Myles R. Kennedy

Myles R. Kennedy (born November 27, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist originally from Spokane, Washington. Kennedy is a former guitar instructor in the Spokane area who has appeared as a guest of both live performances and recording sessions of numerous bands over the years. Since 2004, he has been the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist to Alter Bridge, a United States rock band and the brainchild of former Creed guitarist Mark Tremonti. Before that, between 1993 and 1996, he was guitarist/vocalist for Citizen Swing; subsequently, he fronted alternative rock band The Mayfield Four, who broke up in 2002.

Despite suffering from tinnitus, Kennedy claims he has "the standard amount of hearing loss for someone who has been doing it (singing) as long as [he has]" and continues to "keep it in check.

Music career

[edit]Early years: 1990-1993

Kennedy began his career in a local Spokane band called Bittersweet. He played in other cover bands including Moment's Notice with Seattle jazz bassist Clipper Anderson.

Early in his career, Kennedy played guitar for a jazz fusion group called Cosmic Dust. Kennedy's guitar-work with Cosmic Dust was very advanced; using his knowledge of jazz theory in conjunction with his advanced technical abilities, Kennedy created the sound of traditional jazz guitar coupled with a more fusion-rock tone. He was not only able to imply chord changes on the fly (a difficult technique used in jazz) but also shred with speed and precision. Shortly after the release of Cosmic Dust's only album, Journey, Anderson left the band to move to Seattle, to be replaced by Spokane bassist Dave Turner. Prior to this, Myles had been working on a new band that would be an outlet for his original material and they were in need of a bassist. Dave Turner joined Kennedy, guitarist Craig Johnson, trumpeteer Geoff Miller and drummer Mike Tschirgi to form Citizen Swing.

Citizen Swing: 1993-1996

Following his stint with Cosmic Dust, Kennedy provided vocals and played guitar for Citizen Swing. A MySpace page dedicated to the band provides full tracks of "Motor Mama" and "Can't Complain", two of the band's songs original songs. The band played their first gig in late 1993 at the Big Dipper, Spokane, WA and their last gig in June 1996. They released two albums entitled Cure Me With the Groove and Deep Down, respectively.

Kennedy had been collaborating with the future members of The Mayfield Four since summer 1995, and with the departure of Citizen Swing's bassist in late 1995 to pursue family and other interests, the door was opened for Citizen Swing to wind down and The Mayfield Four to rise.

The Mayfield Four: 1996-2002

By August 1996, Kennedy had become the lead singer/lead guitarist of The Mayfield Four, a rock band formed in 1996 with childhood friends Zia Uddin, Marty Meisner, and Craig Johnson (also of Citizen Swing). The Mayfield Four enjoyed a lot of success opening for bands like Creed, Fuel, and many others. Due to undisclosed reasons, Craig Johnson was fired in 1999 and the band continued on as a threesome, with a substitute rhythm guitarist but unofficial band member, up through their final gig. They released 2 full albums and 1 EP, Motion, Fallout, and Second Skin. Though popular, they never garnered enough exposure to break into the big time.

Alter Bridge: 2004-present

After The Mayfield Four officially split in 2002, Kennedy was asked by Slash to audition as lead singer of Velvet Revolver, but he declined the offer,[2] and two years later, he was called up by Creed guitarist Mark Tremonti asking to join a new band he was forming since Creed had recently broken up due to personal issues with singer Scott Stapp. Also composed of former Creed members Scott Phillips and Brian Marshall, the newly formed band Alter Bridge went on to release two albums, One Day Remains and Blackbird. The band, having recently concluded their Blackbird tour, is currently in the process of writing songs for an upcoming third release (under the working title Alter Bridge III) and editing material for a future and as of yet untitled live DVD that will be released in April.

Other work

During his current stint with Alter Bridge, Kennedy appeared on Fozzy's 2005 album All That Remains as a guest vocalist on the song "Nameless Faceless", and also appears as a backing vocalist on the Sevendust song "Sorrow" from their 2008 album Chapter VII: Hope & Sorrow. His Alter Bridge band mate Mark Tremonti also appears on both the aforementoined albums, performing guitar solos on the song "Hope" from the Sevendust record and Fozzy's song "The Way I Am." Kennedy also appeared as a guest on Mark Tremonti's guitar instructional DVD The Sound & The Story, released in 2008, to which he, along with several other guest musicians including Michael Angelo Batio and Troy Stetina, contributed a lesson and gave an in-depth instruction on how to play his guitar solo on the title track to Alter Bridge's album Blackbird.

Solo career

Kennedy has also recently confirmed that he is working on writing material for a solo side project during a recent interview with Myles-Kennedy.com. He said that the material is supposed to sound "dreamy." He also stated that he is "intentionally trying to make a record that isn't aggressive," and later added, "It's more singer/songwriter based. I will say it's going to be interesting." As of yet, no release date or further information regarding the side project has been enclosed.

Birth name : Myles R. Kennedy

Born : November 27, 1969 (age 39)

Origin : Spokane, Washington, U.S.

Genre(s) : Alternative metal, alternative rock, hard rock, jazz fusion, post-grunge

Occupation(s) : Musician, songwriter, singer

Instrument(s) : Vocals, Guitar

Label(s) : Epic Records (1997–2002), Wind-Up Records (2004–2006), Universal, Republic Records (2007–present)

Associated acts : The Mayfield Four, Alter Bridge

Website : www.myles-kennedy.com