MUSIC: Slash’s man arrives for gig in the Academy

MYLES Richard Kennedy will be performing tracks from his debut solo album ‘Year of The Tiger’ when he takes the stage of The Academy, Dublin on Thursday, July 5.

The American musician, singer, and songwriter is best known as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the rock band Alter Bridge, and as the lead vocalist in guitarist Slash’s backing band, known as Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators.

A former guitar instructor from Spokane, Washington, he has worked as a session musician and songwriter, making both studio and live appearances with several artists, and has been involved with several projects throughout his career.

Talking about his debut he said: “I had been working on a record for about seven years.

“It was actually finished two years ago, but when I listened to it with a fresh perspective, when all was said and done, I thought it wasn’t the right first step to take in this journey—its shelf life had expired.”

 So, he started over, and found himself “writing like a madman.” More than 20 songs spilled out in a short period of time, and as Kennedy listened to his work, he began to comprehend the direction in which the music was pulling him. “It became incredibly obvious what the source of inspiration needed to be lyrically,” he says. “I realised it was time to jump head-first into something I’ve been putting off for my whole life as a writer.”

 What eventually emerged was Year of the Tiger, an album almost entirely focused on the loss of Kennedy’s father when the singer was just four years old.

“My family was very involved in the Christian Science church,” he reveals. “So, when he became ill, he chose not to seek medical attention and passed away a few months later. By all accounts, my father was a good, honest man, but I still struggle with the choices he made which ultimately led to his death.”

 Even as a singer, Kennedy – three-time winner of Loudwire’s Vocalist of the Year award – was determined to explore a new range and approach. “I was trying to keep things in a lower register,” he explains, “not relying on the vocal histrionics that I fall back on in a rock context.

 The album found its initial direction from the title track, which was an idea from Kennedy’s first pass writing a solo album.

“I remember stumbling onto the melody and title of the song years ago. It stuck with me but I couldn’t seem to complete the concept until it dawned on me that 1974 was the Year Of The Tiger according to the Chinese Zodiac.

“Once I realised that was the same year we lost my father, I knew where I needed to take the record lyrically. The song is really the preface for the entire story from my mother’s perspective.”