he was four years old and his mother subsequently went on to marry a Methodist minister, and the family took the surname Kennedy. Before Kennedy attended Mead High School (which he attended with football player Jason Hanson and Everclear bassist Craig Montoya), he found musical inspiration from Led Zeppelin, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, and John Sykes' Blue Murder band. Kennedy began playing trumpet at the age of ten and was in a teen air guitar band with then best friends Michael Murphy, Mark Terzenbach and Bruce Kidd at 13. He later traded for a real guitar copying the playing style of Jimmy Page. He found his singing voice by listening to his parents' Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder records, and also states that he was influenced by Robert Plant. He played guitar in the school's jazz band and trumpet in the school's marching band. He also spent some time playing in a local heavy metal band called Bittersweet with some of his friends Zia Uddin on drums, Jason Stewart as lead vocal, Mark Terzenbach (and later, Chris Steffens) on bass and Myles on lead guitar. After graduating in 1988, he enrolled in Spokane Falls Community College to study music. Career Cosmic Dust and Citizen Swing: 1990–1995 Upon graduating from high school in 1988, Kennedy enrolled in a Commercial Music/Jazz Studies program at Spokane Falls Community College. Using the skills he learned from this course, in 1990 he began playing guitar for a jazz group called the Cosmic Dust Fusion Band, which was formed by keyboardist Jim Templeton in 1990. Kennedy's guitar work with Cosmic Dust was advanced; using his knowledge of jazz theory in conjunction with his advanced technical abilities, interweaving difficult techniques such as chord changes on impulse and precise shredding with rock music, he became a well-respected guitarist among local musicians. Cosmic Dust's first album, Journey, was released in 1991. The album was well received by critics. In 1993, the song "Spiritus" was awarded the Washington State Artist Trust Grant for $5,000. After the release of Journey, Kennedy left Cosmic Dust to begin working on a new band that would become Citizen Swing, for which Kennedy provided both lead vocals and lead guitar. They were described as "a band that combined the sounds of funk, soul, R&B, blues and alternative into a unique and cohesive sound" and as " meets Stevie Wonder and then some." They released their