Sheila Carabine and Brian MacMillan had known each other and of each other for a number of years as regulars on the Toronto folk/singer-songwriter circuit, sharing a number of festivals and seeing one another perform at the popular Hugh’s Room many times. But they had never performed together.
Two years ago, MacMillan was playing a show with fiddle sensation Anne Lindsay and Carabine, a long-time member of the acclaimed folk duo Dala alongside Amanda Walther, was in attendance. One conversation after a set led to another, and the new duo Kennedy Road, featuring Carabine and MacMillan was born.
“We just started talking about music and decided we should do a show together the following spring [2018]. We booked the show and as it approached, we started working on songs to play. Originally, I think we were just going to each do a set of our own music and then maybe a handful of songs together. But the more we rehearsed and started to get things together for the show, we pretty quickly realized that it was way more fun playing together on stage, than doing the solo spots. For that show then, we actually played together for most of the night. We hadn’t written any music together at that point, but I think that first show was the sign that something cool was potentially there. From that point on we started writing and practicing a lot together, just kind of forming the idea of what would eventually become our little duo,” said MacMillan.
“I had never played music with her before that show and we’d never really even been in musical situations together except for the Gordon Lightfoot tributes that were happening every year at Hugh’s Room, but other than that, our paths hadn’t really crossed all that much. Normally, in situations like that, I have been in many different band scenarios with this person and that person and then we decide to do something and realize there is something more to it. But in this case, there really was no musical context as far as us playing together before. So, it was really cool in that sense.
“With Sheila, I know that Dala is her main thing, and she also put out her solo album just before we started working together, and for me I did my own music for a long time and acted as a sideman for other artists, and now I mostly do production stuff in my studio. For me, Kennedy Road was a good way for me to reinvigorate my own live performance aspect of what I did. And I think for Sheila, it was good to have another musical outlet.”
The duo’s name came about through some quirks in both their childhoods that they did not discover until they were well into their collaborative process.
“We discovered that Sheila grew up on Kennedy Road in [the Toronto borough] of Scarborough and I grew up on Kennedy Road in Brampton. So, that was kind of a funny, immediate thing. But they there was another layer to that, which was kind of interesting and significant: my grandmother lived at Warden and Sheppard in Toronto and Sheila went to public school across from my grandmother’s apartment. I spent a lot of time at my grandmother’s place and even played in the playground of the school that Sheila went to, years and years before we even knew each other, but here we were probably kind of around each other as kids,” MacMillan explained with a chuckle.
“It was pretty weird for us to discover that. We know the same areas, which is funny; we have the same childhood memories, although mine are being at my grandmother’s. We know the same neighbourhood and hung out at some of the same places, so it seemed like a pretty significant stretch of road to both of us. And practically speaking, we just exhausted every other option in terms of band names. Every single name is taken, it’s crazy. it really is tough to come up with something catchy and original.”
Although it is being classified by some as Americana, the music being created thus far by Kennedy Road bridges many genres, with a foot in traditional singer/songwriter styles, a touch of folk, but also having some more modern pop sensibilities, leaning towards more lush productions as Carabine and MacMillan’s writing partnership continues to evolve.
“We really are attuned to and naturally gravitate towards the singer/songwriting tradition. Everything we write is linked to storytelling, really focussing on the lyric and making sure that it is something that is clear and poignant and all that stuff. So, it is folk, but even on this record that’s coming out, already over the course of writing and recording from the beginning of the recording process compared to where we are now there’s ambient stuff, there’s some synth sounds. We’re already moving out from what we have been doing. When we’re playing live it’s two guitars and two voices, which is what is immediately at our disposal. But I think moving forward we’re going to bring even more stuff to play, just because we want to be able to scratch more creative itches,” said MacMillan, adding that he and Carabine we both pleasantly surprised how well they clicked on an artistic level. .
“I think it has to do with the chemistry that we have and the trust we have with each other, because I have played with a lot of people and I have different examples of clicking with other people, but it’s not the rule by any stretch. It’s not the easiest thing to come across. And when it is easy, it’s really refreshing, and it gets rid of all the stuff that gets in the way of the creative process. I guess we both have a similar level of ambition and desire to just play. And we’re both at the level where we don’t have to try too hard to find that quickly. I don’t always find that when I play with other people, and Sheila has said the same thing. So, when that happens it’s like, ‘okay, let’s do more of that.’
“That was the first impetus for us getting together more. This is so easy every time we get together. We know a lot of the same music, so if she was going to play a cover, she could start playing it and I would be like, ‘oh, I know that song. I can play it too.’ We also seem to easily find harmonies for each other, so yeah when that happens, we both realized it was rare and decided to keep feeding and nurturing it.”
An as yet untitled debut album is set to come out in the spring of 2020. MacMillan said that the recording process is basically done, although after bumping the initial release date from the fall of 2019, they have added a couple of new songs to the collection.
“We could technically put it out before the end of the year, but with the barrage of Christmas stuff that happens, releasing it any time before that happens will see it get lost. We figured we will wait until next year to officially release it, moving it into spring or early summer. We’re applying to do a bunch of festivals in the summer and also have some other shows in place, so I think hopefully some momentum will happen through the spring and summer.”
MacMillan has developed into a producer of some repute and this aspect of his business takes up a large portion of his time. But it meant it was easy to find the time and energy to write and record with Carabine over the past few months.
“We recorded all of it here at my place because I have my own little studio. We recorded everything here and I am producing it and I am going to mix it too. And then we will get someone else to master it. It’s been great doing everything here, it’s made for a really organic process. A lot of it just involved throwing up four mics and just playing live and adding minimal stuff later but making sure to capture what we sound like live. I might add a few things like overdubs later here and there, but not much. We are really intent on keeping what our live sound is at the core of the music,” MacMillan said.
“It all came together in stops and starts, just because we’ve both been so busy. Sheila has a full time job as well and I have been doing a lot of production stuff on the side, so we have been getting to it whenever we can. We have had some good chunks of time when we have been able to focus for maybe a week, and then a bit later for maybe two weeks straight. And then I kind of fiddle around with it on my own to bring it to a certain level.
“We have also been playing a lot, so we have played all these songs on the road and that is always, ultimately the most informative way to see what’s working and what’s not working. That’s the beauty of doing it over a longer period of time because there were a couple of times recently, even in our last show, where we were like, ‘you know, we really need to put this song on the record.’ And that song wasn’t even on the table, but people really responded to it. Things like that happen where you have one idea of a song, but it always comes across differently when you play it for other people. So, I am grateful that we have had a lot of shows and are kind of playing them before we put anything out.”
What has been released thus far is the initial single, Kennedy, with a follow up, Time, coming out in November. They also released a video where they covered Tom Petty’s song Mary Jane’s Last Dance.
“For the song Kennedy, Sheila had that riff and a lyrical idea and then we sat down and wrote a bridge together and fleshed out the lyrics some more. Basically, that song is about the feeling of yearning for the simplicity of youth, but also the searching aspect of youth – the unsettled feeling of being young and looking back on that from our own lives. And it’s about Kennedy Road itself, so it’s kind of tied to the theme of the band and our own paths, and the significance of that road and where we are versus where we thought we’d be and where we are versus where we were then. So, it has a bit of a yearning, achy, wistful vibe. I feel like it captures that whole feeling pretty well,” MacMillan said, adding that the way the song came together has been typical of the writing process for he and Carabine from the moment they decided to collaborate on what would become the Kennedy Road project.
“We have had a bunch of times where maybe I will just have a guitar part that I like, and we will start to throw around ideas for melodies while we’re together in person. And with a handful of the songs we started and finished them in one sitting, just kind of out of nothing, which has been awesome. And then in other instances I might have a verse and chorus, or Sheila will have a verse and chorus and we will help each other bring it to completion. There are also a couple of songs each where Sheila wrote it completely or I wrote it completely and we brought it into the project because it felt perfect for Kennedy Road.”
With Dala gearing up for a big tour with Celtic crooning legend John McDermott for the holiday season, Kennedy Road is playing a few shows in November, many with their pal Graven.
For more information on tour dates, new songs, the forthcoming album and more, visit https://www.kennedyroadmusic.com.
- Jim Barber is a veteran award-winning journalist and author based in Napanee, ON, who has been writing about music and musicians for a quarter of a century. Besides his journalistic endeavours, he now works as a communications and marketing specialist. Contact him at jimbarberwritingservices@gmail.com.
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