Songs of the Open Road

Product Description SONGS OF THE OPEN ROAD, the latest by the popular folk duo The Kennedys is all covers and includes some of their most requested songs. Featured are exciting reinventions of classics by the Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, Dylan, Nick Lowe, Jimmy Webb, Stephen Stills, Nancy Griffith and other performers. Amazon.com Rather than compiling a mix tape for the road, Pete and Maura Kennedy went one better. For the husband-and-wife duo's first covers album, they put their signature stamp on 14 of their favorite songs for the van. Since the Byrds have always provided a touchstone for the Kennedys' blend of hooks, harmonies, and guitar jangle, it's no surprise that their transcendent version of "Eight Miles High" highlights this collection, along with dips into the songbooks of Byrds alumni Gene Clark ("Gypsy Rider") and the Flying Burrito Brothers ("Sin City"). In addition to the folk-rock of the '60s, the Kennedys show a penchant for '70s troubadours such as John Stewart ("Jasmine") and Bob Neuwirth ("Eye on the Road"). Yet the album's wild-card eclecticism also includes a transformation of Stephen Stills's "Pretty Girl Why" into a Brazilian samba, while material that ranges from Nick Lowe's "Raging Eyes" to Jimmy Webb's "Galveston" to Mahalia Jackson's "I'm on My Way" shows that musical inspiration knows no categorical bounds. The album ends as it must, with a Nanci Griffith song ("Late Night Grande Hotel"), for it was in Griffith's band where vocalist Maura and guitar virtuoso Pete came together and decided to go out on their own. --Don McLeese Review "...Our Number One folk rock duo [shines] as bright as ever. . . shimmering, jingle-jangle morning guitars . . . and Maura's . . . warm-as-sunshine voice." -- Folk & Acoustic Music Exchange, September 2006 "An uplifting journey. . . very beautiful and well crafted. . . an `instant classic' feel to it." -- TheCelebrityCafe.com, September 2006 "Never a false note." -- Rambles.net, A Cultural Arts Magazine, September 2006 "The Kennedys' music has an infectious bounce guaranteed to elevate your mood and banish all but the blackest depressive haze." -- Vintage Guitar Magazine, October 2006 "Wondrous folk rock built with equal measures of craft and soul . . . rich but subtle arrangements . . . peerless harmonies." -- All Music Guide About the Artist Pete and Maura Kennedy?s personal and professional relationship, now in its second decade, is a cross between fate and a fairytale, in which a chance meeting in Austin between the two East Coast-born musicians sparked a songwriting collaboration, a first date at Buddy Holly?s grave, and a romantic and creative partnership that radiates warmth, positive energy, and captivating music. In 1992, Virginia native Pete Kennedy was playing at an Austin club on a brief sabbatical from his duties as country-folk singer-songwriter Nanci Griffith?s lead guitarist when he met former Syracuse, NY, resident Maura Boudreau, enjoying a night off from performing with her own country-rock band, The Delta Rays. They wrote their first song together the following day before Pete returned to the road, and rendezvoused ten days later at mutual hero Buddy Holly?s grave in Lubbock, Tex.., 500 miles equidistant between them. When Griffith needed a harmony singer on short notice for a British tour in Spring ?93, Maura was the obvious choice, and her touring life alongside Pete began. En route to England, Nanci informed the duo that they would serve as the opening act for many of the tour?s shows, as well as performing in her backing band. Needing material to fill their set, Pete and Maura wrote an inspired batch of songs in Dublin that became the basis of their first album, 1995?s "River of Fallen Stars," which earned an "Indie" award as "Best Adult Contemporary CD" by the National Association of Independent Record Distributors. The body of work The Kennedys have created since their 1994 marriage reflects their musical and philosophical in