Twenty year old Connor Kennedy is a student of the “Woodstock Sound” and a seeker of Woodstock’s soul. Raised in Saugerties, NY, a few miles down the road from the iconic Town of Woodstock, Kennedy treats the town as his campus, and it’s venues, studios and radio station as his classrooms. Kennedy can often be seen kicking around in his brown leather boots, digging through vinyl at Woodstock’s radio station 100.1 WDST, playing a local bar with members of Gregg Allman’s band or The Levon Helm Band or playing organ alongside Donald Fagen of Steely Dan at The Barn. Wherever Kennedy is, or whatever he is doing, he is either absorbing the music of others, or creating his own. Kennedy and his band Minstrel (Lee Falco-Drums, Will Bryant-Organ, Brandon Morrison-Bass) left Woodstock a few weeks ago to travel the country as support for the bluesy Celtic Folk Rock band The Waterboys, and they will bringing a bit of Woodstock to the Arvada Center for the Arts this Sunday.
While Kennedy was enjoying a day off in LA, he took some time to tell Listen Up Denver! about his pursuit of higher education in the legendary town of Woodstock, NY. “I started playing guitar when I was ten, and I started playing gigs out when I was 15” said Kennedy. “We were mostly just playing bars, restaurants and local community fundraiser events. We were just learning how to play in front of people, and learning how to play music in public.”
At the same time as Kennedy was taking Public Performance 101, he audited a Masters level class by volunteering at Levon Helm Studios, and surrounding himself with greatness. Levon Helm’s Midnight Rambles were shows people crossed the country and the world to see, but Kennedy just had his parents drive him up the road, since he didn’t have his license yet. Kennedy brightly recalls, “I volunteered at The Barn for a year when I was 15. I took out the garbage, parked cars and helped out anywhere I could. One of my main duties was loading and unloading the tour bus and trailers with Walt Turk. I wound up going to 40 Midnight Rambles at The Barn, and watched and listened as much as I could. Levon had a Ramble almost every week, and you never knew who was going to show up, and what magic was going to be created. I got to witness a few of those magical nights.”
“The Barn set a pretty high bar for what I wanted to do musically,” continued Kennedy. “It taught me volumes about what professional musicians do, and how they do it. I started gigging a lot, and it became hard for me to be there every week, so I eventually had to leave.” In June of 2013, just over a year after Levon Helm passed away, Kennedy and his band were invited to come play the first night of Amy Helm’s Friday night local music series “Oh To Be Home Again” at The Barn, and an 18 year old Kennedy was knighted into the Woodstock scene under the beams of Levon’s castle. Kennedy also met Minstrel organ player Will Bryant, who is bass player Byron Issacs (Levon Helm Band, Amy Helm and The Handsome Strangers) nephew, and he wound up moving from Austin to Woodstock to be part of the scene. “Not only has The Barn had a huge impact on me, but Levon Helm Studios and The Midnight Rambles brought life back to the Hudson Valley music scene. Everyone knew music was happening in Woodstock again. Levon Helm Studios continues to be an outlet for all levels of local musicians, from Donald Fagen of Steely Dan to the kids who attend the Paul Green Rock Academy up the road. For young guys like us, The Barn is everything.”
Music is everywhere in Woodstock. It’s in every branch and stone, every ripple in the water and bend in the road. In Woodstock, Kennedy and his band are not only got schooled in the live performance aspect of professional musicianship, but they also spent time in the labs, acquiring hands-on knowledge of the studio world. Kennedy has even moved into the DJ booth, and hosts “The Indigo Hour” every Monday night from 10pm till midnight on WDST, where he spins mostly vinyl.
Only 5 years into playing music in front of people, Connor Kennedy and Minstrel are already working towards advanced degrees. “We have backed Bill Payne from Little Feat on a few gigs” Kennedy humbly stated “and we’ve backed Donald Fagen a couple of times. I have also sat in with Leftover Salmon a few times as well. Actually, I just sat in with them last week in Charlotte. Bill Payne and I have developed a great relationship and, as a huge Little Feat fan, that means a lot.”
Connor Kennedy and his band Minstrel have studied their way up the ladder, and they keep gaining ground. Kennedy has been keeping the focus on his songwriting, which, as a student of Classic Rock and iconic songwriters, he understands the value of. Connor Kennedy and Minstrel recently released a live album, called “Live In Utopia”, which they recorded at WDST Radio Woodstock’s Utopia Soundstage, and released last month. Whether you head on out to Arvada this Sunday, or give “Live In Utopia” a listen, it will be easy to pick up on the education Connor Kennedy and Minstrel have earned back in Woodstock, NY.
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