DREW KENNEDY
TICKETS $25 (PLUS TAX & FEES)
THE OLD QUARTER IS A LISTENING ROOM. LOUD CONVERSATION DURING ARTIST'S PERFORMANCE WILL NOT BE TOLERATED. PLEASE CONSIDER THIS WHEN PURCHASING TICKETS TO SHOWS.
Drew Kennedy doesn’t have anything left to prove to anyone––except himself. His fans count on his songs and stories. His peers record them. Two and a half decades, 11 albums, one novel, and millions of miles into his singing, songwriting, traveling troubadouring career, Kennedy has cultivated the kind of wild artistic freedom only sown by a rare blend of grassroots trust and industry approval.
But Kennedy still has questions. He can record what he wants, how he wants, but he can’t stop wondering––and redefining––why. So when longtime collaborator and producer Davis Naish suggested Kennedy’s new album consist solely of new songs Kennedy wrote alone, Kennedy couldn’t resist. “It was such a challenge artistically that the end result is beyond my wildest dreams,” he says. “I’ve always been a collaborator. To purposefully not do that felt like I was tying one hand behind my back. But that limitation forced me to grow in areas that I wouldn’t have otherwise.”
The result is a stunning 11-song portrait of a songwriter discovering new ways to tell the truth. Produced by Naish in Los Angeles, Drew Kennedy eschews easy labels of genre, opting instead to follow the sounds that best serve each song. While liberating, the removal of sonic expectations also felt daunting. “In my mind, more folky production means it is serious––it’s from the Guy Clark school,” says Kennedy. “As soon as the song gets bigger and wider, I don’t have that old-school barometer I’ve grown up with as a songwriter to let me know that what I am doing is legitimate.”
