David Kennedy (musician)

David James Kennedy
David Kennedy on tour with Angels & Airwaves
Background information
Birth name	David James Kennedy
Born	July 8, 1976
Origin	Poway, California, US
Genres	Alternative rock, Punk rock, Hardcore punk, Post-hardcore, Neo-progressive rock, Space rock
Occupation(s)	Musician, guitarist
Instruments	Guitar, keyboards
Years active	1997–2014
Labels	Geffen, MCA, DC Flag, Suretone
Associated acts	Angels & Airwaves, Box Car Racer, Hazen Street, Over My Dead Body
Notable instruments
Gibson ES-335 Gibson Tom DeLonge Signature ES-333 Gibson Trini Lopez

David James Kennedy (born July 8, 1976) is an American guitarist, songwriter and performer. He is the former guitarist of Angels & Airwaves.

He was a member of Box Car Racer, a rock band formed by Blink-182 members Tom DeLonge and Travis Barker. Box Car Racer, then a side project to Blink-182, put out its only album in 2002. Kennedy was also a member of the hardcore group Over My Dead Body from San Diego, and worked with rock group Built to Last. With Angels & Airwaves he had released five albums. David and band member Tom DeLonge were close friends and grew up together in Poway, California.

Since late 2014 he is inactive with the band as he focuses only on his career with a coffee shop. He is now a part owner of James Coffee Co, a coffee house located in San Diego, California that specializes in producing handcrafted artisan roasted coffee beans.

Instruments

While playing with Angels & Airwaves Kennedy was often seen playing his Gibson Memphis Custom Shop ES-335 Diamond Limited Run Electric Guitars, in all three colors in which they are available. He used Gibson Dirty Fingers Humbucking Pickups, the same bridge pickup Tom uses in all of his signature ES-333 models, in order to emulate Delonge's signature distorted, over driven tone when playing hand muted octave chords, often with delay effects. David played through Mesa Boogie triple rectifier heads and matching cabinets. Most of David's rig emulates that of Tom's, including the use of amps, preamp, cabs and effects. David used Ernie Ball (.10) guitar strings.

From 2010 to 2014, David used one Fender '65 Twin Reverb for clean, and one Vox AC30 for overdrive, matching Tom's setup once again. David had also used the Tom Delonge Signature Gibson ES-333 in some 2012 live performances and is seen with it in the Surrender music video.

Motorcycle racing

David Kennedy is known to have a love of motorcycles. In July 2009 he entered and won his first race at the Willow Springs Motorcycle Club. Afterwards Kennedy stated,

“I was nervous at the start, feeling just like I do before I go on stage to play for a huge crowd. There's a lot to compare between playing on stage and racing. Once the race started I just wanted to perform as best as I possibly could. I always want to be the best at what I dedicate myself to doing. A lot of people have helped me get to this point with my riding and I couldn't let them down. So it felt as though my riding was a lot like doing a performance.”

^[1] He added that he wants to race as many tracks as he can.

On October 19, David placed second in his second race at Willow Springs, and managed to break his placement streak on November 14 by once again taking first.^[2][3]

David Kennedy, 2012

David Kennedy, 2008

Discography

With Angels & Airwaves

• We Don't Need to Whisper (2006)
• I-Empire (2007)
• Love (2010)
• Love: Part Two (2011)

With Box Car Racer

• Box Car Racer (2002)

With Hazen Street

• Hazen Street (2004)

Solo

• No Runners (2012)

References

1. "Guitarist David Kennedy Wins First Ever Race – Kawasaki Sportbike News". Motorcycle USA. July 20, 2009. Retrieved 2010-03-14.
2. "Angels & Airwaves Rocker Earns Second – Other Sportbike Racing". Motorcycle USA. October 20, 2009. Retrieved 2010-03-14.
3. "Race results for Nov 14th, 2009 – MySpace-blog | van David Kennedy". Blogs.myspace.com. Retrieved 2010-03-14.

External links

• Angels & Airwaves in Singapore
• Angels & Airwaves modlife site
• Team David Kennedy