st<\/sup> century with Toronto-based blues label Electro-Fi. His first release for the label, 2007\u2019s High Country Blues<\/i> showcased Kennedy\u2019s style, a heartfelt synthesis of acoustic country blues. The album was nominated at Canada\u2019s annual Juno Awards in the Best Blues Recording category.<\/p>\nLike its predecessor, Kennedy\u2019s 2009 release One Dog Barkin\u2019<\/i> was well received. Around the time of 2011\u2019s Shame the Devil<\/i>, Kennedy placed second in the solo\/duo competition at the International Blues Challenge. Featuring slide guitarist Colin Linden, Kennedy\u2019s 2014 release This is From Here<\/i> finally scored him a Juno as well as other awards internationally.<\/p>\n
Thanks for Tomorrow<\/i> is Kennedy\u2019s latest, and find Linden returning to add his slide guitar stylings to several tracks on the collection of 12 new songs, 11 of which are Kennedy originals. Koko Taylor Award winner Ruthie Foster joins Harrison for \u201cAll I Need is You,\u201d the soulful blues duet that opens the album. While the arrangements feature the primarily acoustic foundation that characterizes much of Kennedy\u2019s blues work, there\u2019s cracking electricity in the performances.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a sparking, spirited quality throughout the album, whether on playful tunes like the humorous and self-effacing \u201cEasiest Thing,\u201d the swaggering blues of \u201cOn Call Man\u201d or the countrified lover\u2019s ode, \u201cWomen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kennedy effortlessly shifts styles between songs, serving up Louisiana-style blues on \u201cCheckin\u2019 You Out\u201d and interpreting Van Morrison\u2019s soulful balladry on \u201cCrazy Love.\u201d But the album\u2019s variety is a strength, serving to showcase Kennedy\u2019s mastery and command of the musical landscape.<\/p>\n
Kennedy co-produced Thanks for Tomorrow<\/i> with Jesse O\u2019Brien, a multi-instrumentalist who also provides some of the record\u2019s expressive yet subtle keyboard work. O\u2019Brien shines most brightly on \u201cMemphis Trippin\u2019,\u201d a hard-edged, smoldering blues in a Muddy Waters vein. That track also features one of Kennedy\u2019s most impassioned vocal performances.<\/p>\n
The mood lightens for the fun, uptempo \u201cCranky Woman.\u201d \u201cDoomed\u201d is characterized in part by some evocative wordless vocalizing; the windswept number has a high lonesome feel, and Kennedy digs into the vocal line, moaning expressively throughout. \u201cYou Lost Me\u201d is a Linden showcase, and features one of the most \u201celectric\u201d arrangements on Thanks for Tomorrow<\/i>. The record concludes with the spirited jump blues of \u201cJust Wanna Play,\u201d a perfect and natural set-closer for a superb album.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In 1967, the hit songwriting team of Holland-Dozier-Holland left Motown to launch their own record labels, Invictus and Hot Wax. The trio assembled a group to serve as a vehicle […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24145,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,49,65],"tags":[4989],"class_list":["post-24144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blues","category-new-release","category-review","tag-harrison-kennedy","cat-9-id","cat-49-id","cat-65-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24144"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24144\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24146,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24144\/revisions\/24146"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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In 1967, the hit songwriting team of Holland-Dozier-Holland left Motown to launch their own record labels, Invictus and Hot Wax. The trio assembled a group to serve as a vehicle for their new compositions. That group, The Chairmen of the Board, would feature Detroit singers Eddie Custis and Danny Woods plus lead singer Harrison Kennedy, a native of Hamilton, Ontario. Kennedy fronted the group on its biggest hits, including \u201cGive Me Just a Little More Time\u201d and \u201cEverything\u2019s Tuesday,\u201d but left the group for a solo career in 1974.<\/p>\n