Myles Kennedy

Myles Richard Bass (born November 27, 1969), known professionally as Myles Kennedy, is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter.

He is the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the rock band Alter Bridge and the lead vocalist in Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators alongside guitarist Slash.

A former guitar instructor from Spokane, Washington, Kennedy has worked as a session musician and songwriter, making both studio and live appearances with several artists, and has been involved with several projects throughout his career.

Born in Boston, Massachusetts, and raised in Northern Idaho and Spokane, Kennedy attended Spokane Falls Community College to study music theory.

Kennedy was born as Myles Richard Bass on November 27, 1969, in Boston, Massachusetts, and subsequently lived in Northern Idaho.

As a child, he moved to Spokane, Washington, where he grew up in a Christian Science family on a farm.

His father, Richard Bass, died when he was four years old and his mother subsequently went on to marry a Methodist minister, and the family took the surname Kennedy.

Before Kennedy attended Mead High School (which he attended with football player Jason Hanson and Everclear bassist Craig Montoya), he found musical inspiration from Led Zeppelin, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, and John Sykes' Blue Murder band.

Kennedy began playing trumpet at the age of ten and was in a teen air guitar band with then best friends Michael Murphy, Mark Terzenbach and Bruce Kidd at 13.

He later traded for a real guitar copying the playing style of Jimmy Page.

He found his singing voice by listening to his parents' Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder records, and also states that he was influenced by Robert Plant.

He played guitar in the school's jazz band and trumpet in the school's marching band.

He also spent some time playing in a local heavy metal band called Bittersweet with some of his friends Zia Uddin on drums, Jason Stewart as lead vocal, Mark Terzenbach (and later, Chris Steffens) on bass and Myles on lead guitar.

After participating in the Rock Off in Spokane, Washington on May 22, 1987, with his band Bittersweet, which consisted of Myles Kennedy (guitar), Mark Terzenbach (bass), Joel Tipke (keyboards), Zia Uddin (drums), and Jason Stewart (vocals), he met Mark Fekete of Amethyst, And filled in as their lead guitarist for a season.

Though Myles only filled in on lead guitar, he had always dabbled around with singing, and had a passion for it, which was later showcased in a guitar contest at a local music store in Spokane.

After graduating in 1988, he enrolled in Spokane Falls Community College to study music.

Upon graduating from high school in 1988, Kennedy enrolled in a Commercial Music/Jazz Studies program at Spokane Falls Community College.

He began his music career in 1990 as the lead guitarist of the instrumental jazz ensemble Cosmic Dust, with which he released one studio album.

Using the skills he learned from this course, in 1990 he began playing guitar for a jazz group called the Cosmic Dust Fusion Band, which was formed by keyboardist Jim Templeton in 1990.

Kennedy's guitar work with Cosmic Dust was advanced; using his knowledge of jazz theory in conjunction with his advanced technical abilities, interweaving difficult techniques such as chord changes on impulse and precise shredding with rock music, he became a well-respected guitarist among local musicians.

Cosmic Dust's first album, Journey, was released in 1991.

The album was well received by critics.

In 1993, the song "Spiritus" was awarded the Washington State Artist Trust Grant for $5,000.

After the release of Journey, Kennedy left Cosmic Dust to begin working on a new band that would become Citizen Swing, for which Kennedy provided both lead vocals and lead guitar.

They were described as "a band that combined the sounds of funk, soul, R&B, blues and alternative into a unique and cohesive sound" and as "Stevie Ray Vaughn [sic] meets Stevie Wonder and then some."

They released their first album, Cure Me with the Groove, in 1993.

This album featured Kennedy (who helped produce the album), rhythm guitarist Craig Johnson, bassist Dave Turner (also of Cosmic Dust), drummer/percussionist Mike Tschirgi, and trumpeter Geoff Miller.

Citizen Swing's second and final album was called Deep Down and was released in 1995.

The band disbanded the same year.

All the music and lyrics on that album were written by Kennedy.

His second band, Citizen Swing, released two studio albums before disbanding in 1996.

With fellow Citizen Swing member Craig Johnson, Kennedy founded the rock band The Mayfield Four, for which he provided lead vocals and guitar.

The band released two studio albums and broke up in 2002.

After declining an offer to audition as the lead vocalist of Velvet Revolver, he was asked to join Alter Bridge by Mark Tremonti in late 2003, formally joining in 2004, and he has been with the band ever since.

He has released seven studio albums with Alter Bridge.

While Alter Bridge was on tour in 2008, Kennedy and former members of Led Zeppelin met and improvised as a group in an informal jam session, but the band never fully materialized.

He then started working with Slash, featuring on the guitarist's 2010 eponymous solo album on two tracks and later serving as Slash's vocalist on tour.

In 2012, Kennedy filled in with short notice for Guns N' Roses lead singer Axl Rose when Rose refused to show up for the band's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

With Slash, Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators have recorded four studio albums.

Kennedy's debut solo album, Year of the Tiger, was released in 2018, and his second solo album, The Ides of March, was released in 2021.