Kings County Country

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Living side-by-side and sharing birthdays the same week, Canada and the United States have always been important to each other. Country music has benefitted from the close relationship, with each nation providing the other with artists and producers. America is especially important to country acts as it is the largest market, offering opportunities that Europe, Asia or South America don't present to a country artist.

Two Canadians who used to perform together locally are among the Canadians who have made our southern neighbour their home. Joan Kennedy now lives in Maine but still maintains ties to her New Brunswick home, including her new single The Old Saint John.

"Her latest single gives a haunting reflection of the great St. John River and its place in Canadian and U.S. history," said a press release about the new song.

"The Old Saint John tells the story of the people who risked their lives guiding the massive log drives that clogged rivers in the U.S. and Canada during the past two centuries." It was written for Kennedy by American songwriter Tom Welch.

"Obviously I know how brutally forceful the St. John River can be. I've had family members suffer loss during the floods and I've seen the result of the damage others incurred," said Kennedy.

"I also know how that same river had been a way of life for so many people for so many years. My father and grand-father depended on the St. John to feed their families, as did many others. Many times we forget about our history far too easily so I thought this was a good time to record Old Saint John.

Kennedy had been saving the song for some time and decided this spring was the time to release it. The official release for the CD single was in Fredericton at River Relief ‘08, a country concert benefiting those affected by flooding this spring. The single is being sold at Irving stations in the Fredericton area or at her website, www.joankennedymusic.com.

Phil O'Donnell, who played in Kennedy's band locally, now lives in Tennessee, where he is enjoying great success as a songwriter and producer. His latest co-written hit is Back When I Knew it All, recorded by Montgomery Gentry and currently number three with a bullet on the Billboard Hot Country Song chart.

In a review of the album, Billboard describes the song, also the title of the new release as " a terrific lead single that's part nostalgic reverie, part morality tale dressed in a breezy melody and solid 4/4 beat."

It's one of two co-written songs that O'Donnell has on the CD. The other is God Knows Who I Am, the final track on the CD, described by Billboard as "a beautiful closer."

O'Donnell had one co-written song on the last Montgomery Gentry CD, called A Man's Job. All of the duos albums have gone gold or platinum.

The new Montgomery Gentry debuts at number three on the Billboard Top Country Album chart and at number 20 the Billboard 200 album chart. In Canada, the CD debuts at number 29 on the Nielsen SoundScan country chart and the single moves from 57 to 49 on the top 100 airplay chart that combines all musical formats.