS RUN BY A FAN OF BRIAN KENNEDY AND HAS NO DIRECT CONNECTION WITH BRIAN, HIS RECORD COMPANY, AGENT, OR ANY OTHER REPRESENTATIVE.
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The following info was copied from Brian's website at http://www.briankennedy.co.uk/
If there were such a thing as an award for being multi-gifted, then Brian Kennedy would surely walk away with it. Already a critically acclaimed songwriter and master interpreter of lyrics with an exceptional vocal talent, he has now emerged as an author of considerable worth, producing a series of short stories and two novels within the span of a couple of years – not surprisingly, for a lyricist of his calibre.
“Music is the language of emotion”, - a sentiment often voiced by Brian - and his fans have come to expect a roller coaster ride at any of his concerts around the world. But the casual manner and good-humoured banter on stage belie the hard work and early years of struggle of an artist who seems born to perform live, spellbinding his audiences, while making it all look easy.
Brian Edward Patrick Kennedy was born on 12 October 1966 and raised on the Falls Road, Belfast, one of six children. From his own candid account of those difficult and ‘troubled’ times, there seemed little contact with music of any kind. Nonetheless, as if to compensate for what he calls the “ugliness” in his environment, he developed an uncanny ability to harmonise with the blaring sound of ambulance and fire engine sirens, discovering, to his own amazement, he had a pitch perfect voice.
The teens were spent in relative obscurity with occasional singing at the local Chapel but, drawn inexplicably towards music, Brian felt compelled to head for London at the age of 18. Life was tough, but the move was a breakthrough and at 23 he signed his first record deal with the 1990 release of his debut album ‘The Great War of Words’. ‘Captured’ and ‘Town’, singles from that album, are to this day received rapturously at Brian Kennedy concerts around the world, earning a regular place in set lists.
The early 90’s proved a major turning point in Brian’s musical career. Spotted during a live performance by Belfast-born, international legend, Van Morrison, he was immediately invited to join Van’s own critically acclaimed ‘Blues and Soul‘ World Tour.
The Van Morrison era was to prove a stellar period in Brian’s musical journey. During the six years of his association with Van, Brian performed with some of the greatest musicians in the industry, artists whom he had previously only dreamed of meeting – Joni Mitchell, Ray Charles, Bob Dylan and many more. This was a whirlwind time and when not performing live Brian was backing Van on several of his albums, ‘Days like This,’ ‘The Healing Game’, ‘Back on Top’, also joining Van and John Lee Hooker on the live album ‘One Night in San Francisco’. Brian gained further kudos when asked personally by Van to record the soundtrack version of ‘Crazy Love’ for the film ‘When a Man Loves a Woman’. Brian has referred to these years as a “magic period” in his life.
Despite the intensity of the tour schedule, 1996 saw the release of Brian’s album ‘A Better Man’, from which the immense success of three of its singles, the title track ‘A Better Man’, ‘Life Love and Happiness’ and ‘Put a Message in the Box’, helped propel the album to No.1 in the charts for many weeks and on to quadruple platinum sales status in Ireland. The album further achieved an Irish Music Industry Award (IRMA) for Best Irish Male Album and a Hot Press/2TV Award for Best Irish Male Artist.
Around this time, Brian joined Van in the first of several future performances for President Bill Clinton, a continuing admirer of Brian’s work, especially of his unique version of the traditional ‘Carrickfergus’, now regarded by fans as something of an anthem at all Kennedy concerts. In 1997 Brian also branched briefly into film in a debut cameo role as a singer in ‘This is the Sea’ accompanied by Gabriel Byrne and the great Richard Harris.
1999 brought the release of the album ‘Now That I Know What I Want’ (Sony Music Ireland) of which the single ‘These Days’ (a duet featuring Ronan Keating, then lead singer of ‘Boyzone’) reached No. 3 in the national Irish singles chart, achieving platinum status. This CD saw Brian and his longtime friend and musical collaborator, Calum MacColl, reunited, with the inclusion of their beautiful rendition of the track ‘The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face’, written by Calum’s father, the revered songwriter Ewan MacColl.
The six-year association with Van Morrison gave Brian Kennedy the experience, training and work ethic that have helped him become one of Ireland’s best ambassadors of music and master of live performance. But it is the added ingredient of Brian’s own endeavours, determination and innate talents that have ultimately brought him to his current level of recognition as an artist.
The Millennium brought a new energy and if the 90’s had been momentous years for Brian, then the next few were to prove legendary.
Brian has frequently expressed his insatiable desire to explore “othernesses” – to take risks, cross unknown boundaries and face up to new challenges both in his art and life. This became a reality in 2000 with an unpredicted turn in his musical journey – Brian was offered, and accepted, the role of lead singer in the renowned ‘Riverdance on Broadway’ show. With the official opening scheduled for March of that year, Brian left for New York and flung himself into the new venture, singing new songs, especially written for him by the Grammy Award-winning Riverdance composer, Bill Whelan. A CD was released by Decca Broadway, featuring Brian’s songs from the show.
During the run of ‘Riverdance’, Brian didn’t waste time in connecting up with the local community and in his free moments was soon playing regular solo gigs at the popular downtown music club, Arlene’s Grocery on Stanton Street, building up a steady following of enthusiastic fans. At this point too, the seeds were being sown for the album “Get On With Your Short Life’ to be released the following year. There is no better record of Brian’s individual experience of this period than in this album. The 17 intimate and personal songs tell the story, taking the listener on Brian’s own journey from prior to leaving for New York (‘The Ballad of Killaloe’) through to ‘Christopher Street’ and ‘New York’, in which he paints a vivid picture of his reaction to the city and his new life there.
The New York experience came to a close, but without delay, Brian’s next double CD ‘Won’t You Take Me Home – The RCA Years’ was released in Ireland on 1st December 2000. The 28 tracks of Brian’s most popular and requested songs, traditional and contemporary, plus previously unreleased recordings, reconfirm Brian’s incomparable vocal skills. Before saying goodbye to New York, Brian once again performed live for President Clinton.
The next couple of years were a merry-go-round of performances – tours with the Corrs, and others; radio and television appearances on major shows interspersed with brief overseas flights: Radio City Music Hall, New York, trips to Dubai. Back and forth between the UK and Ireland, Brian covered a host of festivals, including the Celtic Connections Festival in Glasgow, not to mention benefit concerts for the many charities he supports, including Disability Action and Contact Youth of which he is a patron.
The twists and turns in Brian’s journey were still in motion when, in October 2002, he attended the Book Launch of ‘Breaking The Skin’, an anthology of Irish stories, which included two of Brian’s own short stories, chosen solely on merit by the editor who had no idea of the author’s identity at the time. The release of the book was one of the early indications that Brian was seriously exploring new areas of the arts and offered a brief glimpse into his literary world of fiction writing.
The very same year, Brian signed to Curb Records for an outstanding six-album record deal with the awaited release of ‘Get on With Your Short Life’, and later, ‘On Song’, the first album in a series of two, based on his earlier BBC TV programme, a six part music series, shot at breathtaking locations throughout Ireland reveals the history behind a variety of Irish classic songs. Mixing older ballads such as ‘Mountains of Mourne’ and ‘I Dreamt I Dwelt in Marble Halls’, with the up-tempo ‘Curragh of Kildare’ and ‘Whisky in the Jar’, against the brilliant jazz/blues interpretation of ‘Dirty Old Town’, this was yet another album bearing testament to Brian’s sensitive and versatile skills as an interpreter of both traditional and contemporary songs. In both albums, Brian collaborated with a multitude of luminaries such as Kevin Killen (co-producer), Calum MacColl, Sinead O’Connor, Paul Brady, Adrian Dunbar and others whom Brian warmly acknowledges on the backcovers of the albums.
July 2003 saw another change in direction – literally! – as Brian arrived in Australia to carry out a gargantuan promotional tour for ‘Get on With Your Short Life’, preparing the way for an official tour later in the year.
Based mainly in Sydney & Melbourne, backed by a network of local radio and general media interviews, Brian appeared triumphantly at ‘The Basement’, Circular Quay, Sydney, one of the best known music venues in Australia. His appearances were a knock-out, and reports in local and national newspapers & magazines were glowing. The tour crossed all states, with appearances at major cities from Sydney to Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane and others. Punishing as the schedule must have been in terms of distance, climate and physical effort, Brian stoically carried on, not once failing to deliver with his usual energy, dedication and charisma. The audiences loved him.
Barely days after leaving Australia, on 7th November precisely, Brian was performing his two-day ‘Live in Belfast’ sell-out concert at The Waterfront Hall, Belfast. The event was filmed and released as a double CD set and DVD, featuring the superb collection of 22 tracks of material gathered over his extraordinary 15-year recording career. This, his first-ever live recorded concert pinpoints a special landmark in Brian’s musical journey. It not only serves as lasting proof of Brian’s own incomparable professional skills as an all-round musician, but also the superb quality of the team of musicians supporting him, Calum MacColl, James Blesserhassett, Liam Bradley and James Hallawell. This is a unique record of the combined talents of some of the best exponents in recent times of not only the Irish, but the entire, music industry.
With no let-up in sight, Brian was thrown into another rigorous schedule in 2004. One performance after another - The Gaiety Theatre in Dublin; a trip to the Emirate States (Oman, Dubai and Qatar) thrown in for good measure; the Sondheim Spectacular at Derry (part of the BBC Music Live Festival); Belfast and Dublin again for radio and T.V. interviews; in-store signings. And so it continued through to end of August.
September 2004 - and the news that everyone had been waiting for! Brian’s long-awaited novel ‘The Arrival of Fergal Flynn’ came hot off the press, to jump straight into the Irish Best Book List at No.3. There followed a series of signings around Ireland and the positive reviews began pouring in.
Two months later, by 6 November, Brian was back in the land of Oz - his third visit within a year. No newcomer this time, he was welcomed ‘home’ by his previously-made fans, gathering many more as he promoted his album ‘Live in Belfast’. The reviews and reports in newspapers, magazines and on local radio, said it all - the concerts were an extraordinary success! Australia had taken Brian Kennedy to its heart, founding a strong and loyal fan base for the future.
2005 might well be referred to as the year of festivals, starting off with the annual Celtic Connections in Glasgow. The release of Brian’s next album ‘On Song 2 – Red Sails in the Sunset’, the second CD of his six-part BBC TV series came just before his departure for Dubai for a one-off show at the beginning of March; then to Australia once more to cover the major folk Festivals held as far apart as Katoomba in the Blue Mountains and Port Fairy and South Gippsland in Victoria. From there a surprise visit to New Zealand: Lyttleton, Auckland and Christchurch, where he participated in the major Festivals and made more fans. Back to Ireland, where more festivals and tours awaited, together with the UK.
Then almost without warning – in November 2005, his second novel, ‘Roman Song’, sequel to ‘Fergal Flynn’, hit the bookshops. Brian Kennedy had now truly arrived as a fully-fledged fiction writer!
‘Roman Song’ was almost “pipped at the post” by another bombshell. Brian had been chosen to perform Ireland’s entry for the Eurovision Song Contest in Athens, Greece in May 2006! In the calm that inevitably follows an impact of this magnitude, it is fair to say that given Brian’s known skills for beguiling audiences regardless of age, status or nationality, it doesn’t really take the know-how of a veteran gambler to bet the odds will be in favour of this Belfast lad to win; the other certain bet being that he won’t be standing there alone when his loyal, determined fans from all over the world join him in spirit, their positive intentions directed towards him from here-on to the great day.
But life is a roller coaster, as Brian has often said, and shortly after hearing the good news, the world was shocked and saddened by the announcement of George Best’s death. A mixed blessing of the tragedy was the good will felt towards this other Belfast legend when he was deservedly honoured by Ireland and supported by the rest of the world, with a public funeral of extraordinary proportions, at the Parliament at Stormont on 3rd December 2005.
Brian was one of the select few chosen to perform at this rare event. The quality and dignity of the service was only matched by Brian’s moving and powerful singing of ‘You Raise Me Up’ and ‘Vincent’, reported in the media worldwide, with special mention in the popular expat newspapers in Australia.
This has now been substantiated by the release of a single ‘George Best – A Tribute’, produced by Curb Records, featuring Brian and Peter Corry, a truly fitting record of this majestic and memorable occasion. And as words alone fail to describe the effect of Brian’s interpretation of ‘Vincent’, it is left to the language of music to truthfully express the raw emotion of this song which pays tribute not only to George Best but to all human beings who give their all, some, rising above the rest, possessed of a rare mix of genius and human frailty. Most of all, this version of the song tells more about Brian Kennedy than any written account could – a sensitive musician, lyricist, poet, but first and foremost - a master story teller of the human story.
The old year is ended and it’s on with a brand new year. At the start of 2006 Brian Kennedy’s star is shining brightly indeed and it appears that the label of ‘a voice to charm the angels’ bestowed on him by many, is well justified. However, from his track record so far, Brian Kennedy seems to be a man who, far from being carried up and away by fame, has his priorities very much sorted with feet firmly down here on earth. After all, he has stated quite emphatically in a live interview, in that endearing Northern Irish accent of his: ”This voice was made in Belfast!” And who in the world would dare argue with that?
For further information log on www.briankennedy.co.uk
(Written: 1 January 2006)