THE DYNAMIC HUSBAND-AND-WIFE DUO known as the Kennedys call their music “coffeehouse pop.” You can’t help but smile and bop along to their tunes and you can’t help but smile when you hear their exquisite ballads about life and love.
For one thing, Pete is an extraordinary guitarist. He makes such sweet music with every single part of his instrument. He plays the fretboard as intensely and beautifully as he does the strings. He plays the 12-string like no one since Roger McGuinn of the Byrds. (In fact, Pete cites “Eight Miles High” as a pivotal tune in his musical life.)
Pete and Maura met while he was on tour with Nanci Griffith and it wasn’t long before the two of them were opening for Nanci. It was obvious from the beginning that Maura’s distinctive voice and songwriting ability were the perfect match for Pete’s guitar prowess.
Songs like “Why Winona Why” and “Didn’t It Rain” from their “Get it Right” CD are pure, blissful Kennedy-style pop. “Stand,” the title song of their latest CD, is a great example of upbeat music that “stands” for something important and vital in this troubled world. Pete and Maura’s penchant for positive music is one thing that makes them so captivating. Then there’s a certain déjà vu or nostalgia to their music, too. As a critic from the Folk and Acoustic Music Exchange says, “The Kennedys do such a good job at imitating styles, don’t be surprised if the songs sound somewhat familiar, like listening to the bygone days of AM radio. The Kennedys are unapologetic throwbacks to the 60’s, but with enough of a dose of contemporary music to make it sound hip."
Vintage Guitar proclaims: “For fans of jangly power pop, this is as good as it gets.” Their CD “Positively Live!” showcases The Kennedys as a duo — two guitars, two voices, and the energy and spontaneity that make their live show something unique and special. For our friends who remember 60’s pop from the first time around, come feel young again. All you other kids, have a ball, too. At the Me&Thee.
$15
Comfortably ensconced between contemporary folk and classic jangle-pop, their world is one where T.S. Eliot and Emily Dickinson hang out with Lennon and McCartney, a landscape where postmodern modalities and golden-era pop mix effortlessly, and where the challenge of the new somehow has a warm, familiar ring. . . . In fact, their sound could be defined as one aimed at adults (of all ages) who still love to read books and discover new sounds. The duo have even gone a step further and applied a name to their own subgenre — "coffeehouse pop" — modern acoustic music with the witty, informed edge that the Beatles and the Byrds brought to radio way back when.
The Night Eagle Fan Club
Pete Kennedy . . . is the Jimi Hendrix of the acoustic 12-string guitar — he can make sounds come from acoustic guitars that no one else can.
David Schultz
If you're reading this, you're probably using a very old browser like Netscape 4 — and the page looked strange enough to begin with. Did you know that you can download a new browser that conforms to Web standards and displays pages as they are meant to be viewed? More than 90% of web users are using modern browsers, and the difference is significant. You can, of course, download Microsoft’s Internet Explorer (http://www.microsoft.com) or Netscape’s Communicator (http://www.netscape.com), which are free of charge but may not work on old computers. I suggest you give the Opera browser a try (http://www.opera.com). It's light, fast, and has a free version with all the features of the full version (just an advertising patch at the top). There's no need to lose out on so many of the visual and functional features of the web. –Me&Thee webmaster
