Kennedy's Kitchen, a traditional Irish music group based in South Bend, Indiana, is set to perform at the Dayton Celtic Festival on Sunday, July 28, on the WDTN Traditional Stage from 12:00-1:20pm. John Kennedy, a founding member of the band, recently spoke with Cindy Funk, host of Dear Green Place on WYSO, about the group’s musical approach and upcoming performance.
Kennedy's Kitchen has been playing together for about 24 years, though Kennedy admitted he doesn't keep close track. The band's name is literal. "We've recorded a good bit of our music in my kitchen," Kennedy said. "We get together for dinner pretty much every week. It's been Thursdays for, like, 20 years. We have dinner and then we sit around and play tunes."
The dinners are a chance to enjoy a meal with bandmates, play well-worn favorites, and explore new musical ideas. "The best part of my musical life is getting together with my friends—having dinner, having a drink, shaking off the dust of the week and, and then having some music,” Kennedy said. The meetings are also a chance for band members to present song ideas, a joyfully unpredictable process:
“Every now and then, right out of the box a new piece of music blooms right in front of you. It just somehow fits the band. Usually when that happens, you've got one. Sometimes when it happens, it was just there that night, and then the next week it's not quite there. Music is just such a beautiful, subtle thing.”
While Kennedy considers the band’s relaxed Thursday night dinners the high point of his musical life, he also enjoys the task of preparing songs for recording. The band is currently getting ready to record a new album, a process that Kennedy said brings a new energy to their music. "You start hearing the music that you've been playing differently, because now you're getting ready to record it,” he told Funk. “We don't really listen with that kind of intensity to every note until you're recording it. It just changes the level of focus."
In addition to Kennedy, the band includes Chris O'Brien on fiddle, mandolin, and tenor banjo, Joel Cooper on bass, Mike Bill on whistle, and Nancy Turner on drums. Kennedy said that O’Brien and Cooper’s vocal harmonies are a highlight of the group’s current lineup: "Between Chris and Joel, I am the luckiest lead singer in music because I have two natural counterpoint harmony singers. They're not just harmony singers; they both have a gift for counterpoint, and that's really unusual. "
Some songs particularly benefit from counterpoint harmony, Kennedy said, including the 19th century sea song “Rolling Down to Old Maui.”
When it comes to their live performances, Kennedy emphasizes spontaneity and audience connection. "We typically know how we're going to start and we know how we're going to end, just so that we have a plan. But that doesn't mean we're going to start that way, and it doesn't mean we're going to end that way," he said. "Our best shows are when we know we're prepared, and then you get there and it just goes sideways because somehow the audience is in a different mood than you were expecting."
For Kennedy, music is more than entertainment—it's a way to find joy and solace in challenging times. "There's nothing quite like a laugh to help all of us heal. And right now, we all need a good laugh—all of us," he reflected. "I can get just as dark as anybody in my mood and my view of things. But I try to consciously make another choice. And that choice is, through music, to see how beautiful it is to be alive."
Kennedy's Kitchen's performance at the Dayton Celtic Festival marks a return to the city after more than a decade. Admission to the festival is free, and more information is available at daytoncelticfestival.com. To learn more about Kennedy’s Kitchen, including details about their latest album, The Whiskey of Truth, and their upcoming tour dates, visit kennedyskitchen.com.
Text by Peter Day based on an interview recorded by Cindy Funk and originally aired on July 14, 2024.
