“I’m Gonna Name a Record After You”
By Kennedy Wilde, Sara Bares and Reid Sorel
Interview by American Songwriter
Kennedy Wilde, Sara Bares and Reid Sorel are the American Songwriter Heart Toppers Song Contest Promotion winners for their song “I’m Gonna Name a Record After You.” American Songwriter caught up with Kennedy to get the story behind her love song.
How long have you been songwriting?
I’ve been songwriting since I was 16. I was always writing stories, poetry – and I’d been playing piano since I was about four – but it was sophomore year of high school that I starting writing songs with arc and structure. It immediately became a love of mine, a catharsis and a craft that I return to again and again.
Why did you enter American Songwriter’s Heart Toppers Promotion?
I think a friend sent me a link and told me I should submit. If I’m being honest, I totally forgot I submitted until I received the email that I’d won.
What was the inspiration behind your song, “I’m Gonna Name a Record After You”?
I’m a songwriter, an artist! I’ve had so many muses and subjects and inspirations over the years; it was a fun concept to write a song about being so enamored with someone that you would create an entire body of work around them, and name it after them. That idea was desperately romantic to me. I think I already had that title when I went into the room with Reid and Sara, and they loved it, so we wrote it. The two of them are some of my favorite collaborators; they are absolutely fantastic at what they do.
Who are your all-time favorite songwriters and why?
Neil Peart, the lyricist (and drummer) of the band Rush. His lyrics are pure poetry. The stories that he chose to tell over the decades are timeless. Lori McKenna is another all-timer for me, her lyrics are so rooted in reality; I think she’s the best at what she does, the style she writes in. Jimmy Webb, Trent Reznor, Amy Allen. I am always looking to their work as a benchmark for my own.
Are you planning to release any new music this year?
Yes! I am finishing my second record, ‘Last Sunburn’, as we speak; it’ll be out in a couple of weeks.
What would you tell other artists who are considering entering the contest?
Just do it! You might forget all about it and then win, just like me.
Listen to the winning song below:
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