A raven haired songstress has released her first EP, cheekily titled The Weather Up Here.
The six-foot-three musician introduces herself through her pop-ballads and nostalgic voice that soars through the microphone. But Niki Kennedy is no stranger to music, she has been singing since she was in diapers.
“My entire life I have been singing, ever since I was a toddler,” said Kennedy. “I don’t know that I have ever really considered doing anything else.”
Born in New Zealand, Kennedy has lived in Toronto where she worked with other musicians and musical theatre and now resides in Kelowna where she finally feels that she can make her own music.
“I have really tried to be authentic and honest with my sound and it ended up being a hybrid of genres. My upbringing took me all over the map,” said Kennedy. “I feel so supported by the art community here, it’s so imperative to support the arts and the music, it’s easy to get lost in communities.”
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One song that is close to Kennedy’s heart almost didn’t make the album. After finishing it the day she sent her album to the producer, she was unsure if it should be included on the album because of its personal nature, after losing a friend to suicide.
“I had this story to tell and I had things to say. It came out of a place of losing people. The catalyst was surrounding the subject of mental health and a friend that didn’t get what she needed unfortunately. I have lost a lot of wonderful people to the same things. It was certainly opening up an important conversation so I started writing to put into words how I was feeling. I had this overwhelming urge to finish it in time to make this record.”
Kennedy wanted to make sure the song was still approachable to listeners and to share her experience so that others would not feel alone or isolated if they had experienced a similar loss.
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“I think it’s important that there is a conversation, I think that every artist brings something different to the table, every story is different. Arts and music in general is a wonderful way to express what they are feeling and work through their thoughts,” said Kennedy.
The Weather Up Here will be released Nov. 9 and can be pre-ordered through iTunes, Google, Amazon, and Bandcamp the music video for Cheque Please was released Oct. 5
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