Live at Ted's Welcomes Back The Kennedys on their "Smoketree" CD Release Tour!

Pete was a member of Nanci Griffith’s Blue Moon Orchestra at the time. Soon after, Maura filled a vacancy in the band. The duo doubled as Nanci’s opening act, and The Kennedys set off on a lifelong road trip.

As a duo going strong for more than 30 years, The Kennedys have recorded two dozen collections of mostly original songs, along with interesting side projects. The duo’s early albums, beginning in 1995, established them as core artists on the AAA and Americana charts. Despite touring at a rate of 50,000 miles per year right up until the Covid lockdown, they found time for a four-year stint as folk deejays, hosting “The Dharma Café” on Sirius/XM radio.

When Covid struck, they didn’t lose their stride, performing over 150 livestreams and playing over 1,000 songs for a global audience. Nowadays, Pete and Maura are back “home on the road” and busy in the recording studio. Their 2026 release, Smoketree, is the follow-up to the duo’s 2023 release, Headwinds, which spent a month at #1 on the national Folk DJ chart.

Smoketree consists of all original, newly written songs that reflect their feelings on things both timely and timeless: environmental concerns, social upheaval as families and entire populations flee violence, the search for peace in the world and peace in one’s heart. All of these are touched upon with their trademark upbeat tone of uplift and encouragement. They are known for bringing the light rather than simply cursing the darkness, and they continue that approach with Smoketree.

Well-traveled, never tiring of the life of wandering troubadours, The Kennedys look forward to hitting the airwaves and the stage with their blend of energized folk-rock, passion, and a sense of kindred spirit camaraderie with their audience. “I arrived at The Kennedys show in the foulest of moods….Two hours later, I didn’t want to be anywhere else….I could not have found a better antidote.” - Jim Daniels, Elmore Magazine, November 2016 In a career that now spans two decades, New York duo Maura and Pete Kennedy have traversed a broad musical landscape, surveying power pop, acoustic songwriting, organic rock rooted in their early days in Austin, and a Byrds-inspired jangle that drew the attention of McGuinn, Steve Earle, and most notably Nanci Griffith. The duo co-produced Nanci’s latest CD, and are currently touring the US and the British Isles with the Texas songstress.