Customer Reviews

River of Fallen Stars

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The Kennedys, a D.C.-area husband-and-wife folk-pop team, have been tearing up the scene since their 1995 debut, the Celtic-tinged "River of Fallen Stars." The jangly guitars, tight harmonies, positive energy and smart lyrics found on this album and its all-star follow-up, 1996's "Life Is Large," have garnered the couple many awards, including more than 30 Wammies (Washington Area Music awards) and a National Association of Independent Record Distributors indie award for best contemporary adult album for "River". This highly sough after reissue contains six bonus tracks.

In the early 1990s, Pete Kennedy met Maura Boudreau and the two immediately recognized their affinity for folk rock. Pete invited Maura to tour with him in Nanci Griffith's band, the couple were soon married, and a prolific musical partnership began with RIVER OF FALLEN STARS, originally released on Green Linnet in 1995 under the artist name Pete and Maura Kennedy and re-released by Varese Sarabande in 2003 under The Kennedys.

I bought a copy of this record not long after its release, but lost it in 1998. It attests to a real skill in songwriting that I remembered half of the tracks here, note for note and word for word, for well over a decade. I recently bought a new copy and renewed my acquaintance with the album, and my opinion remains pretty high.

The Kennedys' sound is based on layers of both acoustic and electric guitars with a jangly tone, with Maura singing pensive lyrics (they refer to themselves as "jangle poets"). The Byrds are an obvious inspiration, as is Richard Thompson whose song "Wall of Death" is covered now. As the duo wrote songs during a Nanci Griffith tour of Ireland and the UK, a couple of the songs ("Stephen's Green", "Run the Red Horses", "Chelsea Embankment") have a touch of Irish or English traditional music to them, which may explain why the Kennedys were first signed to Green Linnet.

As I was reminded upon purchasing a new copy, RIVER OF FALLEN STARS is not perfect. "Day In and Day Out" and "Life Goes On Without" are downright sappy, while the songs written on tour have strong music but weak lyrics. Nonetheless, the good half of this album is strong enough that I'd recommend it to any fan of folk rock.