Myles talked about his debut; “I had been working on a record for about seven years,” says the singer/songwriter known worldwide as the voice of Alter Bridge and of Slash’s band, Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators. “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 twenty 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 realized 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 says. “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 says, “not relying on the vocal histrionics that I fall back on in a rock context. On this sonic canvas, I didn’t want to distract the listener from the depth of the song, what was paramount was how the lyric was conveyed emotionally.”
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.” he says. “Once I realized 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. It’s a battle cry of resolution, to persevere under the circumstances we were enduring after dad passed away.”
With Year of the Tiger, Myles Kennedy opens himself up in ways that would be painfully, shockingly personal and intimate for anyone, much less for a revered rock and roll frontman. “Songs like ‘Blind Faith’ or ‘Nothing But a Name’ are almost like open letters to my father, expressing an ache that’s never subsided,” he says. “This record is my attempt to convey things that I’ve needed to express for a long time. What I found hiding in the deep, dark corners of my psyche was difficult to face, but in the end, what came out of the creative process was very cathartic.”
The full Myles Kennedy tour dates can be found below;
To enter for passes to the Dublin show, simply click here and answer the question on our facebook page. You MUST:
We have one pair of passes for Myles Kennedy live in Dublin’s Academy venue and all you have to do is answer the following question:
Q – Myles is also known as the vocalist for another band other than Alter Bridge, what is the name of that band? Click here and post your answer under the Myles Kennedy post.
Oran O’Beirne
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