Some interviews are an absolute joy to do. Catching up with Leoni Jane Kennedy ahead of the release of her gorgeous debut album, Synthetic, was one of those interviews. She is interested in your views, listens and provides measured answers with thought. Given that at the tender age of 25, Leoni Jane Kennedy is well over a decade into her music career, it appears that there is one very sensible head on such young shoulders.
We catch up in the early evening via Zoom. Leoni Jane Kennedy has just returned from her sister’s hen do, a chaotic pink bubble-filled weekend in Ibiza, which sounded like the exact opposite of where you might expect to find someone whose album of Rush covers blew so many fans away.
Ahead of the interview, I explored the successful Kickstarter campaign that has allowed the physical version of Synthetic to come to fruition. I would encourage you to do the same, for it outlines the challenges that the singer/guitarist has already encountered in her journey.
It is evident that Leoni Jane Kennedy is now in a position where she can manage to address anything that comes at her. The situation with the previous producer is evidence of that. She explains how the support she had from her mum was a huge help. “She studied law for five years and has been able to give me advice when difficult situations have come up. When that issue with the producer happened, I had help from her, a few other people, and the Musicians’ Union, which I would strongly recommend to other artists.
“The monthly fee gives you access to useful resources, including legal advice, and it’s absolutely worth it. I wouldn’t call the situation traumatic, but it was definitely a major learning curve. I was young and assumed everything would be fine because I’d paid him in cash, money I’d saved over the years from working and from birthday gifts.”
Having paid the producer £2,000 in cash, Leoni Jane Kennedy was forced to chase the producer for over ten months for any material. “I wasn’t asking for much, just a rough demo or a bounce of what had been done. By the end of the year, it was obvious nothing was happening. I got advice from my mum, the Musicians’ Union, and some legal friends, and eventually it became clear he had no intention of delivering the work.
“The tracks were just sitting there unused. I had a full release plan in mind, but eventually I realised I needed legal help if I was ever going to get the recordings back. We did manage to recover them, but they came back in pieces, which was heartbreaking.
“Over the next five years, I worked with two other producers to rebuild and finish the album properly. It taught me a huge lesson. I’ve also had support from people like Nick Andrew and Elliot Kennedy, who helped me re-record and produce the record, as well as from my family.
“In the meantime, I’ve worked several jobs, and I’m a teacher now. It’s been a long process, especially with inflation and the way the music industry works now, labels often only step in once you’ve already done most of the hard work yourself. But that’s the background to the whole situation.”
The fact that the album is finally coming out is a real testament to her determination. Songs written over several years, songs that people have been asking for a physical release. I imagine people have been asking for a long time when they would be able to get hold of a physical release, especially in a genre where that still matters.
“Definitely,” Leoni Jane Kennedy says. “People have been asking for years when it would come out, and there have even been comments on the Kickstarter from people saying they’ve waited three years and are thrilled it’s finally happening.
“In some ways, I’ve made the best of a bad situation because the delay gave me time to tell my story, build an audience, and create a community around what I do, not just as an artist, but as a person. That’s what people really connect with: the person behind the music.
“For me, that’s what happened. People know my story. They know some of this material dates back to when I was 13, and that has given me a strong platform to build from, alongside the support I gained through the Rush community and the New World Woman covers album.
“People often come up and talk to me about my family, or about my granddad, who passed away. Some artists might find that too personal, but I embrace it. I’m naturally talkative, and I prefer deeper conversations anyway rather than keeping everything on the surface.”
Unsurprisingly, Leoni Jane Kennedy is excited as release day approaches. A little nervous, but mainly excitement, she tells me. It is the culmination of a period in her life where she has suffered loss as well as gaining qualifications.
“I’ve completed a master’s degree, and all of this has happened alongside some really difficult life experiences. I lost my granddad to complications from cancer and chemotherapy, and during all of that I was also trying to finish my master’s, although I had to take a year out.
“Between moving back and forth from Blackpool to London, trying to hold everything together, and building a career without the backing of a label or a team, it’s been tough. I’m doing everything myself. But more than anything, I’m excited because I can see how much I’ve grown through all of it. That’s a big deal for me.”
It takes a strong person to wear some of the personal stuff that Leoni Jane Kennedy does. It obviously helps people get an understanding of who she is, but it is quite a big challenge because it does not take too many steps for it to get yourself in a situation where someone is inappropriate or whatever it might be, especially in the world of social media and stuff. Especially where, as she tells me, she does absolutely everything herself.
Writing music is usually something that an artist will tell you is first and foremost for themselves, before the connection is made with the public. However, there is another aspect to Leoni Jane Kennedy’s songwriting, as she explains.
“I mean, when you say the first thing to do is to please yourself, I understand what you mean. But I think more than anything, it’s to satisfy your needs rather than writing a song that, for example, is a 12-minute-long prog rock song that isn’t necessary under the circumstances.
“If that’s what you do and that resonates with you, that’s totally fine. But because I’m on the cusp of prog, blues and rock, there are a lot of elements that come into my songs based on my influences, Status Quo and Rush. They’re a combination that isn’t quite common.
“So, for me, I’ve got that 6-8 rhythm in my blood. I’ve got the 7-8. I keep saying to people I was born in 7-8, it feels natural to me. The connection side of it, first and foremost, is what I realised when I wrote a track called Ammunition, and I’d never really experienced this before.
“I’d have people coming up to me previously saying, you know, that song was really good. But they never really understood what the lyrics meant because it’s open to interpretation, a lot of the time, all my stuff.
“But Ammunition, which isn’t on the record, is going to be a single release before the next album comes out, which is already pretty much complete anyway. Ammunition was about my dad and my lack of a father figure in my life because I cut him out when I was very young for good reason.
“But this is a story that I tell before I play the song, and I explain to the audience that this is what it’s about. Those people in the audience who may have experienced something similar, whether it’s not the same, or if it’s just a touch of something they can relate to. I’ve had people coming up in tears afterwards and then explaining their stories to me.
“And at the end of the day, if music isn’t for connection to another person and to create that sense of community and understanding of each other, I know it can probably sound a bit cringy in that sense, but it’s absolutely not.
“That made me realise that’s the point of why I’m doing this. Because I’m reaching out to find people who feel the same as I do. For a long time, I tried to intellectualise that feeling rather than just feeling it and openly speaking about it.
“I wasn’t able to because I didn’t understand it first, and that terrified me. But the minute that I started on the master’s course, and I was doing the songwriting, we got briefs like ‘the song you felt you never had the permission to write’.
“I then wrote that song and started talking about how I wasn’t sure how I felt that I cut my dad out of my life so young. I still know now that it was the right decision to make, but I chose to use that as a way of exploring how I felt. That emotional connection to that song I don’t have anymore, but everyone else does.”
Synthetic is the start of a huge journey for Leoni Jane Kennedy. Sitting in between prog, rock and Blues, she straddles a range of styles. We laugh as I refer to the Prog Magazine reference to her as the Solstice / The Anchoress guitarist rather than the individual artist. Obviously, people will see her through different lenses and through different perspectives and through different exposures.
The first time I heard her was when she released New World Woman. Her love for Rush was confirmed on the Something For Nothing RUSH fancast, and whilst this interview was about Synthetic, there is no way I was going to avoid the return of Rush.
“We were meeting Eoin de Paor from Moving Pictures. I opened for Moving Pictures as an acoustic support, and he was my teacher in school, and we’re best mates. I call him my stage dad. We write a lot of music together. We get on well as writing partners. His son also hasn’t seen Rush live, and I get on well with Nisha. So, John, Nisha and I are going over to Canada in August, and we’re going to Toronto to see Rush.”
Having shared our pain at getting the tickets, I reveal that I’ll also be in Toronto in August.
New World Woman is a glorious interpretation of Rush songs, highlighting Leoni Jane’s talent, not just as a singer but as a pheonomneal guitar player. She is not expecting anything, though, and in the naturally laid-back style tells me why. “I’m just happy to exist in a time where Alex and Geddy are playing together again because I was alive when the Clockwork Angels tour was happening, but I couldn’t go because I was very young. Then Neil passed away, and I was absolutely devastated.
“I did my dissertation on Neil, and that was like a huge insight into how much I love them even more so. I managed to see them when they played at the Taylor Hawkins gig, but of course, it was only a couple of songs. I cried my eyes out, absolutely loved it. They’re my huge heroes, my biggest influences.
“To be able to be in the same room as them playing the songs that they’ve written over the years, with or without Neil. I love Neil to bits, but Annika is going to absolutely smash it. She already knows exactly what she’s doing from the live performances at the award ceremonies. So, I’m expecting to just feel complete.”
What makes Rush so special? It’s the personal connection between the fans and the band. “I get you,” she says. “100%. It’s so emotional. Rush are one of the only bands I think that have created that. I don’t know.
“There’s so much meaning behind the words that are completely different for absolutely everyone and I know that will be the same for a lot of bands. I only have my subjective experience, but that is how I perceive it.
“It’s like every single Rush song, no matter how many times I listen to it, I’ll always get something different out of it, and I think that’s the magic behind it. Between the music and the lyrics and just the way that they use the space is just so ethereal that they are the only band that I’ve ever connected to like that.”
Moving back to Synthetic, I tell Leoni Jane Kennedy that it is a fine album to listen to. I have had it on while I have been working, and it is a fantastic work accompaniment. It is a lovely album to listen to.
After the release, she’s out on the road later in the year with Solstice again, but also with Walter Trout. Leoni Jane Kennedy has met the great man before, as she tells me. “I got chatting to the drummer, Michael Leasure, online quite a few years ago because I saw a video of him jamming with a trio somewhere in either New York or Nashville.
“I then saw him playing with Philip Sayce as well, just again, online videos. I followed his career for a while, and then one day I thought I would message him and say, you know what, mate, you’re an incredible drummer. You are so good at what you do. Gave him a lot of compliments. I thought he was just phenomenal at what he did.
“I didn’t expect any response, just wanted to put it out there. But then we got chatting. This many years on, I think it was only last year that I met him in person when they played at the O2 Academy Islington. I said, ‘Look mate, I’m going to come down, I want to see you’. I met him there for the first time, and he took me backstage to meet Walter. We hung out for a little bit, got chatting.
“I said, I’ve got to do the whole networking thing. If you ever need support, you know where I am. I love your stuff. I’m a huge fan, and I think we’d be a good fit. I pestered a couple more times after that, I can’t lie. I did e-mail quite a few people. I said this would be a really good gig, and I would love to be a part of it. I sent them my album.
“Michael was listening to it on the road. So, it’s been in their heads as well, this album for about a year or so before I got the gig. I think that really helped. So, for anyone listening out there, you must push. If you genuinely do like doing something, once is never going to be enough. You must really dig your heels.
“People don’t mind as well. If it’s going to be a problem, you’ll sense that it’s a problem, like chill. But other than that, people don’t mind. It’s just like life gets busy. Just keep pushing. That’s honestly, that’s how it came about.
“It was Mike pushing as well on his end saying, ‘I really want Leoni to do it.’ I got the gig, and I’m ecstatic. I was blown away. I wasn’t expecting it. Even after all the pushing, I was not expecting anything to come through. Never think you’re too lucky. Yeah, it worked out.”
By the time that Leoni Jane Kennedy tours with Walter, we will have scratched that Rush itch. Before that, there is the small matter of Synthetic, out on 15 June 2026. A pre-save of the album is available from here.
A beautiful record, Leoni Jane Kennedy is surely a young woman heading for the stars. I hope to meet up with her in Toronto so we can geek out a bit more, too.
