In December of 2019, PentictonNow profiled local singer/songwriter/musician Kennedy Smith. At just 15 years of age, she'd already written 100-plus songs, won a local talent contest, commanded the stage at a Gyro Park Canada Day performance, and released a self-penned tune on all the major streaming services.
Through music, she'd also put the boots to an anxiety condition that had, for a time, threatened to govern her life.
We figured at the time that with a little more seasoning and all the right breaks in all the right places -- the music game is a tough one, after all -- she could go places.
Now, one and a half years later, those places are a heck of a lot closer. And one of the reasons is an unlikely songwriting association with an accomplished 57-year-old TV actor named Roark Critchlow, who was born in Calgary and raised in Summerland before going on to stardom in big-time stuff like Days of our Lives and Pretty Little Liars.
And this Friday, Smith, who's recently changed her artist name from Kennedy Lauren to Chayce Kennedy due to a naming conflict with American singer Lauren Kennedy, will release the first song from that partnership. It's called Hold Me Again, and it has the hooks, the melodies and the pro-level production of a modern pop winner.
We caught up with Kennedy, and Critchlow, in the garage of her childhood home, which has since been converted to a music studio. And it didn’t take long to realize she hasn't taken her eye off the prize during COVID.
"I've been traveling a lot," she said, referring to several recent trips to Juno-winning producer Ryan Stewart's North Vancouver recording studio, The WineCellar. "It's been quite challenging with school. A lot of trips back and forth to Vancouver."
On top of that, she recently landed a hostess job at Salty's Beach House so she can "put more money into music." And of course there's that whole Grade 11 thing.
But more importantly, the age-diverse duo of Kennedy and Critchlow (he jokes they're trying to set a record for the largest age discrepancy of any songwriting team in history) managed to churn out more than 60 "legitimate" tunes.
One is Hold Me Again. Another is "Summer Land," due to hit when school lets out in June. The third scheduled release for 2021, so far, is "Home," planned for school startup in September.
If you think they're targeting a young audience, you’re right. Doesn't hurt that all three of the above were crafted and recorded with the capable assistance of producer/musician Stewart, the dude behind such young pop luminaries as Carly Rae Jepsen and Victoria Duffield.
Turns out the now 17-year-old songstress first started partnering musically with Critchlow when she was just a kid.
"When I was younger," said Kennedy, "I had an Olympian riding coach for horse jumping, and because she was kind of into that world, knowing people, she connected us because he's a writer, a really good songwriter, and a piano player. So he showed me some piano and we wrote together."
The duo then reconnected during the pandemic.
"COVID was a really dark state," she said. "I was at home not seeing friends, only being around my family, my parents were working, it wasn't a good time. But music was always there. I was on my Zoom class in the morning, then on the piano, practicing and writing songs with Roark."
Critchlow readily admits the age gap is way out of the ordinary. But, says the former soap opera idol, Kennedy is an "amazing talent."
"Last year I was just a crazy 57-year-old kind with a dream," he chuckled. "But seriously, I was into music since I was six. If I'd been tough enough to practice, I'd probably be a decent enough musician. But I wound up doing what all lazy artists do and became an actor.
"But music is life, man. I've loved it my whole life. So when Chayce says thanks so much for helping me, I say I'm having the time of my life. I'm creating music."
He talks about giving a poem he'd composed "a very long time ago" to Kennedy, and how he was stunned with the results.
"She made a melody for a really difficult poem, a difficult structure. Without the melody, it's just a poem. It's nothing. But now it's a beautiful song -- one of my favourites."
Kennedy has similar raves about Critchlow.
"My mom always gets her hopes up. She doesn’t understand all the time it takes. But that's what's great about Roark. He's been there. He knows a 'no' just means you try harder. My parents think I'm going to make it tomorrow. But it doesn't happen like that."
The process of writing songs together, it seems, isn't really a process at all. It's freewheeling, and it's fun.
"Chayce writes music and lyrics," said Critchlow, "and I write lyrics and then music. She does the melodies for my lyrics, she does the melodies for her own lyrics. I will sometimes help her with the music for her lyrics, she'll change the chord structure of my music. We just do it."
But both agree that their experience at Stewart's recording studio was invaluable.
"With the three of us," said Kennedy, "we were able to get radio-ready music. We could spend two ten-hour days in the studio, and not get half of what we got with him."
"He is the music maker," said Critchlow. "He told us to come in with a story, with a song, with an idea. But he wants to write the song together because that's much more fun than just pushing buttons.
"On the first one, Chayce came up with the chorus. It was the first thing she sang. 'Hey, I don’t want to hear you say my name anymore.' At the same time, Ryan was saying, 'Don't come knocking on my door.' And I was saying, 'Guys, I think we have it.'"
With three satisfying pro-level tunes in the can, the two are now concentrating on marketing.
"How do you get there?" asked Kennedy. "It's not a written formula. There's already a Taylor Swift. You don't need another Taylor Swift. You want to be the next Chayce Kennedy."
Critchlow added that the state of modern music -- no concerts, no physical media -- creates more uncertainty.
"The music industry is in a strange state of flux right now," he said. "No one quite knows how it's going to work yet. Everyone's trying to figure out how you can even make money through downloaded songs.
"But there's a genuine system evolving right now in terms of writing and publishing that we're just finding out about."
Hold Me Again will be available this Friday, May 21, on all major streaming services. In the meantime, you can find a Pre-Save Link to the tune at Kennedy's Instagram page here.
For more info on the artist, check out her website here.
