Myles Kennedy Brings The Ruckus To Nashville
After recently sitting down with Myles Kennedy on our podcast Alive & Loud Podcast, we discussed his upcoming tour, getting back out there and everything that comes along with gearing up to tour a new record. It was not long after our conversation that this would come to fruition. Myles and his team descended on music city at Marathon Music Works in Nashville on a gorgeous Thursday night while enlisting the help of the multi-talented Tyler Bryant and Graham Whitford. Naturally on my drive to the city-that-always-delivers, I blasted The Ides Of March front to back. Picturing what would soon transpire and hoping to hear my favorites, I was honestly just thankful to be going to another live show. Pulling into the parking lot of this historic venue I was elated with excitement and determination to nab some of the best images of this tour to date!
Kennedy has been busy during the time between on and off the road with Alter Bridge and Slash. Just recently released his second studio album The Ides Of March, which is a very personal and exciting new record. Once gaining entry inside Marathon Music Works I navigated my way around this industrial wonderland and found several places to begin capturing the essence of the night. I was fortunate to run into several fans and friends of Kennedy and 2/4 of Tyler Bryant And The Shakedown, who had smiles from ear to ear that we were all in for a treat.
The show on this particular night would be a seated event and very intimate as it was the first time I have personally been to a show where everyone was sitting down. Rest assured, not everyone remained seated as the music would soon begin pumping and feet would begin stomping with hands raised in the air. Provided for patrons would be a fantastic hotdog stand just adjacent from the soundboard and three separate bars for all your hydration needs. After quickly indulging in the venue's treats and wetting my whistle with cold water, Tyler Bryant would soon begin playing to open the show.
The moment Tyler Bryant took the stage the energy picked up and faces lit up like the Fourth of July. Opening his set with “Pressure," Bryant and Whitford played with such energy and ferocity that the crowd was feeling it and so was I. The twosome would discuss how much fun they were having and eventually get to a song titled “Born Rockin’," which was written for Bryant’s drummer’s newborn son who recently came into the world. The song was awesome and it was really cool to see the level of love that these bandmates have for one another to write a song in honor of one of them having a child. We would eventually get to the end of an amazing set by Bryant and Whitford as they closed their performance with “Lipstick Wonder Woman”. If you haven’t seen Tyler Bryant solo or him with The Shakedown, you’re missing out on one of music’s hottest artists and bands today!
The time had come for techs and stage crew to make the switch and begin line checks for Myles Kennedy and company. The band took to the stage and Myles greeted us all with a warm smile and digging right into his spot dead center as he began playing “Wake Me When It’s Over," everyone was singing along and clapping the lyrics back to Myles. It was a really great moment to be a part of and witness. Kennedy sighted the songwriting that went into putting together this record and as he said in our episode of the podcast, it’s deeply personal and comes from a very real place. When an artist can pull back the curtain and expose certain parts that most tend to hide with song lyrics, it tends to make a very raw and passionate ordeal. Especially when one bares themselves in front of a large crowd like this night in Nashville.
Kennedy would talk to us all and tell everyone many stories from the road and even dedicate a song to his wonderful wife as they had just celebrated an anniversary this year. Myles introduced his band to us; drummer extraordinaire and personal friend to Kennedy, Zia and Tour Manager/bassist/all-around procurer of all things Alter Bridge and Myles and Mark's solo tour, Tim Tournier. This was extra special as Tim and I shared conversations many years ago about me pursuing this career in photography and pushing myself to get where I want to be. So it was awesome to finally pay him back with some slick images. We were even treated to a little nugget from way-back-when, as Myles was in the feature film Rockstar, alongside Mark Wahlberg. He began screaming “Stand Up And Shout!" Citing “I do that at least once every show, I have to” laughing and smiling while making us all do the same.
Myles would ultimately play through an enormous catalogue of music with some tasty treats such as “Mars Hotel” which is a Mayfield Four tune (for those who’ve been following Kennedy for some time now),” All Ends Well” which he played acoustically, and he would eventually close his show with “In Stride” from his recent album. Overall, this was a show not to be missed. Myles Kennedy has been and is one of the most prolific singer/songwriters of the last 20+ years and he’s only getting better as time continues to pass. It goes without saying you need to buy tickets to this tour! Go buy The Ides Of March and support kick ass music!
