BOOK: Bap Kennedy - All the Dreams of a Boy: The story of his life & music [PREORDER: Release date 10th Nov 2026]

Please note this product is currently available for preorder ahead of a scheduled release date of 10th Nov. Orders will be dispatched shortly before release.

Bap Kennedy was one of Ireland’s most respected songwriters and left behind an extraordinary musical legacy.
Yet he was, in the words of The Irish Times, “a musician’s musician who never achieved the success his talent deserved.”
Bap struggled privately with the business and social demands surrounding his career. His journey from addiction to recovery and his late diagnosis of Asperger Syndrome/ASD are important parts of his story…
 
“The dreams of Bap as a boy were the dreams of an autistic child. As a teenager, he discovered how to express his thoughts and feelings through music, which became his identity and helped him achieve a sense of connection and belonging in a band. He describes his autism as “the engine of my creativity”. His life story is an inspiration and an illustration of the value of autism in the creative arts.”
 - Professor Tony Attwood, clinical psychologist and internationally recognised authority on autism.
 
LIFE & MUSIC

Bap led a fascinating, colourful life. He grew up in Belfast during the Troubles and later became frontman and main songwriter with Energy Orchard, touring internationally, before developing a distinctive solo career bridging Celtic soul, Americana, country-soul and classic songwriting.
 
His song “Moonlight Kiss” featured in the Hollywood movie Serendipity. Country music legend Steve Earle produced his first solo album, Domestic Blues, and later described him as “the best songwriter I ever saw,” and after Bap’s death remembered him as “a great songwriter, a take-no-prisoners performer and one of the nicest guys I ever knew.”
 
Bap also co-wrote with Van Morrison, while Mark Knopfler produced and performed on The Sailor’s Revenge. Knopfler later called him “an extremely talented and committed songwriter who applied himself to his craft at all times,” recalling with fondness their time together in the studio and on the road.
 
Bap came to describe the ten years he spent with Brenda as “the happiest decade of my life by far” - a time cut tragically short by his cancer diagnosis, as recounted in the final section of the book, which also weaves in Bap's own blog posts reflecting on his diagnosis and illness.
 
Near the end of his life, as listeners began contacting him through his blog, Bap realised that his songs had reached further and deeper than he had known. “I didn’t know how many people had been touched by my songs,” he wrote. “It’s what I always wanted. Not money. Not fame. I always wanted people to feel what I feel. The magic of music.”
 
In the years since Bap died, his songs have continued to find listeners drawn to the honesty, warmth and craft of his writing. In December 2016, his memory was honoured in Northern Ireland when he was named Aisling Roll of Honour recipient at the Legend Awards.
 
All the Dreams of a Boy is a moving and honest portrayal of an extraordinary yet underappreciated songwriter, as told by his wife.

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