Kenny Dread

Kenny Dread is a singer-songwriter and kirtan musician. He studied composition with Pulitzer Prize winner Steven Stucky at the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music before diving into the 1980s Washington D.C. punk-rock scene. He recorded the go-go anthem D.C. Groove with Static Disruptors in 1982 and toured the East Coast with go-go punks Outrage until 1987. He got his stage name touring and recording with H.R., lead singer of Bad Brains. In that decade he also promoted concerts, produced records for D.C. punk groups, performed with nyabinghi reggae figure Ras Michael, and recorded with Poly Styrene of X-Ray Spex.

In the early 1990s he performed in the South of France with the American expatriate rock band The Immigrants and made his first solo record, the folk-rock Walkin' Down Your Street. A move to the West of Ireland led to a more acoustic sound on the singer-songwriter album Powderhorn (1997), which included contributions from guitarist Levi Chen and harpist Lisa Lynne, and a licensed adaptation of poetry by Michael Ondaatje.

From the turn of the century, kirtan yoga chanting became a major focus. Kenny Dread co-founded and produced the Chicago chant ensemble Devi 2000, and performed with kirtan artists Dave Stringer and Bhagavan Das. Chicago's indie-rock and Americana scene shaped his 2008 album Malastrana, which featured guests from Wilco, Swell Season and Califone. Years of sessions and gigs in West Cork led to Irish citizenship in 2012.

His album We Will Be Lovers looks back on a decade of love, heartbreak and travel. It draws on reggae, African guitars, Brazilian lounge, Sanskrit chanting and electronica. It was recorded mainly in a stone house in West Cork, with guests including Anna Murray and Lea Miklódy, and with further studio work in Chicago alongside trumpeter Michael Werner.