He is also notable for being a member of prominent historical Canadian groups such as The Soul Searchers, Dr. Music, Lighthouse, and Grant Smith & The Power.
Kennedy and Diane Brooks had been part of The Silhouettes who were a well established r&b group on the Toronto music scene.
This group had actually backed Eric Mercury on his single, "I Wondered Why" / "Softly", which was released on the Clip label, catalogue no.
That year Kennedy left the group to form the instrumental core of The Soul Searchers with William Smith, guitarist Terry Logan, and drummer Eric "Mouse" Johnson, backing Eric Mercury and Diane Brooks.
[5] Kennedy also wrote the hit "Sun Goes By" which spent 9 weeks on Vancouver’s CKVN chart, peaking at no.
After talking to each other for a period of time and discovering Kennedy played saxophone, they decided to form a band.
The line up consisted of Brian Massey on bass, Tommy Goodings on guitar, Kennedy on saxophone and Groschel on drums.
They were invited by a man called Al Steiner to be the house band for the Blue Note club.