Emma Swales
After taking a long drive from Southern California to Nashville, Tennessee, an up-and-coming artist found herself at the beginning of something great. Folk-pop singer and songwriter Bre Kennedy traveled across the country in her Nissan Maxima to discover her voice and quickly established her music career. Through her music, she shares the struggles that life brings and the difficulties in navigating through emotion. Kennedy’s striking vocals and powerful lyrics have allowed her to tell her story and create a place for herself in the world.
The Nashville-based singer was inspired to create music from a young age. Kennedy grew up watching her dad become electrified while playing blues music and constantly found herself digging through his collection of vinyl records. She was heavily influenced by artists such as Stevie Nicks, Tom Petty and Lauryn Hill.
“I grew up like double-sided tape, I was listening to so much music and so many different genres that there is a little bit of everything in me,” said Kennedy.
Her musical passion brought her to Nashville, where she discovered a community that shared her love for music. She soon established her unique voice and began playing shows in different venues across the city.
“Nashville is such a small and beautiful fertile ground for artists to grow and I feel like I just started to build a fan base here,” said Kennedy.
So far, she has crafted a strong discography and continues to make music. Kennedy has recently announced her sophomore album, “Scream Over Everything” to be released on Nov. 10.
She gave her fans a sneak peek at the new album with the release of “Side A” on July 28, which includes the first five songs that are featured on the new album. These songs include, “Retrospect,” “Meantime,” “Navigating,” “Keep Going Back” and “Ahead of Myself.” The songs on “Side A” tell a vivid story of troubles that come in your late twenties and working to find the strength to grow and change for the better.
“I wanted to start with ‘Retrospect’ as a way to say hey, this whole album is about me needing to unpack the last two years,” said Kennedy. “I wanted to have an anthem to being present in it and I wanted ‘Side A’ to be really fun, upbeat, and inviting because the songs on ‘Side B’ are very vulnerable and raw.”
Kennedy expressed her encounter with deep emotions and the unknown aspect of change. She claims that “Scream Over Everything” allows people to see that they are not alone in their struggles and that being afraid is a very normal human experience.
“I spent pretty much the last year of my twenties pulling out these parts of myself that seem scary or being afraid to admit that maybe I am outgrowing something,” said Kennedy. “I wanted to go into a different place in my life, and so writing ‘Scream Over Everything’ was just finding the voice inside me that maybe was a little afraid to grow.”
Kennedy will promote her new album by hitting the road for her first headlining tour on Sept. 28, beginning in Atlanta, Georgia. She expressed her love for being on the road and looks forward to being in front of people and pursuing her passion.
“Getting to promote ‘Scream Over Everything’ on my first headlining tour is really exciting,” said Kennedy. “I remember growing up and listening to artists and thinking wow, they are just screaming their emotions and I realized I wanted to do that.”