​This is the title track from Bap's debut album of the same name, Produced by Steve Earle & Ray Kennedy (Twang Trust)
Brenda xx

The Right Stuff by Bap. Belfast Barge, 1 Nov 2019 with Tony Villiers.
Thanks to Mick McAstocker for for the video.

Check out the latest featured song. This one's a bit different - and pretty cool I think.

Thank you to NVTV for this video. It’s my interview with Robin Elliott from 1 Nov - the same night as the brilliant Tony Villiers gig at Belfast Barge.
Special thanks to Tony for asking me on as guest on his gig on such a memorable night!
Brenda x

Bap Kennedy albums are now available when you drop in to the super EastSide Visitor Centre
Many thanks to Anthony Toner for your help in organising this.

I've just added this to the songs available through November for you to freely listen, enjoy and share* Click here for the list (currently over 80 songs)
Thanks to Mick McAstocker for the suggestion.

​*You can also download for £1 per song Marie Curie donation.

Great to know that Bap’s songs are being heard in WZBC, Boston's premier student-led radio station.
Fond memories of our 2010 tour of USA East Coast, and of Club Passim – that wonderful folk music club in the Harvard Square area of Cambridge, Boston.

​Thanks for letting me know Kate x

Yesterday was exactly what Bap would have wanted to mark his anniversary - a wonderful day of celebration & sharing, rounded off by a very special Tony Villiers gig which was specially dedicated to Bap.
I was honoured to be invited by Tony for a guest performance and what a night it was. Villiers And The Villains are first class, the Barge was sold out, and the atmosphere was amazing - I don’t know if I’ve ever felt more love and happiness in one room!

Thank you everyone for remembering & sharing Bap’s music, and thank you Tony for creating such a memorable night in Bap's memory.
Brenda x

1st November, marks the third anniversary of the death of Bap Kennedy. Bap died at the age of 54 from pancreatic cancer. He's was undoubtedly one of Ireland's finest songwriters and has left a legacy of some wonderful music which his wife Brenda continues to keep alive though his website and her charitable activities.

He toured the world with his band Energy Orchard from the late 80s, playing with the likes of Bob Dylan, Van Morrison and Steve Earle. When the band split in the mid 90s, Bap pursued a successful solo career, which saw him record Domestic Blues with Steve Earle in Nashville and reunite with Van Morrison on the Big Picture album. He also toured with Mark Knopfler several times and Mark would later record and produce his Sailor's Revenge album in Knopfler's own British Grove studio, London.

Bap was a highly intelligent, quick witted man, a master of the one-liner, though he could be somewhat awkward and shy; no doubt as a result of his now well documented Asperger's which was a late diagnosis. I first met him with Energy Orchard, in Kelly's of Portrush as a 16 year old thanks to the legendary Sticky Torrens in the sound booth, (as I snuck-in for free up the external fire escape as usual). In those days he liked a drink, he was cheeky, cocky and his stage antics were well renowned. To this day, that is still the best gig I have ever attended. I saw him EO/solo in London several times (Mean Fiddler, Filthy's, Boogaloo) and rarely missed a Belfast gig after he returned home. He was always ready with a track or album recommendation when quizzing him about his vast and eclectic musical knowledge and his connections within the music industry were a who's who of top artists. I had the privilege of meeting his parents Lily and Jim on a couple of occasions and they were fiercely proud of his achievements and Lily told me that she was so happy that he had found Brenda as she had been so good for him in every way.

Now, over the last 3 years I must admit that I have struggled to enjoy his music. His songs have always represented landmarks in my life and I was overwhelmed with sadness every time I tried to listen to a track; something which I kind of felt guilty about. It is actually only in the last month or so that I have begun to reconnect with his music and started to enjoy it once again; and there's so much to enjoy. If I had to pick one song that defines Bap's music to me I think I'd go for Loverman from The Big Picture album. I remember the first time I heard it and it still feels the same today.

RIP Martin 'Bap' Kennedy (1962-2016)

Peter Weir

Many thanks to Tony Villiers for inviting me as guest on his concert at Belfast Barge on 1 Nov (Bap’s anniversary) with his band, Villiers And The Villains.
​
Ticket link

Thank you to Belfast 89FM for your radio support coming up to Bap's anniversary {1 Nov) and playing "Rising Of The Moon" - my song to celebrate the music of Bap Kennedy.

I was honoured and delighted to come across this editorial in The Belfast Telegraph today.

Many thanks to the Belfast Telegraph for the lovely article in today's paper.
Read it online here 

Many thanks to Eve Blair for playing Rising Of The Moon on her show on BBC Radio Ulster last night.
Listen to Eve's show here

​Big thanks to Ralph McLean for playing Bap's "America" and my "Rising Of The Moon" on his show on BBC Radio Ulster last night.
You can hear the two tracks at the very start of the show.
Listen again here

Bap was a great believer in the healing power of music & I always knew he was right. But these days, as I’ve been working on my own songs, I’m discovering just how right he was. -Thanks, Bap!
If all goes well, I'm hoping to have an album ready in 2020, but in the meantime here’s Rising Of The Moon, a song of celebration, for Bap’s anniversary. 

Rising Of The Moon and all Bap's individual songs are available for you to listen, enjoy, share and download from now through to 30 Nov at bapkennedy.com 

Special thanks to Rod McVey for working so hard to get this recording ready in time, and to Anthony Toner for his support & encouragement. 
Love, 
​Brenda x

Cold War Country Blues is Track 2 from Bap’s album Howl On. You can read HERE Bap's notes about the album in full, and what inspired it.
Bap also wrote a few lines about each of the songs individually - Here’s what he wrote about Cold War Country Blues:

And in case you're wondering, they really did "take Hank Williams to the moon" -
Among the music that the astronauts took on their lunar journeys were the songs of Bap's song writing hero, Hank Williams. (The things I learned from Bap !)

Feel free to listen and enjoy, but if you like you can download the mp3 here. And you can now also download any of the previous featured songs here - each for £1 which will be donated to Marie Curie.

A while back ​I came across some notes that Bap wrote before he released Howl On. You can read here his notes on the album as a whole, and what inspired it (clue : America, Glastonbury, Woodstock, Men on the Moon, Howl On & Cosmic Coincidence!)
But he also wrote a few lines about each song individually, so here's what Bap wrote about America (Track 1):

On the night of July 20th 1969, I tried to stay awake for the first Moonwalk, but the comforting and reassuring cowboy voices from Mission Control lulled me into a peaceful sleep. In my seven year old mind, all good things came from America. I wanted to be American and live in the sunshine.
​
​Bap Kennedy, 2009 

Feel free to listen and enjoy, but if you like you can download the mp3 here.
And you can now also download any of the previously featured songs here - each for £1 which will be donated to Marie Curie.

​Thanks for appreciating Bap's music, and for helping me to keep it alive by sharing it.
Love,
Brenda x

Many thanks to Ralph McLean for featuring Bap’s Howl On album in his recent show. The show opens with Bap’s Revelation Blues, and the Howl On feature is mostly in the last half hour - Great show throughout of course!
Listen again here