Pete and Maura Kennedy, who have performed for decades as the folk-rock due The Kennedys are back with a brand-new album, “Smoketree.” With a thoughtful and inspiring attention to message and details – both lyrically and musically – the album is The Kennedys at their collective best. Satisfying and uplifting, even while they delve into the darkness and anxiety rife in modern life, the songs on this collection are truly special, drawing listeners in from the first note. We sat down with Pete and Maura recently to chat about “Smoketree” and all of its details.
AMPLIFY: Hi, Pete and Maura! You have a terrific new album out in August called “Smoketree.” How did these songs come together and what broad strokes can you tell us about the collection?
MAURA: This is our eighteenth album since 1995. Despite the long sequence of releases, none of them are repeats of earlier projects because we feel strongly that our lyrics should reflect and bring forward ideas that we have talked about together, things that we’re currently concerned about, or insights that we feel might help our listeners through hard times. The result is that each album is a fresh collection of lyrics that are both personal to us and hopefully resonant with our listeners on a larger scale.
AMPLIFY: One of the songs on your new album, “Meant to Do,” is really great and stood out to me. What can you tell us about that song? What inspired you to record this song?
PETE: I wrote that one as a celebration of my gratitude at growing up in the heart of the baby boomer generation. It has been a time of idealism, community, and a flowering of musical genius that carried and transmitted the values of our global generational village. Funnily enough, the song was inspired by a certain guitar, a Rickenbacker 12-string. That was the jangle sound of folk rock, epitomized by The Byrds. They brought a new level of intelligence and literacy to the radio, and we try to carry on that legacy.
AMPLIFY: What was it like recording this album? What was the vibe overall, and how did this song, in particular, come together?
MAURA: We recorded the album in our home studio in the Hudson Valley. We’ve done most of our recording that way because the songs are allowed to grow organically. We can make lyric changes or variations in the sound without being tied to a commercial studio schedule.
PETE: As far as “Meant To Do” is concerned, I was idly strumming the Rickenbacker 12-string, and, as usual, the instrument triggered a flow of positive memories. I just jotted them down, and the song appeared on paper. All we had to do was sing it, and of course I played the 12-string!
AMPLIFY: What was the most difficult part of putting the album together? What was the easiest?
MAURA: The thing that we always watch out for is maintaining a balance of lyrical moods and musical settings. Every word and every sound can trigger a response in our listeners, perhaps far off in time and distance, and we strive to stay aware that we are “caring” for them in a musical way. We really think about the balance of ballads and uptempo rocking moments, with the overall goal of acknowledging the darkness in life, particularly in this time and place, and trying to forge a path toward the light. The easy part is just the joy of making music. We never lose that.
AMPLIFY: Do you think the fact that you’ve known each other for so long helps in the creative process?
PETE: The fact that we have lived and traveled together for three decades means that we have shared countless conversations about things that matter to us, and about music that we love. If you were booked for a co-writing session in Nashville, you might get an hour to do that, searching for a song idea. Well, we have had over 30 years to come together creatively!
AMPLIFY: What do you hope this album conveys to those who listen to it?
MAURA: When times are dark, look to kindred spirits and inspiring art to get you through. That’s been our main theme, expressed in different ways, for 18 albums.
AMPLIFY: The album title… how did you choose it? What does it mean to you?
PETE: My third novel, “The Mystery At Owl Canyon,” was published recently. It’s the last in a trilogy that takes the main character around the world. Her final adventure takes place in a mystical location on the Navajo Nation. I wanted to evoke that nature magic in a song, “Smoketree,” and we used that title for the album as well.
AMPLIFY: Where do you tend to get your biggest inspiration from these days?
MAURA: There is loads of great new music being created by young artists right now. We were DJs on Sirius Satellite Radio back before the merger with XM, and we were exposed to a constant flow of new music, especially from singer-songwriters and instrumentalists in all genres. We’re no longer on the air, but we listen on the road to the never-ending stream of new music.
AMPLIFY: Where can fans catch you live in the coming months?
PETE: We just got back from Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. For the next six months, we’ll be touring the East Coast all the way from New Hampshire to Key West. Our tour schedule is always updated on our website.
