Bonnaroo 2022 Artist Spotlight: Bre Kennedy

Like we’ve been doing for many years now, we’re making it our mission to help you get acquainted with many of our favorite acts from Bonnaroo‘s 2022 lineup. And, for the first time in three years, we finally feel confident that there definitely will be a Bonnaroo this year, after a postponement then cancelation in 2020 due to Covid, and an unfortunate rainout of last year’s would-be September event. Returned to its traditional timeframe of June 16-19, this marks Bonnaroo’s 21st summer and 19th installment, and features a largely new lineup for the festival’s much-anticipated return!

As we dig through the entire schedule, we’ll highlight a spread of performers spanning across genres and stages, big and small, new and old, to bring you some of the most interesting, lesser-known, and most highly-recommended among this year’s crop of artists. And as our time at ‘Roo approaches, we’ll also be bringing you some special features and full list-style daily lineup guides, to help you plan your weekend ahead of the fest. While these previews won’t span every artist, and might omit some more obvious must-see acts, we hope they’ll serve as a way to help you navigate Bonnaroo’s gargantuan lineup, and to make the most of your busy weekend on the farm!

Grab your tickets right here if you haven’t already, and read on for our Bonnaroo Artist Spotlight!

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If you regularly follow the site, then you should already be familiar with local indie pop singer-songwriter Bre Kennedy, a favorite of ours since she landed in Nashville several years ago, and an integral part of the local music scene since. Raised in a musical household and influenced by greats like Tom Petty, Heart, and Aretha Franklin, Kennedy initially tried out Los Angeles at only 17 years old, but, after a few years, felt a calling to Nashville, where she relocated in 2015. She spent several years co-writing for some other fantastic artists before forging a solo career of her own, taking the change of scenery as an opportunity to hone her own artistic identity, assimilating into Music City’s flourishing indie pop and singer-songwriter scene, and building a network of talented friends and collaborators along the way. With 2019’s Jealous of Birds EP, Bre made a stunning debut, channeling the likes of Brandi Carlile, Fleetwood Mac, and Cat Power with her lush, story-driven, and hook-laden songs that showcased her refined songwriting and sharp lyricism. 2020’s followup, Twenty Something, flexed even more artistic growth in just a year’s time, distilling Kennedy’s vulnerable approach to conveying emotion and personal experience to an even more earnest, confessional, and resonant essence. Then, not long after Twenty Something‘s release, the pandemic struck, forcing Bre, like so many artists, to spend over a year in a much more reclusive and self-reflective state than expected, which she embraced by devoting her time to remote and secluded writing and recording sessions, ultimately resulting in last fall’s stunning debut full-length, Note to Self. Though, in a way, the pandemic stunted Kennedy’s plans to promote and perform Twenty Something more extensively, it also seems to have provided the time, space, and forced solitude needed to tap into her feelings, experiences, dreams, and her journey in life so far, coming to terms with herself, making peace with things beyond her control, and penning little inspirations and hopes both to herself and to anyone who can relate, resulting in what is her best work ever. Between dense, melancholy, and contemplative pop tunes and upbeat, frenetic, and uplifting dance-primed anthems, Note to Self feels like a culmination of everything Bre has done so far but fine-tuned and balanced and pushed to even better and more surprising sonic heights. We’ve long flagged Kennedy as Nashville’s next big breakout artist in the making, and with her latest (which she recently expanded with an EP of acoustic re-workings), that feeling has never felt more valid. Don’t miss her Bonnaroo debut, because she’s sure to be playing a much bigger stage next time around.

WATCH | “Control” (Official Video)