Kenny and Amanda Smith have released the first single, ‘You Know That I Would’ from their forthcoming album,UNBOUND . The CD, the 7th release from the Smith’s and their band, is set for release on September 23, 2016.
Winners of the International Bluegrass Music Association’s prestigious Emerging Artist of the Year award in 2003, the Kenny and Amanda Smith Band continues to combine gutsy, heartfelt vocals, brilliant instrumental talents and a powerful, contemporary sense of song choice and arrangement into one of the most compelling new sounds in bluegrass today. A creation of the intensely personal musical and romantic connection between Kenny and Amanda, the band shares a rare sense of intimacy and cohesion with each musician feeling an almost telepathic connection. Musicians call it being in the groove, and with Kenny leading the way on guitar, this band never has trouble finding the groove.
UNBOUND features 13 remarkable cuts from some of today’s most prolific writers, including Ed Williams, Ronnie Bowman, Dennis K. Duff, Roger Helton, Barry Bales, Lisa Shaffer, Elli Rowe, Jason Burleson, Tim Stafford, Thomm Jutz, Kylie Sackley, Lacy Green, and Craig Market. The collection is a warm and winning musical journey.
Originally from Nine Mile, Indiana, Kenny is a two-time IBMA Guitarist of the Year award winner, and his professional credits include six years with the popular Lonesome River Band and an exceptional solo CD, Studebaker, released on Sugar Hill Records in 1997. He is a member of the Band of Ruhks, the musical collaboration with Ronnie Bowman and Don Rigsby. Kenny is widely considered one of the most important and influential flatpicking-style guitarists of his generation.
Winner of the 2014 IBMA Female Vocalist of the Year Award, Amanda grew up singing in church choirs and participating in talent contests at local fairs in her home town of Davisville, West Virginia. She started playing guitar in high school to accompany herself, and soon discovered bluegrass music through artists such as Rhonda Vincent and Alison Krauss. Amanda met Kenny at a Lonesome River Band concert, and the couple began dating and playing music together almost immediately.
And now, UNBOUND continues the legacy with a collection that is at once intimate and personal, but also skilfully filled with instrumental and vocal mastery. The first single, ‘You Know That I Would’ is currently available to radio through Airplay Direct, or by request.
