The Kennedys - Half A Million Miles (2005) Reviews and Press Quotes:
“Pete and Maura Kennedy are two of the finest technical musicians, and best-liked people, on the modern folk circuit. They fell in love as members of Nanci Griffith's band, and have released eight CDs as a duo. The songs on the latest, Half a Million Miles, are a beguiling blend of world-bleary street-smarts and bug-eyed spiritual innocence; set to jingle-jangle, folk-rock melodies, cheek-to-cheek harmonies, and superbly realized arrangements. A word of warning: their crackling cover of Bob Dylan’s ’60s anthem, ‘Chimes of Freedom,’ could have you scribbling your own protest signs and marching on Washington.” – Scott Alarik, Boston Globe
“Anyone familiar with Maura and Pete’s previous albums won’t be surprised by the sounds that keep surfacing on Half a Million Miles: the acoustic-electric weave of vintage pop, folk and rock; the life-affirming lyrics; the ballads inspired by personal encounters; the cascading colors and tones generated by Pete's stellar lead guitar work. The two cover tunes here won't throw fans for a loop either: Bob Dylan’s ‘Chimes of Freedom,’ which also underscores Pete's familiar fixation with the Byrds, and Richard Thompson's ‘How Will I Ever Be Simple Again,’ a Celtic-tinged narrative ballad that inspires a particularly lovely and poignant vocal by Maura. Still, among the album’s highlights are several original songs, some autobiographical. The title track, for instance, tunefully recounts how the Kennedys found themselves standing at Holly’s grave shortly after they met. ‘9th Street Billy,’ a portrait of an East Village neighbor and songster who ‘can call out the spirits over Tompkins Square,’ offers a charming, bossa nova-tinged interlude. Standing out, too, are the Jack Kerouac-inspired ‘Midnight Ghost’ and the Memphis soul-tinged admonition ‘Live.’ Both performances mine the Kennedys’ influences with as much craft as affection, which is saying a lot.
– Mike Joyce, Washington Post
“Road warriors Pete and Maura Kennedy move their tack to Appleseed for their new album, Half a Million Miles, a sparkling collection of 10 originals and two covers. They wisely use the lyric pages in the booklet to add notes that shed extra light on the ‘why’ and ‘when” of each of its songs. . . . The album’s recorded sound is gorgeous, exceptional, with a mastered sound that leaps to meet your ears. I suspect Pete and Maura are especially proud of Half a Million Miles. It really is one of their best, brightest albums. Terrific songwriting and cover choices played with verve and delight make this a wonderful album.”
– Michael Tearson, Sing Out!
“Have I told you lately I love The Kennedys? Not just the crisp, breezy clang-jangle of Pete's guitars or Maura’s vocal effervescence. It’s not just the sincerity and universality of their songs, reassuring us to savor the glorious now, as their music skips through our hearts and heads, making us shinier, happier people. . . .Quite simply, I love Pete and Maura because they invite us all to celebrate their ten years together – livin’, lovin’, giggin’, tourin’ – in the exuberant title track. ‘Namaste,’ where ‘The divine in you recognizes the divine in me’ sets the tone of my whole day. The chugging ‘Midnight Ghost’ revives the wide open mind and spirit of Kerouac's America. ‘Listen’ and ‘Live’ cools me when I’m set to boil. Even cover versions of Richard Thompson’s plaintive ‘How Will I Ever Be Simple Again’ and Dylan’s iconoclastic ‘Chimes of Freedom’ sound like Kennedys’ songs. How many artists can achieve that? Unafraid to mix philosophy, spirituality, love and artistry with a folk-rock back beat is what makes this duo a positive force on all things human."
– Mike Jurkovic, Folk & Acoustic Music Exchange
“Having crisscrossed the country to perform a thousand gigs or so doesn’t guarantee an exalted level of artistic expression, but it does increase the odds. Half a Million Miles, [The Kennedys’] eighth album, only confirms the extent to which they’ve honed their craft. Using a jangly musical amalgam that draws mostly from folk, rock and country, they offer secular gospel gems reflective of a mindful philosophy.”
– Paul E. Comeau, No Depression
“If you’re new to the duo, you’ll note from this that they're not your usual purveyors of Americana. ‘Namaste’ may be a jangling slice of ’60s pop with a ‘La Bamba’-ish chorus but lyrically it derives from an East Village sushi bar owner’s wife who greets customers with a greeting that translates as ‘the divine in me recognizes the divine in you,’ while all their own songs carry references to Buddhism’s credo of enlightenment and living life with the senses open. So, a fair bit of summer of love vibes as they namecheck or draw inspiration from Thoreau (‘Listen’), Ralph Waldo Emerson (‘Here and Now,’ adapted from his ‘Self Reliance’ essay), Joseph Campbell, Jack Kerouac (train song ‘Midnight Ghost’), a Sumerian version of Noah's flood (‘Nuah’) and some East Village New Age store (‘9th Street Billy’). . . . It weaves a musical mood that tips the hat to the likes of Carole King, Maria Muldaur, The Band and Sandy Denny and, just to underline the pedigree of their musical influences they slip in sterling covers of Richard Thompson's Belfast lament ‘How Will I Ever Be Simple Again’ and Dylan's ‘Chimes of Freedom.’ Here's to the next half a million then.”
– Mike Davies, NetRhythms
“The Kennedys – husband and wife Pete and Maura – named their latest effort after the amount of traveling they’ve done in their decade of touring together. . . . The lack of road-wear on their talent has never been a question, as their fans will tell you and as this album illustrates. It starts strong with the title track and carries on for a dozen tunes with nary a miss. Songs such as ‘Namaste’ carry classic Kennedys sound.”
– Ray Sidman, Discoveries
“This shimmering set of folk-rock and alt-country from the husband and wife team of Pete and Maura Kennedy features their gorgeous harmonies, jangling and twangy guitars, and a superb set of original songs. There’s a heavy influence of early rock ‘n’ roll in their music... Their own songs are complemented by an anthemic version of Dylan’s ‘Chimes of Freedom’ and a heartbreaking rendition of Richard Thompson’s ‘How Will I Ever Be Simple Again?’ (****1/2, #3 in Top 10 Country/Roots CDs of 2005)”
– Mike Regenstreif, Montreal Gazette and The National Post
“This Washington, D.C., husband-and-wife duo – Pete and Maura – bring the pulse-beating excitement of days-gone-by pop music vibrantly back to the present. [Their new CD is] packed with wedding-cake melodies; haunting, thrilling Rickenbacker hooks; and the colliding shadings of two musicians who happen to be disarmingly outstanding harmonizers.”
– Sauce Magazine
“Pete and Maura Kennedy are a singing folk-rock couple so damn cute together you just wanna pinch their cheeks, but thankfully not smack ’em – an important distinction. The songs on their eighth album are tastefully granola-inspired by Kerouac and Thoreau, and quoting the Buddha and the hostess at their local sushi bar – without getting too tofu. . . . They apply their genuine vocal gifts to Richard Thompson’s ‘How Will I Ever Be Simple Again?’ and bring a new ring to Dylan’s ‘Chimes of Freedom’. . .”
– Rob Patterson, Harp
“Pete and Maura Kennedy, who perform together as the Kennedys, harmonize together as if they’ve been partners their whole lives. Their newest album, Half a Million Miles, is . . . a generous mix of jangly, ’60s-influenced pop and singer-songwriter country elements. Perhaps no better introduction to their aesthetic can be found than the back-to-back placement of Richard Thompson’s ‘How Will I Ever Be Simple Again’ and Bob Dylan’s ‘Chimes of Freedom.’ Understand that ‘Chimes’ echoes the Byrds’ version more than Dylan’s, and you'll have the idea. The Kennedys’ clear-headed optimism that the world can be a better place comes not from ignoring the pain and suffering out there, but in the knowledge that there is just as much beauty to see.”
– Steve Pick, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“Talk about happily married: The Kennedys figure that in their 10 years of concert touring they’ve driven ‘half a million miles.’ Together. Working together. The fact that after that they’ve turned in an album (their eighth) so bright, lively and full of good cheer gives gobs of hope to us all. The folk, rock, country and pop amalgamation documents their life on the road, the people they’ve met, and the writers of the books they’ve read in their travels, including Aldous Huxley, Joseph Campbell and Ralph Waldo Emerson. . . . Backed by Pete’s varying guitar stylizations, Maura’s vocals are girlishly spritely but weathered and tempered with time. . . . Soaring vocals and full-bore guitars.”
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Jeffrey R. Lindholm, Dirty Linen
“How wonderful is the husband-wife duo called the Kennedys? Or more precisely, how wonderful is their music and the imagery and ideals they present so eloquently? Even a cursory listen to each and every one of their eight albums to date provides testimony to their talents, emitting feelings of optimism and possibility as well as a celebration of all life has to offer. Their lyrics echo sentiments about peace and love, tie-die and patchouli, and literary references from the likes of Emerson, Thoreau, and Huxley perched atop melodies that reflect influences of Dylan, the Byrds and Buddy Holly. These disparate elements all gel on Half A Million Miles, an album that provides eloquent testimony not only to the distance they’ve traveled since their first encounter in an Austin music club 13 years ago, but also to the here and now, twin themes that pop up repeatedly throughout these jangly folk-rock excursions. The ’60s-stirred melodies allow ample support for their starry-eyed sentiments, as evidenced by the riveting title track and the steadfast ‘Live,’ a soulful tryst that borrows liberally from Van Morrison. A pair of effusive covers enhance the retro feel – Richard Thompson’s ‘How Will I Be Simple Again’ and Dylan’s ‘Chimes Of Freedom,’ two timeless songs that provide perfect harmony with the pair’s soft rock sensibilities. However, all these songs are transcendental, not transient…trumpeted in titles like the aforementioned ‘Live’ as well as ‘Listen’ and ‘Here and Now.’ Then there are the odes to their New York neighborhood and the sages that populate it, manifest in ‘Nuah’ and ‘9th Street Billy.’ Taken in tandem, they impart spiritual sacraments, psalms of sorts that are well worth considering. The Kennedys’ saga continues. Happily, the rest of us are fortunate enough to be able to join the journey.”
– South Florida’s Entertainment News & Views
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