Dad Kennedy's 70th Birthday

We were planning to go on a secret trip Saskatchewan in April - we had flights booked, and an off-season camp paid for - a place that had room enough for every family to have their own room/space, while having large gathering spaces, and a big kitchen/dining room. At the time of his birthday this year, there are 49 of us - with 2 more due soon! (Amy in May and Jillaine in Sept). So we'll close out 2020 with FIFTY ONE people. That's so crazy to me! But not crazier than the COVID-19 hysteria that shut down the universe in March. Our tickets were credited, and all plans cancelled. Sadness.

We rallied and decided to do a little birthday video for Dad, since we couldn't be there in person, we made a video. Chantelle compiled all the footage...and there was too much for one video (it's almost an hour long!) so a second video/bloopers reel is in the works too I think.

Dad's Birthday Video on YouTube.

On his actual birthday we set up a Zoom call - and that was kinda weird, but fun. (The empty chair was Janessa, leaving to attend the current youngest member of the family, baby Jhett:-)

We're hoping to get up there for a visit before Vale turns 2, and we need to purchase another ticket, but we'll have to see what the world will allow first, I guess:-/

We love you DAD!

Daddy Doesn't Pray Anymore

*This was written and posted on Instagram in November 2015*

Well folks, it's a new song, but an old, old memory. There is much to be grateful for, when taking that ol' trip down memory lane.

My life has been both extremely ordinary and extraordinary - paradoxically, at once. Perhaps it was the ordinary that allowed the exceptional to seem so, or, perhaps the unique just made the rest seem mundane. But either way, having lived it, it always just seemed like life to me.

If asked to name one single, solitary, defining thing that shaped my growing up, the very first thing that springs to mind time and again is this: Music.

I've spent more time sitting and listening to sad old songs, sung by a smooth baritone than probably anything else, collectively. My favourite pastime, and his too. There were songs about love, and life, and the Lord. The soul stirring cries of notes on the page, brought to life in a six string. I can't help but hear a new song, like this one, and not reminisce. It's hauntingly familiar in every way. It's not the only kind of music that speaks to my heart - but it's the best kind.

It's the kind that makes you wish you never had to grow up. The kind that makes you wish people never left. The kind that makes heaven seem wonderful. Because: Jesus and music. Could there anything sweeter? I'm grateful for my Dad, and his passion for music. I'm so glad that I have memories buried all the way down to my toes - of music.

And I'm grateful for new songs to sing everyday. Music, just like life, is a story that never ends. Always have a song in your heart, even if it's a sad one. There will always come a brighter day, and a happier note.

Because like it or not, we all dance to the tunes we know.

https://youtu.be/4nTch_IbOHE (link to Chris Stapleton's Daddy Doesn't Pray Anymore)

Kennedy Family Music

While some of my family was in town, I borrowed a guitar, so we could sing, of course! Here is a small sampling

Ok - In an unrelated incident to actually singing (potentially falling off a ladder, in fact), Lehman was affectionately dubbed "Sally Songbird" by our brother, Jared. Fitting, I thought:-) Well, Sally Songbird is a really great sport - and a super awesome soprano too! He's doing the hilarious high harmonies, and obliging his sisters by being goofy. We love him!


And this is Johnny Willow! A familiar Kennedy family classic.


Another war-time song, I don't even know the name of it - "We fired our guns and the British kept a'comin'". A very well loved song from when I was a kid.


I've posted the lyrics to this one here, and posted the video of my Dad singing it at my wedding, here. It was my favourite song growing up and always made me bawl. He has a great sad-voice for the story songs, for sure:-) Singing it for Kenna (and please excuse the make-less shots of me, ruining the whole thing:-)


Here's a song I grew up hearing - it's Big John


The Cup Song - we wore Lehman out in just one chorus:-)

Pics

Since my Dad is here...it's music time! I borrowed a guitar from a friend so we could play and sing together...

It's nice and loud right here:-)

Kenna found a moth with a broken wing, and she tried to nurse it back to health. I'm pretty sure this "helping" actually drove the thing to the grave much much faster than nature would have:-)

My brother Lehman is 15...and a bit of a fave amongst the rowdy boys (Brooks, Grey & Sonny). There is lots of "warring" going on here:-)

This is a funny bit of music. Trying to get Lehman to do the cups for more than a minute

Safe & Sound

Trying my hand at a Taylor Swift song...I've never sang it before, and it was fun! Kari & Jillaine on harmonies

*people in the background you may not recognize are "adopted family", Curtis, Christa, and they have 4 kids, including identical twin girls:-)

Hymns

Singing around the piano, again. Christa is a very good family friend from Alberta, who also came into town for the wedding. She's practically family, we'll say:-)

:00 - Doxology - Logan, Kari & Christa
:46 - Hallelujah, What A Saviour - Logan, Kari & Christa
2:10 - There is a Fountain - Christa, Kari & Logan
3:55 - Come Thou Fount - Kari, Christa, Darla & Logan
4:56 - The Solid Rock - Kari, Darla, Christa & Logan
5:43 - A New "New Years" Song - Logan, Kari & Christa

Classical Music

Vienna and Logan, on piano

Lehman, on his cello. He is working on his grade 8 for cello.
Jillaine, on the harp. She has just finished her grade 6 harp exam
Logan and Via, dancing to the wedding music (practice), starts at :59 (She was bit by a spider on her cheek, hence the big red dot! It took forever to go away!)

A bit of Lehman's performance in an orchestra

Music in SK

Lots of music in the Kennedy house! Here are some video clips of group ensembles and jam sessions throughout the time we were there. I have marked out above each video when each new song starts, in case you don't want to watch it all. It was soooo wonderful to sing/play/hear all this great music!

Nothing was planned or rehearsed, so it's just happening as it happens. Off notes and all - we all loved every second!!

Janessa, Jillaine & Maryn singing, Dad (Dave) playing guitar First up, Hell on Heels, and at 2:15 Lemondrop

When I Said I Do – Logan piano, Kaden guitar, Amy, Logan & Kaden vocals (Amy 1st&; 2nd verse solo, Kaden 3rd verse & final chorus solo)
4:08 - Hallelujah – Kaden vocals and guitar 6:37 – A Short clip unknown song by Kaden & Amy
6:54 – Logan piano, Kari & Logan, vocals – Blessings


Politically Uncorrect by Maryn & Dad

Boys Rock-out session! towards the end I marked a few songs as {pretty}. They are not rock songs and will be enjoyable to all who do not enjoy the loud rock stuff.
Song 1 (Logan guitar, Davis bass, Kaden drums)
song 2 – 1:06 (Logan guitar, Davis bass, Kaden drums)
song 3 – 1:38 (Logan guitar, Davis bass, Kaden drums)
more cowbell song - 2:12 (Logan guitar, Davis bass, Kaden drums)
song 5 – 4:04 (Logan guitar, Davis bass, Kaden drums)
song 6 – 4:30 (Logan guitar, Davis bass, Kaden drums)
song 7 – 5:22 (Logan guitar, Kaden bass, Lehman drums)
6:06 – Lehman, drums
6:16 – Davis guitar, Logan bass, Kaden drums
6:31 – Logan guitar – guitar “slapping” song (pretty)
7:40 – Logan guitar – using only a half capo instead of a full one (pretty)
8:56 – Logan guitar, Logan & Kari, vocals Safe and Sound (pretty)

Many evenings we all sat and visited and sang some old hymns! There is nothing better than those songs, they make your heart SING!

Leaning on the everlasting arms (Darla, Maryn, Kenna)
:21 Come Thou Fount (Darla, Maryn, Kenna)
:54 There is a Fountain (Darla, Maryn, Christa, Kenna, Katie)
2:15 Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus (Darla, Maryn, Christa, Kenna, Katie)
3:48 He Leadth Me (Darla)
5:34 Wonderful Merciful Saviour (Darla, Maryn, Logan, Kari, Christa, Kenna)

In the Cross – Kari, Amy, Darla
:20 What a Friend We have in Jesus – Darla
1:30 Amazing Grace – Kari, Amy, Darla
2:10 Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus – Kari, Amy, Darla
2:33 – Leaning on the Everlasting Arms – Kari, Amy, Darla
3:08 – The Old Rugged Cross - Kari, Amy, Darla
3:34 – Redeemed – Kari, Amy, Darla
3:57 It Is Well – Kari, Amy, Darla
4:35 Because He Lives – Kari, Amy, Darla, Dave
5:26 I’ll Fly Away – Darla, Kari, Dave, Amy
6:26 There is a River – Darla, Kari, Dave, Logan
7:58 To the River – Kari, Darla, Logan
9:20 Romeo & Juliet – Darla

Wedding Music - Video

It's our anniversary again. Time to share more wedding wonderfulness:-) Our wedding reception was  full of love. And a few musical numbers as well, in true Kennedy fashion. I'll share a few...

First up, one of my all time favourites. My Dad is not kidding about me crying. I would BAWL (and I wasn't even 3 years old yet). He had to stop singing it (literally for years), because it would upset me so much. To A Sleeping Beauty. If you have a daughter...grab a tissue.

*lyrics in { } are a slight change by my Dad from the original lyric

After my sister Lauryn's speech (my maid of honour), she invited me up so we could sing together one last time before I moved away. Lauryn & Darla - Doxology

Lastly, here is the "funny song". My Dad started a tradition of sorts with other people, (some cousins etc), of writing a song about them for the reception. So he did one for us. This song is full of all true things, by the way! Yes, I did bite my tongue (almost completely off) 2 times, actually. And Brian has a thing for the KJV, and has wrecked more than his share of cars:-) Fun memories of a great day!

Kennedy Concert

On Friday night after the rehearsal & dinner, in true Kennedy style, there was a concert:-) It was such a fun time. There were about 50 people there, and Logan wanted to entertain the crowds. I didn't sing - no time for practice or anything. Here are just a few very short clips. If you are really interested in more (meaning, you are related to me), you can find all the video I took of that night on the family blog, along with pics of the evening too.

My brother, Logan and his fiancee Kari singing Broken Heart, originally by Carolyn Dawn Johnson


There is a Fountain. Lead sung by the incredibly talented Christa Tyler, main harmonies and piano by Logan, and group harmonies by Kari and my Dad. Beautiful arrangement!


This one is a true classic. I've heard my Dad do this song probably a million times...it's Johnny B Good!! My Dad on lead vocals and guitar, Davis on bass, Logan on guitar, Kaden on drums (some of my bros!). Check out this link for a Old Time Rock n Roll rendition!

Sister Singing - Video

My youngest sister Maryn has become quite the little singer (she is 11 years old). This is the very first chance we've had to sing together. We were all dressed for the wedding and had a moment to squeeze in two songs. This first one is originally called I Don't Feel Like Loving You Today (by Gretchen Wilson), but we've affectionately dubbed it "The Sister Song" :-)

Here is the one and only attempt at the song. We had no practice or anything, so excuse us, we are very un-polished, but it's still cute.


Here's Traveling Soldier, the second song we've sang together. The one and only time! Very improvisational, but again, Maryn is just super adorable!

Kennedy Family Music

I'm finally doing this...because I just now took the time to figure out how. It's amazing what you can learn when you try (and when it's a snow day = day off!). Here's the backstory:

My family sings/plays music together. Always. My Dad was in a rockin' rock band when I was a baby, Orion. My mom has their 8-tracks. Yikes. It's doubtful I'll ever figure out how to get those online, haha!

We really have no recordings of ourselves, other than homemade videos. Cause we never did anything professionally, like paid a studio. After I got married, in the summer of 2003, we coerced a friend and sound guy at our church to record us from the mics. It worked! Never done it before or since, I'm sure our friend put some effort into making that work for us. It was a 'shotgun' type session. I was in town for the weekend, and we did 26 songs in only a few hours. No retakes, no practicing. Just what we've done a thousand times over the years.

The results were great! But not without their mistakes. I will post a few of my faves from the Kennedy Family recording session. If you beg me, I'll post more. I just don't want to force you to hear stuff you don't like. Instrumentation throughout is done by my Dad, and brothers, Brent & Jared.

This is the Doxology, by Lauryn and Darla. I need my sister, she makes me sound better. Sound balance is a little off, sorry. You get the idea. Lauryn does the harmony, I do the melody. It's gospel/regular church music.

Infamous Brian-foot-in-mouth incident. He comes home from work (we still lived in NY, so the CD was still new), this song is playing on my mp3 player. He walks in the door and immediately says, "What is this crap?, Shut it off". He's not the biggest country music fan ever to roam the planet, that's for sure. "uhh, honey, that's me" - ooooh was he ever sorry. His excuse was, it sounded SO GOOD, that he thought it was Faith Hill or some other *horrible* singer. A feeble attempt at redemption. I don't let him forget that one. (I really thought it was funny actually).

This is Thanks to You, originally by Emmylou Harris I believe. It's more blue-sy, or something. Darla, melody, Dave (Dad), and Lauryn on harmonies

This is He Stopped Loving Her Today, originally by George Jones. It's arguably the greatest country love song of all time, and my Dad does a great job with it. Lauryn and I were being silly with the ooo's and aaaa's in the background.

This is Through It All. Gospel/church sound to it I guess. Lauryn does the first verse, me the second, my Dad the third. It is sort of a testimony song - the words have a lot of meaning to them in light of my mom's brain aneurysm in 2001. We sang it a lot after that.

This is Traveling Soldier. Likely my fave we did that day, only because...we had NEVER done it before, ever. And it turned out. My bros, sis and I loved it (a Dixie Chicks song), my dad didn't know it, so we just said, "it goes like this" and we did it, and it worked. Me on melody, Lauryn with harmony. She is so good at harmonies y'all. Incredible, really.

Amazing Grace & Because He Lives - Video

I think this will be the last music video I will upload. After some prodding, Logan plays us a song!

Amazing Grace & Because He Lives - by Logan Kennedy

Drums, Piano & Dance Moves - Video

Here is a short clip of more family music with my brothers and Dad. *If* there were ever a way to win your way into heaven, it would have to be this: Allow your children to play drums in your livingroom. lol. My poor mother! It is very loud in there, somehow on the video, it doesn't really sound that bad, but it's pretty much too loud to concentrate. Brooks was all into "the drums" in theory, but once they got going, he got scared of how loud it was. The piano portion is Logan just making it up as he goes...the piano at the Holiday house was an electric piano (imitation baby grande type of thing), the whole thing would shake violently as he would play! Anyway, I guess Brooks was touching some of the buttons, and turned on a drum beat, so Logan took it from there. There are various people during the video inspecting the piano, trying to figure out how Brooks did that...they didn't know how!

Kaden - drums
Dad (Dave) - electric guitar
Davis - bass guitar
Logan - piano

Christmas Music - Video

My brother Logan arranged this Christmas music montage for all the younger kids to play along too, at their various skill levels. They did such a good job! It was past Christmas, and they claimed to be out of practice, but I think they do really well for the little 'family' performance. (Please excuse the various stages of dress...it was still pretty early in the morning!...glad I was holding the camera and not on it!)

So proud of my brothers and sisters! Here they are! Featuring: Logan - piano; Janessa - violin; Jillaine - harp; Lehman - cello.

You're My Angel - video

This is the song I sung for my brothers wedding...we did it again at the Music Night. The wedding video camera was "fixed" on the front of the church...they were signing the register and I was singing off to the side so you can't see us on there, so I thought this was better. Aerylin did not sing harmonies at the wedding, it was just Logan and I

You're My Angel, a Brooks and Dunn song. Darla - lead vocals, Aerylin - harmonies, Logan - guitar.

Music Night in Alberta - Video

Here are a couple clips from the Country Music Night I was a part of in July...actually these are from the warm up practice before the concert started actually...I will have to get a few more good clips from the actual event, but this was right at the beginning and I wanted to test out my video making program:-) It's not the whole song, just about a minute and a half of each.

Here I Am To Worship. Aerylin -high harmonies, Darla - lead vocals, Chantelle - lead vocals (I think? I think I can hear her singing along too more quietly), Dave -harmonies & guitar, Logan - guitar, Davis - bass guitar, Kaden - drums


Traveling Soldier. Kari - lead vocals, Aerylin - high harmonies, Darla - low harmonies, Logan - guitar, Davis - bass guitar, Kaden - drums (LOVE the drums in this!)