Gordon Kennedy might not be a household name to the average music fan , but he is a big name amongst songwriters and sessions musicians in the know in Nashville , TN . Some of the fans and friends of this Grammy award winning artist include Garth Brooks , Peter Frampton , Bonnie Raitt , Carrie Underwood and Faith Hill to name a few . Worship Musician recently caught up with Kennedy at his home studio nestled on the outskirts of Nashville just before he left town to play his part as guitarist for Garth Brooks ’ tour .
[ WM ] How do you feel your family influenced you musically growing up ?
[ Gordon Kennedy ] My first record player was a Seeburg 100 jukebox , because when I was five , six years old maybe , my Dad showed me how to turn that thing on . All the lights would come on and it was loaded with 45 ’ s that were things he produced , instrumentals he ' d done , or there would be also Buster Brown ’ s “ Fannie Mae ”, and just records that he and Mom liked . Mom listened to more R & B , and Dad came out of the ‘ 50s Rock and Roll and Rockabilly . He loved Ray Charles doing the Country and Western hits . He brought the first Beatles album home , and I was a little kid . I still have that with my name written on it in crayon . There was always this steady diet of music .
When most families were watching Batman and the Partridge Family or whatever , my two brothers , me , Mom and Dad were sitting in the living looking at a reel to reel tape spinning . It was whatever he had done in the studio that day . We ' re listening to Roger Miller , stuff he produced . “ King of the Road ,” “ Dang Me ” and “ Kansas City Star .” I ' m hearing all this stuff , and then he would come home with a record he just liked . Nashville Cats by Lovin ' Spoonful . All this stuff as I ' m a kid , and then at some point I realized his peers and the players that he ' s working with , they ' re my heroes . Put them on a Marvel comics cover . Then at some point I would get to go and do an overdub for my Dad .
I ' m a junior in high school and I play a solo on a Johnny Rodriguez song . That was my first professional taste of playing on an actual album . Then at some point I would become a student at Belmont and play on some early records from Reba and play on her first number one record .
[ WM ] How did the number one hit that you co-wrote , “ Change the World ,” change your world ?
[ Gordon ] One immediate way was whereas writers spend years trying to figure out how to get songs to an artist . All of a sudden , they were asking us for songs . That was a huge difference . I couldn ' t get arrested in Nashville , but after “ Change the World ” happened , suddenly I got songs recorded by Trisha Yearwood , Martina McBride , Faith Hill , Tim McGraw , Collin Raye , Alison Krauss and Nickel Creek . It was like everybody who was doing records in Nashville , “ What else have you guys got ?” That was a big thing , a big change . Then