ROB MURRAY: I’m speaking with musician Grant Kennedy. Tell us a little bit about yourself.

GRANT KENNEDY: I’m an emergency doctor by day, and by night I suppose, but music has been a big part of my life for as long as I can remember. My parents were and still are very musical, so it’s been a big part of our family’s existence.

RM: People might actually know your family. They’re from the Bow Valley, aren’t they?

GK: My parents (Marsh & Donna Kennedy) moved to Canmore, I believe it was in 2002.

RM: You used to play in a band with your dad and your brother here in town, didn’t you?

GK: Yes, and still do. Hopefully we’ll get it going again when we can start playing live again. We’ve been playing together as a group called ‘The Kennedy Administration’ and played the Canmore Folk Fest a few years ago. It’s been a wonderful thing for our family to play music together.

RM: You released a song a couple of years back that we’ve been playing here at Mountain FM called Amsterdam. That song really had some legs, didn’t it?

GK: It was funny how it kind of took off and I really appreciated the support from your station. It was cool to connect with people from various parts of the globe. It helped that I had a music video done by a group out of Amsterdam, and I think overall the song has been streamed over 150,000 times now. It’s kind of funny that it took off in that regard, but a neat experience.

 

RM: You’re releasing a brand new EP this Friday. What can you tell us about it?

GK: It’s called ‘Away’. It has five songs on it. Music has always been an outlet for me. It’s always been a cathartic experience to write songs about my personal experiences. There’s a lot of stress on the job as an emergency physician and 2020 was a tough year for everybody, me included in that. Most of the songs written in 2020 talk about personal journey.

RM: As an ER doc, I can imagine you’ve been pretty busy this year. What did you actually find time to write and record an EP?

GK: Late at night after the kids are sleeping. I have a very supportive wife who identifies what music means to me, and it’s been a difficult here, but it was nice to find the time to get down to not only writing the tunes, but actually recording them in a safe manner as well.

RM: You worked with a pretty big name in Canadian music, didn’t you?

GK: Yeah, Russell Broom. I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity to work with them. Incredible guy, amazing guitarist, but an amazing producer as well. It was really cool to see his musical mind at work.

RM: We’re going to spin the new single from your EP. It’s called ‘Wait for Me’. What’s this song about?

GK: It was written during the darkest days of the pandemic. My wife and I, both ER docs with young kids, we’ve been on the front line from the start. Minimal sleep at times and a lot of stress, and early on there was the aspect of not knowing what was coming or how bad it would get. It’s a song about those dark days and the struggle with our mental health.

RM: I’m sure it’s a song that will resonate with a lot of people. Where can people hear your new EP?

GK: It’s available on all the streaming platforms. I have links on my website.

RM: Thanks for your music, and thanks for your service to healthcare right now. I’m really looking forward to hearing more from you.

GK: Thanks for the support, Rob, I really appreciate everything your station has done for me.

 

Filed under: Local Music