Biography
Maine musician Owen Kennedy is an award-winning fiddler rooted in the Maine Maritime and Scottish traditions. After two years splitting time between Maine and Cape Breton to study Gaelic language, culture, and music at Beinn Mhàbu, Owen is back home in Maine. During his two years at school, Owen added tenor banjo and traditional songs into his performances.
Owen's love of traditional music and enthusiasm for performing has taken him all over New England, into Maritime Canada, and over to Scotland and Shetland, where he has played with the Pineland Fiddlers, the Young Tradition Vermont’s Touring Group and Youth Commission, and in duos with Seán Heely, Ethan Tischler, and Benjamin Foss. Most recently, Owen was selected to perform at the 2025 Scottish Performing Arts Classic. He is the 2022 New England Regional Open Scottish Fiddle Champion, the 2021 Junior US National Scottish Fiddle Champion, and won the 2021 Young Stars of Maine "Glenn Jenks Future in Music" prize. Owen’s powerful playing can capture the melancholy of a Scottish air, mimic the sound of pipes in a march, or drive a good ol’ New England contradance tune.
In addition to performing, Owen Kennedy has been giving private fiddle lessons in-person and online since 2019. He offered group lessons at Beinn Mhàbu and taught three sessions at Maine Fiddle Camp. Owen’s passion for teaching is fueled by his excitement to carry and pass on the fiddle tradition and what he has learned from the many mentors who have generously taught him over the years.
Owen’s debut album "Oh When: Now" was recorded with Owen Marshall and released in 2023. Available now on Bandcamp, “Oh When: Now” is a musical snapshot of the places Owen's visited and the musicians he's played with and learned from, featuring tunes he's loved for years as well as favorites from Scotland, Cape Breton, and Shetland and includes tracks with Noah Fishman and Seán Heely. Owen has also wrapped up a solo project, 50 Fiddlers from 50 States, which is available on YouTube.
Highlighted performances include playing at the 2025 Smithsonian Folklife Festival with Vermont Folklife's Sugar in the Pan; the 2025 Maine Celtic Celebration with Benjamin Foss; and the 2025 Scottish Performing Arts Classic in Charleston, SC. He always enjoys returning to his "home stage" at the Old South Church Concert Series in Farmington, Maine, where he's appeared with Seán Heely and Elsie Gawler & Ethan Tischler. Over the years, Owen has performed at the New World Festival, the Waldo Fiddle Fest, the Maine Celtic Celebration, the Flurry Festival, the Shetland Folk Frenzy, the Sutton Fiddle Fest, and the Maine Highland Games.
Owen's studies at Beinn Mhàbu provided opportunities to learn from Gaelic speakers, culture-bearers, and musicians in the classroom and in the community, whether making “white pudding,” learning waulking songs while hiking along a stream, or playing tunes in the stairwell with one of the artists-in-residence. While in Cape Breton, Owen joined the cast for a Ships of 1801 show and for the Highland Village’s Oidhche Shamhna (Gaelic Halloween) in Iona. He led sessions at the Red Shoe Pub, performed in the Port Hawkesbury céilidhs, and was featured in Wednesday Night Céilidhs at the The Gaelic College. He played for the Sunday céilidhs at the Celtic Music Interpretive Centre with Neil Pearlman, Andrea Beaton, Troy MacGillivray, and Iain MacQuarrie.
Quote from Alasdair Fraser
After my opening set for the 10/2/21 show in Colchester, VT Alasdair Fraser shared: "What a lovely way to begin – it made me feel so homesick and very comfortable… I’m in familiar surroundings. Owen, it’s just a beautiful recital you gave there. I loved everything about it!"
