We’re kicking off 2026 with one of the best singer/songwriters in the biz, our friend, Drew Kennedy! Drew Kennedy doesn’t have anything left to prove to anyone––except himself. His fans count on his songs and stories. His peers record them. Two and a half decades, 11 albums, one novel, and millions of miles into his singing, songwriting, traveling troubadouring career, Kennedy has cultivated the kind of wild artistic freedom only sown by a rare blend of grassroots trust and industry approval. But Kennedy still has questions. He can record what he wants, how he wants, but he can’t stop wondering––and redefining––why. So when longtime collaborator and producer Davis Naish suggested Kennedy’s new album consist solely of new songs Kennedy wrote alone, Kennedy couldn’t resist. “It was such a challenge artistically that the end result is beyond my wildest dreams,” he says. “I’ve always been a collaborator. To purposefully not do that felt like I was tying one hand behind my back. But that limitation forced me to grow in areas that I wouldn’t have otherwise.” The result is a stunning 11-song portrait of a songwriter discovering new ways to tell the truth. Produced by Naish in Los Angeles, Drew Kennedy eschews easy labels of genre, opting instead to follow the sounds that best serve each song. While liberating, the removal of sonic expectations also felt daunting. “In my mind, more folky production means it is serious––it’s from the Guy Clark school,” says Kennedy. “As soon as the song gets bigger and wider, I don’t have that old-school barometer I’ve grown up with as a songwriter to let me know that what I am doing is legitimate.” Raised outside of Philadelphia, Kennedy played baseball in college in Virginia, then found his way to New Braunfels, Texas, nestled between rivers and San Antonio and Austin. Nashville called next, and while Kennedy and his wife Holly, an artist and art teacher, have opted to raise their family in the Texas Hill Country, Kennedy spends a lot of time in Tennessee, writing in Music Row publishing houses. Entrepreneurial and a believer in deep ties to places and people, he’s also launched the Red River Songwriters’ Festival and Marathon Songwriters Festival. “I just want to keep doing things that are interesting to me,” Kennedy says. “As soon as I feel like I am repeating myself, I am done with it.” For Kennedy, motivation has always been as important as execution. “If I have this opportunity, I don’t want to do things I’m not excited about,” Kennedy says. “So I just keep looking for things that pique my interest and feel natural to me. If I can keep doing that for the rest of my life, and be somewhat successful at it, isn’t that what it means to be an artist?” Since opening, The Armadillo Ranch has become known as a one-of-a-kind listening room, where the screen print shop transforms into an intimate acoustic space with outstanding sound and a warm, cozy atmosphere. Fans don’t just hear the music here—they experience it up...
