I’d already heard about this guy Bobby Kendall for a few years by the time I met him playing his guitar and singing a song in the living room of a house in Saratoga Springs, NY in the Fall of 2011.  Bobby, I had been told, was a talented singer/songwriter who also just happened to be a fairly legendary hunter and outdoorsman.   It took about 30 seconds of his first song for me to realize this guy was the real deal, a truly authentic musician with a natural gift for putting across an honest performance of a great song.  I liked him instantly.  Since that fateful day, I have had the great pleasure, through the creation of his record and many hours hunkered down together in the studio, of getting to know Bobby well, and I am fortunate enough to call him a friend.   This is his story…
Bobby grew up in the small town of Matthews, North Carolina just outside of Charlotte.  A typical mischievous neighborhood kid, Bobby would spend hours tinkering and building stuff and messing with skateboards and BMX.  Dad was a musician, and music was already in Bobby’s blood by the time he was in the 7th grade and decided to grab a guitar and start messing around.  
At age 16, Bobby and his family relocated to the picturesque tourist town of Lake George, in the Adirondack Mountains of New York State.  Eventually it was when entering a school talent show playing guitar and singing in his senior year of high school where the crowd reaction surprised and excited him so much that his decision to pursue music was cemented.
After high school, Bobby made a brief attempt at a college, and disillusioned with the experience decided instead to grab his guitar and head to Illinois where he had previously taken a hunting trip, eventually becoming a professional hunting guide.  The next years were spent playing the Summer tourist season in Lake George and subsequently heading West to hunt in the Fall.  Bobby was already developing a large and loyal following, and writing more and more songs drawn from his life experience in the process.
“Close To You” is taken from the decision to leave home to make his mark as a guide,  “Summer Crush” is taken directly from the Summers on the lake (including actual Lake George beach sounds), while “Carolina Girl” pays homage to the women of his home state of NC.  They are all real, and they are all 100% Bobby Kendall.
This dude is the kindest and truest soul there is…and he’s as talented as they come.  So…meet my buddy Bobby…the guy with the rattiest baseball cap, baddest big ass white pickup, scariest rack bucks, and coolest songs ever.

D.F. Jan 2013


BobbyKendall