GORDON KENNEDY
Jerry Kennedy with his 1950 00-18
Gordon grew up inside that world, a child watching master musicians move through studios with tremendous efficiency and artistry. He absorbed technical excellence, along with the disappearing ethos of Nashville’ s studio culture: discipline, humility, preparation, tone, arrangement, and service to the song above ego. Aside from being raised inside a living archive of American music history, what makes Gordon Kennedy unique is that he embodies both elite musicianship and deep humanity. He can move from discussing vintage Martins and Nashville session lore to standing before an audience with little more than an acoustic guitar and a story powerful enough to bring listeners to tears. In many ways, he represents a vanishing archetype in American music: the master craftsman whose technical brilliance is inseparable from lineage, memory, humility, and song.
John Schroeter sat down with him for a wide-ranging conversation.
12 | SUMMER 2026