Woodridge's Own Annie Kennedy to Kick-Off Summer Concert Series

Woodridge’s own Annie Kennedy will kick off the summer concert series this year.

Kennedy will perform June 6 at for a free concert from 7 to 8:30 p.m.

Kennedy is a singer and songwriter who graduated from in 2005. She graduated from Millikin University in Decatur in 2009 and immediately moved to Nashville, TN, to start her music career.

She fell in love with Nashville after interning with the Country Music Hall of Fame during college. Kennedy now works in an insurance office, writes music and performs as much as possible in Nashville venues to gain exposure.

She released her first album, “Highway Songs.” in 2011, writing or co-writing every song.

“It’s probably my biggest accomplishment so far,” Kennedy said. “I’m really proud of it. It’s so exciting to have my songs out there in the world.”

Her songs can be contemplative or upbeat, she said. She uses her songs to tell stories of what's going on in her lives, her friends' lives and what's going on in the world around her. 

The album has been a big boost to her career.

“I’ve had a lot of success with it so far,” Kennedy said. “It’s helped me get my name out there and created a lot of opportunities for me.”

Kennedy describes her music as a mix of modern and traditional country.  The Dixie Chicks, LeAnn Rimes and Johnny Cash are some of her influences. 

“I love the way country music started out,” Kennedy said. “It’s just telling stories about life. I’m trying to capture some of that with modern sounds and modern writing.”

Kennedy said music has always been an important part of her family. She decided in elementary school she wanted to be a singer and started performing in theater and choir in middle school.

At Downers Grove North, Kennedy performed in choir and musicals, was a Chamber Choir member and performed in an independent acapella group called the "High C’s" her junior year. The group arranged and performed their own music. 

At Millikin, Kennedy was a commercial music major, studying the recording industry and becoming immersed in song-writing and vocal technique. She didn’t write songs until college, she said.

Her experiences at Millikin helped her craft her own voice and style. “Because of Millikin, I knew it was the career path I was going to pursue.” 

Kennedy has tried to come back to perform in Woodridge before, but the timing has never worked out. 

"I was really excited for them to be on board with the idea," she said. "Woodridge is my hometown, and I'm very excited to come back." 

Watch videos of Kennedy sings, get information on future shows and more at her website.