West

2015 release from Americana veterans Pete and Maura Kennedy who are celebrating their 20th anniversary both as a band and a married couple. Rather than indulge in a nostalgic look backward, they've taken Dylan's dictum quot;don't look backquot; to heart; writing and recording a batch of new songs. West is an instant classic duo set that seamlessly weaves their influences over the last two decades; Buddy Holly style roots, the tuneful cadences of the Everly Brothers, and the ringing 12-string jangle of the early Byrds, interspersed with darker moments that recall British folk rock ala Fairport Convention. They knit these disparate threads into a coat of many colors that sounds like a quot;best of The Kennedys,quot; but is in reality an all-new collection of songs. Two decades on, The Kennedys are hitting a songwriting high point, and from that point they follow the well-worn American path West.