The next release on I-94 Bar Records will be “Live at The Marrickville Bowl” by John Kennedy and The New Originals on November 15.
The album captures the farewell gig by urban and western troubadour Kennedy and his all-star band, performed under the Copperart ceiling of the beloved Marrickville Bowling Club in Sydney’s inner-west in May 2022.
Kennedy upped stakes and relocated to Spain shortly after the sold-out show, unaware that in-house soundman Richard Ball had captured the gig on hard drive. A post-show listen by bassist Phil Hall (ex-Dropbears, Sardine v and Lime Spiders) confirmed that something special had been recorded. He and Kennedy oversaw some minor polishing before Melbourne’s Ernie O sprinkled his mastering magic dust.
Kennedy’s band, The New Originals was Hall, Murray Cook (Wiggles, Soul Movers) and Matt Galvin (Barbarellas, Scruffs, Happy Hate Me Nots) on guitars and longtime drummer Pete Timmerman.
Kennedy will support CD’s release with a string of homecoming gigs with The New Originals and also in solo mode in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne in December and January.
John Kennedy has been a staple on the Australian underground scene since moving to Sydney from Brisbane and landing a deal with Waterfront Records in the early 1980s.
His bands, JFK and the Cuban Crisis, John Kennedy’s Love Gone Wrong and John Kennedy’s 68 Comeback Special, made a mark with songs like “Miracle in Marrickvile”, “King Street” and “Big Country”. Kennedy also spent 10 years playing and recording in Germany, LA, London, Holland and Hong Kong.
“Live at the Marrickville Bowl” features his underground hits as well as more recent material from the “Raining Treasure” albums of underground Australian classics and the all-original “John Kennedy And The New Originals” CD.