FNC with Kennedy Avery Smith, Musician, Producer, Songwriter 03.18.2022

Friday Night Chats celebrates a future leader in the Music Industry

"Kennedy Avery Smith"
BA in Music Performance and Commercial Production,
Clark Atlanta University

Keyboardist, Producer, Songwriter, Arranger

Kennedy Avery Smith's Bio

Kennedy Avery is a 22-year-old keyboardist, producer, songwriter, singer, and arranger from Chicago, Illinois. She has been playing piano since the age of nine and is primarily self-taught. Now based in Atlanta and currently attending Clark Atlanta University as both a Piano and Composition major under the direction of Grammy Award-winning jazz pianist Phil Davis, she has a sound reminiscent of 90’s and 2000s R&B with heavy jazz influences combined with the edge of modern alternative R&B. With smooth basslines, lush vocal harmonies, and complex layering, she draws inspiration from artists like Alicia Keys, Marvin Gaye and Janet Jackson. Kennedy has also arranged multiple classical pieces for chamber groups and other ensembles. In January 2021 Kennedy released her debut EP, “First Take”-- an independent, five-song project that showcases her ability to produce, write and perform every aspect of her music from top to bottom. Prior to this release, she has also been a featured vocalist, producer, and keyboardist on multiple collaborative projects with other Atlanta-based artists, including the jazz-fusion band Anonymous. She now plays and sings at countless venues in the Atlanta area, and was most notably seen presenting the Inspiration Impact award to Grammy Award-Winning gospel singer Tasha Cobbs Leonard at the 2022 TV One Urban One Honors Awards.