Rachael Kennedy

It was another colourful night at Dave's Pizza on St. Clair. The roster of artists is changing as is the host of the open Mic. Today was the first time I had seen Brian running the open mic. There were a variety of regular artists, and then one new one took to the stage. After her recent return from Nashville, the eloquent Rachael Kennedy took to the stage with a charming presence.

She sang three original songs which totally captured the audience. She has a Jan Arden sound with a Dave Matthews style guitar playing. Nice to look at and listen to, Rachael got noticed by the more seasoned Dave artists. As I learned later, she had started writing music at a young age, and the years of vocal training has really paid off. Look forward to her first CD. She does have EP for sale. - The Adventure Network - Earl Tucker

When I press play on the first track of Rachael Kennedy’s new EP, The In Between, I pray to the music gods that she has something interesting to say.

I’m not disappointed.

Kennedy is like a throaty, pop version of Kathleen Edwards, and her passion for songwriting shines through on The In Between, the newest album from the Oakville, Ont. native. It’s an experiment in optimism and angst – somehow Rachael Kennedy manages to balance both.

Her first single is the layered track, ‘Living Your Heart Out’. It’s an upbeat tune with soaring vocals and plenty of experimental rises and falls. Midway through, you’re hooked and find yourself wondering what else you’ll find on this album.

She follows with ‘The In Between’, which starts slowly but then jumps into a foot-tapping rhythm. Kennedy’s experiments with her range seem Imogen Heap-inspired and completely suit her.

In ‘The Rescue’, Kennedy’s lyrics lament for the past while her vocals grow stronger with each strum of her guitar. It runs the gamut from slow, wistful melody, to beat-heavy pop chorus, but Kennedy never loses her voice.

‘Only a Dream’ is the hidden gem on the EP. Catchy and polished, Kennedy shines in this song from the second it starts. It’s easy to listen to, showcasing her youthful energy and unique voice.

The album ends with ‘Coming Back for Me’, where the scratchy guitar rhythms are the perfect complement to Kennedy’s voice. Her confidence shines through and as the final note fades away, you realize that you’ve been rooting for Rachael Kennedy. She is likeable and full of a gravelly innocence that brings fresh perspective to the old themes of heartbreak and self-reflection. Her haunting melodies give you something to think about.

The In Between is set for release on October 11. You can check out a preview of ‘Living Your Heart Out’, which is available September 3.

For more Rachael Kennedy, visit her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.
- Razmataz Magazine - Holly Rode

The best kind of music is accompanied by song lyrics that remind you of your own experiences, relationships, and life. The magic of music happens when someone you don’t even know sings of the kind of joy and heartache that you are also familiar with. Writing and producing songs that are finalized as inclusive to anyone willing to listen is what makes it easy to immediately connect with an artist.
Toronto-based indie-pop singer, Rachael Kennedy’s 5-track EP, The In Between, has that magic. The songs are short and sweet, while Rachael’s voice and choice of lyrics leave you wanting more of her familiar and comforting voice that appears to be singing to you about your own story.
The first single off the EP, “Living Your Heart Out,” is a catchy pop-influenced track. It speaks to a more fun and easy-going side of Rachael’s music while songs like “The In Between” and “The Rescue,” really allow the listener to experience the emotion in her lyrics and the passion in her voice.
“There’s a feeling I get when I hear a song that resonates within in me in such an incredible way and on so many levels – it’s literally indescribable,” says Rachael, and she’s absolutely right. “Only A Dream,” touches upon that indescribable feeling and manages to encompass the whole nature of the EP within a single song.
The last track, “Coming Back For Me,” is like that questionable sigh of relief you take after exposing yourself in an emotional way. It’s completely relatable because it’s inclusive to anyone who’s ever experienced both the joy and heartache that comes along with a relationship.
The EP is set to be released on October 11th, and you can catch Rachael here in Toronto at The Garrison the following day on October 12th.
- Anchor Shop - Tania Peralta

“If I wasn’t a musician, I’d probably be working for NASA... something about the outer space fascinates me”. Thank your fortunes that Rachael Kennedy isn’t floating around the final frontier in a space suit. Instead, she is jamming with her new band and prepping to play tunes from her debut EP In Between @ The Garrison on Saturday October 12th! The EP features her resonating voice coupled with haunting melodies in songs about love and finding your place in the world. Her sound has been called to be a mix of Coldplay, Imogen Heap and Tegan & Sara and she is not the one to shy away from those comparisons. In fact, it was Tegan and Sara’s song Nineteen from their album The Con that inspired Rachael to pick up a guitar. And the rest is.. read below and you will find out!Inspired by the song from the Canadian band, she taught herself a few more chords and wrote her first tune, Its You around 2007. (the song is not on the EP... perhaps a future B-side?). She remembers it being an extraordinary experience. “I remember bawling my eyes out”, recalls the 21 year old talent, “it was such a visceral reaction”. This sparked a year of writing more originals and performing at shows in high school and local Open Mics2011 was a bit of a landmark year for this young singer/songwriter hailing from Oakville Ontario. With the help of her vocal coach, Rachael played her originals for the A & R folks @ Warner Music Canada. The session landed her a demo deal, which got her contacts in the biz and hands on experience to the business side of the music industry as well. During the following summer, Rachael enrolled in the week-long SongStudio workshops, where she learnt from the likes of Dean McTaggart, (Amanda Marshall) and Joel Feeney (LeeAnn Rimes), the latter producing her EP. What’s next in store for Rachael Kennedy? Other than shooting the music video for the single, Living Your Heart Out, her to-do list includes a few stops in Southern Ontario, writing trips to Nashville and doing a YouTube cover of either Imagine Dragons’ Demons or Drake’s Hold On We are Going Home. That’s the plan for now. 5 years down the road, who knows? “Maybe I could be the opening for Coldplay”. Rachael Kennedy is ready to shoot for the stars. Given her genuine talent, odds are high that she won’t miss.
Quickplay w/ Rachael Kennedy:
Favourite Superhero? Spiderman
Last movie that made you cry? The Impossible
If you were a Disney princess, who would be your prince charming? Brad Pitt
Twilight or 50 Shades of Grey? Twilight
What’s something about you no one knows? Master at ping pong - INTune Magazine- Nilabjoe Banerjee

Rachael Kennedy is an AMAZING Canadian singer-songwriter from Toronto who for the past 9 months has been working on The In Between EP; a self-written CD produced by the talented Joel Feeney that is about to drop. She just released the first single, “Living Your Heart Out”. Stream it below. - Who Needs A Genre - Selorm Denu

Inspiration can be found in the strangest of places. For Rachael Kennedy, hers came nearly 12,000 kilometres from home.

The 21-year-old singer/songwriter from Oakville credits a high school service trip to Ethiopia in March 2009 for a wave of creativity that would lead her to record her debut CD, The In-Between.

“I’m glad I’d been songwriting because I got home and wrote a lot of songs,” she said. “It was so inspiring.”

Kennedy and her Appleby College classmates lived in and worked at the Kidanemihret Orphanage in the African nation. They served meals in a soup kitchen. They built a lunchroom at a local elementary school.

The trip, according to Kennedy, was “life-changing.”

Kennedy starting singing and performing at age 15, but it wasn’t until she was 17 that she really started to feel the music industry’s siren call.

Performing at open-mic nights across Toronto offered Kennedy a great vehicle where she could get comfortable singing in front of crowds, something she feels benefitted her greatly. “That kind of consistent performing makes you feel more comfortable and you can’t help but feel comfortable on stage,” she said.

It was during that time Kennedy wrote the CD’s first single, LivingYour Heart Out.

“I wrote this song when I was 18,” she said. “I was just going off to university and I felt like it had been building up inside me.”

Kennedy enrolled in the arts and contemporary studies program at Ryerson University, and it was during her two years at university that she wrote her CD’s title track.

“I wrote it when I was deciding whether or not I was going to stay in school,” she said. “I love school, but music is my passion, it’s what I want to do. I ultimately have to make the decision, and this really called to me.”

Kennedy made the decision to defer her learning following a summer 2012 songwriting workshop — a call her parents supported.

“I have the most supportive parents around,” she said. “They’re understanding of the amount of time and level of commitment it takes to make it in ‘the biz.’ They’ve been a huge part of my musical journey so far.”

During that workshop, Kennedy found herself working alongside Rik Emmett from Triumph, Joel Feeney, who wrote Leann Rimes’ Nothin’ Bout Love Makes Sense and Dean McTaggert, who wrote two big hits for Amanda Marshall.

“I knew I wanted to do music full time, but being around all those incredibly talented musicians sealed it,” Kennedy said. Feeney produced Kennedy’s CD, which was recorded at his home studio and at Inception Sound in Toronto.

Kennedy received a FACTOR (Foundation Assisting Canadian Talent On Recordings) grant for $1,500, which enabled her to record and release The In-Between independently.

The official CD release will take place at The Garrison in Toronto Oct. 12. The In-Between is currently available on iTunes and www.amazon.ca. - Oakville Beaver- Scott Stewart

Early childhood memories are often fleeting and fragmented, but one of Rachael Kennedy’s fondest recollections was when she sang for her parents for the first time.

The second year Arts and Contemporary Studies student from Oakville fell into singing at the age of 15. As the younger sister in the family, Kennedy constantly felt overshadowed by her older sister’s stellar singing abilities. Rachael put her energy into sports, playing rep hockey and becoming the jock of the family. Singing, however, was always her first passion.


“I remember telling my parents to turn around as I sang my first song, It’s You,” Kennedy said. “They were so shocked but I knew when I saw their faces that I had their approval.”

In Dec. 2010, after a year and a half of vocal lessons, Kennedy’s vocal coach set her up with a producer who recruits young, aspiring artists.

Since then she has been with Warner Music Canada in a development project, making a four track extended play (EP) – a track that is longer than a single but shorter than a full album.

The EP was released in October and Kennedy has since been promoting it and playing at gigs around the city.

With the advent of YouTube sensations and countless singing shows aired on television, the competition for stardom is rapidly changing. Kennedy said that having the opportunity to be recognized by Warner Music Canada gave her the chance to produce her music in a setting with industry professionals.

Kennedy said that her lyrics draw from all experiences in her life. But it was her trip to Ethiopia in grade 11 that changed her.“Volunteering at an orphanage and building lunchrooms and soup kitchens was an eye-opening experience,” said Kennedy. “I started to understand how much harder life is away from home. When I got home I wrote three songs in a week!”

Kennedy admitted she enjoys listening to virtually all types of music, but her soft spot is for the Indie genre. After hearing Nineteen by the Canadian Indie band Tegan and Sara, she immediately knew this music would dictate the direction of her sound.

Kennedy draws her singing inspiration from artists such as John Mayer, Coldplay, Mumford & Sons, The Beatles and Lights.

While she establishes herself as a rising artist, Kennedy knows the path will be filled with hope and heartache. Before launching her EP, she said she could have never dreamed of singing in front of an audience alone.

“I was always the class clown in high school,” Kennedy said. “But I never had the confidence to seriously get myself out there.”

Despite the challenges and difficulties associated with breaking into the music industry, Kennedy remains positive.

“People are going to judge you no matter what you do,” she said. “If I put myself out there it’s because this is what I love to do.” - The Eyeopener - Alisha Sawhney