Instead, I try to focus on how cool it is that I might be working with Peter Frampton one day and Ricky Skaggs the next. On one hand, I try not to think too much about the musical spectrum on either side of me.
Acknowledging your comfort zone is very broad, what’s the most you’ve ever been outside of it? You’ve played in a lot of different genres. I think that put a calling on my father’s life, which in turn put a calling on mine. The following Monday, my grandfather died. When my father was nine years old, my grandfather asked him if he’d like to try a guitar lesson, and he took his first lesson on a Friday. All the stuff that happened to me wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for my dad, but his opportunities might not have happened if it weren’t for his father, who was a deputy sheriff in Shreveport, Louisiana. Can you speak to his impact on your musical life?įrom the time I was very young, there was a jukebox, a few guitars in cases, and an upright piano in our basement, but let’s go back even further. In the bio on your website, you cite your father as your biggest influence. So, mission accomplished: It didn’t change the amp’s overall sound, but all the issues were gone, and tonally it just blew my mind. I’m hearing the guitar sounds I grew up on. Whether it’s a vintage Telecaster or a Les Paul or an ES-335, it just makes them sound like more what they are. I put in a pair of those and oh my gosh, it’s a thing of beauty! It makes my guitars do everything I want them to. He was keen on the Ruby, which is a 35-watt Alnico speaker. I didn’t want to change its personality radically, so I called John Paice at Celestion and asked what he recommended.
Gordon by john legend full album drivers#
Once again, the original drivers were tired. This amp is dear to me because I got it from the great Nashville session player Chip Young. What’s your most recent Celestion acquisition?Ī 1962 piggyback Fender Bassman rig - the 2×12 cabinet and the head. In the studio, I’ll try a lot of their classic and expensive amps, but as soon as I go back to my Matchless with those speakers, I kick my own butt for not just using it to begin with!
Matchless did some kind of special magic with how the drivers work together. It uses 25- and 30-watt speakers side by side, I believe a Greenback and a Vintage 30. I bought it in 1992, and I still use it today and have used it on probably 95 percent of the artist sessions I’ve worked on since. That would be my Matchless, an HC-30 which is a head and 2X12 cabinet. What is your go-to amp and what speakers are in it? On the Fingerprints album, Peter used my tweed Deluxe with the Vintage 30 for the one song “Float.” He liked it so much, that he went and found his own vintage tweed Deluxe. I used that Tweed Deluxe with that speaker for years and years. Peter Frampton said to me, “You should put a Vintage 30 in there.” I did and I loved it. The speaker in it was trashed, of course. But the first time I paid attention to Celestion as a choice, rather than as just what the amp manufacturer used, was when I bought - I think maybe around the year 2000 - a 1960 Fender Tweed Deluxe amp from a vintage show in Philadelphia. I think the first amp I had that used them was an old ’68 basket-weave Marshall 4×12 with 20-watt speakers, if you can believe it. When were you first aware of Celestion speakers being a component of your sound? He spoke to us about his musical values and the role of Celestion speakers in crafting his signature tones. Despite his estimable fame, Gordon has always made time for benefit performances in and around Nashville for audiences of any size. Before the coronavirus postponed most live concerts, he had been touring stadiums with Garth Brooks. The second was Best Pop Instrumental Album of 2006 for Peter Frampton’s Fingerprints. Gordon has won two Grammys, the first being 1996’s Song of the Year for composing “Change the World,” originally recorded by Wynona Judd but more famously covered by Eric Clapton for the John Travolta film Phenomenon. His father Jerry Kennedy was a legend in his own right, playing guitar and Dobro with superstars such as Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Roger Miller. Songwriter and guitarist Gordon Kennedy has brought his family’s musical legacy to bear on an enviable and influential Nashville career.