Bap Kennedy
Martin “Bap” Kennedy paved his way in the music industry with hard work and dedication to his craft. Kennedy began his professional musical career with the Belfast rockers Energy Orchard as the rhythm guitar player, lead singer and primary songwriter during the late 1980’s. Energy Orchard achieved great success as a tremendous live band in London and had the opportunity to provide support for one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Van Morrison.
Unfortunately, all good things come to an end and Energy Orchard broke up in 1996. Immediately following the breakup, Kennedy began his solo career in Nashville recording his debut album Domestic Blues with the aid of alt-country superstar Steve Earle. Earle described Kennedy as “the best songwriter I ever heard” and the album ended up at number eight on the Billboard 200 and entered the top 10 of the Billboard Americana chart. Kennedy achieved continued success with his song “Vampire”, which appeared in the soundtrack for You Can Count On Me. The film won two Sundance Film Festival Awards and was also nominated for two Oscars. Amazingly, three more tracks on Domestic Blues ended up in award-winning films.
Kennedy went on to record seven more solo LPs including the 2005 album The Big Picture, which was recorded in mentor and friend Van Morrison’s studio. The album included the tracks, “Milky Way” (co-written by Van Morrison) and “On the Mighty Ocean Alcohol”, which featured fellow Irish musician Shane MacGowan (lead singer of The Pogues). Kennedy continued to mature through his releases and gained a reputation as a fantastic songwriter.
After all of these accomplishments it came time for another. Following the release of The Big Picture, he was invited as a special guest on Mark’s tour of the USA and Europe, including five nights at the legendary Royal Albert Hall in London, UK. This experience with Mark blossomed into a creative relationship that culminated in 2011’s recording of The Sailor’s Revenge, which Mark produced and played guitar on. The album was recorded in Mark’s British Grove Studios in London, UK, and is set to be released on January 30, 2012.