Born and brought up
in Aberdeen, he was a neighbour of the great ballad singer Jeanie
Robertson and during the evolving folk scene
Norman Kennedy is one of
Scotland's finest traditional singers with a
unique repertoire of
folk songs and ballads.
Norman Kennedy
was born and raised on King Street in Aberdeen. He is a 'keeper
of the old ways', a master practitioner and
teacher of textile arts as well as an unaccompanied singer of
traditional Scottish Songs that he learned while growing up.
Norman
teaches an inspiring workshop in the rarely practised method of
shrinking wool - Waulking the Cloth - where workshop participants sit
around a large table and pass the hand-woven material from hand to hand
while Norman sings traditional songs and tells of the old ways in
Scotland.
Norman was brought to the US to represent
traditional Scottish folk music at the 1965 Newport Folk
Festival. He was an immediate success with the "folkies" and the
academic alike. The former loved his relaxed, easy style, while the
latter recognized a deep knowledge and understanding of the songs,
which went way beyond book learning. Here was
a young man truly immersed in his tradition and culture. Then in 1966
Norman moved to live in the USA, where for the next six years he was
the Master Weaver and Spinner at Colonial Williamsburg in Williamsburg,
VA.
In June 2003, Norman was awarded the highest honor
in folk and traditional arts in the United States. This Master Artist
was the recipient of one of eleven fellowships awarded by the National
Endowment for the Arts. The award was presented in The Library of
Congress by United States President George W Bush; the $20,000 award
being comparable to the Turner Prize.
You can
SEE AND HEAR
a 50 minute concert now by
CLICKING THIS LINK.
Performance video is copyright 2007 by Norman Kennedy and
posted with his permission.
Webmaster Robert Morecook