By Mark Tavender | Photography by Lisa Young
North Shields never ceases to amaze me. I’ve known for some time that this town is home to many wonderful creative artists, whether they are musicians, singers, painters or potters – but I am beginning to wonder just how many.
You really don’t have to look far and the chances are you have met someone living in North Shields who’s written a song or penned a poem or painted a picture. In fact, it was a chance meeting that led me to discover the musical talents of Sabrina Kennedy.
I was having a coffee at the ultra-cool Hyem coffee shop in Church Way when Sabrina and Johnny Cash walked in. I had never met either before. Casual conversation followed and I noticed Sabrina’s American accent – naturally, I asked where she was from (Boston, Massachusetts) and we got chatting.
I soon discovered that Sabrina Kennedy is a singer-songwriter who is going places and I wanted to know more – especially how she ended up in North Shields all the way from Boston. We arranged to meet properly so I could find out. Johnny Cash was invited along too (he’s Sabrina’s dog, by the way, and loves cheese.)
A couple of weeks later we meet again in Hyem and settle down for a proper chat over a coffee. By this time, I’d carried out a bit of background research and soon realised that she had a fascinating story to tell.
In her home town near Salem, Massachusetts, Sabrina was writing and performing music from a young age but in 2015, she decided to put herself forward for an MTV reality TV programme called Real World which was shot in Las Vegas and focused on a group of diverse strangers living together for several months as cameras documented their lives and interpersonal relationships. Having successfully passed the auditions, Sabrina hoped that by appearing on the programme she would be able to build a fanbase for her music. At the time she was a student at the University of Massachusetts Amherst where she was studying film, acting and zoology (‘If the music didn’t work out, I wanted to be an exotic cat trainer!’)
The show’s subtitle was ‘Go Big or Go Home’ – the contestants were given daring tasks such as jumping out of a hot air balloon or flying a plane. Sabrina was also given a particularly tricky task; as babies, she and her sister were adopted into the extensive Kennedy clan (yes, those Kennedys) and one of her challenges was to find and meet her birth mother. With the assistance of a private detective, she tracked her down and the first time she met her was on the TV show, in front of millions of viewers.
‘I’m a strong person but emotionally it was quite difficult to meet my birth mother on my own like that. Reality TV is not something I’d ever do again,’ she says.
Despite the emotional challenges, Sabrina was glad for the experience and made some good friends. After the show, she moved to Nashville to immerse herself in the music scene, writing and performing again. She worked the country music and gig circuits with labels like Warner Bros and Atlantic but soon felt constricted in her artistic pursuits.
‘I was writing music in these country music spheres but at that time there wasn’t much of a crossover between pop and country’ Sabrina explains.
Things came to a bit of a standstill and didn’t quite work but then, in 2018, Sabrina made another big decision; to move to London.
It proved to be a success; after only a year she had written and recorded her song called ‘Hold Tight’ which was featured heavily on the reality TV hit show ‘Love Island.’
‘Although there was nothing set in stone, I was set for a big trajectory,’ she recollects.
But then the pandemic hit and the world stood still. Sabrina was living in Notting Hill by this time and being in lockdown and living by herself led her to a period of deep self reflection. She had lost her adoptive father in 2017 and restrictions on travelling meant that she couldn’t easily see her family in America.
‘All of that,’ she says ‘helped shape what my music is now and helped me discover who the real Sabrina Kennedy is.’
She also found herself delving into her ancestry and re-discovering her spirituality. Growing up near Salem meant that she had always had a fascination with witchcraft and paganism – a form of spiritual practice that involves a deep reverence of the earth.
Salem was infamous for its 17th Century witch trials which strongly inform the city’s cultural identity to this present day. Sabrina recognised that in reality the ancient witch trials were misogyny in plain sight where powerful and confident women were being suppressed by a patriarchal society.
This realisation was somewhat of a relief for her and enabled her to find the confidence to tell agents and others in the music industry which direction she wanted to develop rather than being told what she should and shouldn’t focus on. And it all fed into her songwriting.
Her debut EP ‘Wheel of the Year’ was the result and once the pandemic was over and the world returned to normal, Sabrina put on a successful launch show at the esteemed music venue ‘The Grace’ in London.
She ended what proved to be a busy and successful 2023 by supporting Alabama 3 on tour including shows at Newcastle University and London’s o2 Forum.
At this point I ask the inevitable question; ‘So what brought you to North Shields?’
One of her friends had suggested visiting Newcastle and when they arrived she felt an immediate connection. They visited King Edward’s Bay (which also has links to ancient witch trials) and straightaway Sabrina knew that was the place she wanted to shoot the video for ‘Puritan’ – a nod to the Puritans in Salem responsible for the witch trials. The opening lyrics sum up Sabrina’s journey to that point
‘You can burn me at the stake like a puritan
But I’m a phoenix up from the ash again’
The track was part of ‘Wheel of the Year’ which was featured in Wonderland Magazine and who recognised her as a ‘refreshingly honest, soulful, and powerful artist, with a voice as strong as her message.’ Even Kerrang!, considered to be one of the world’s biggest-selling rock music magazines, ran a piece about her. They dubbed her an ‘alt.pop witch’ and featured two of her EP tracks – ‘Magic & Mayhem’ and ‘Red Wine’ – alongside tracks by Foo Fighters, Royal Blood and Metallica. What company to be in!
Fortunately for us, Sabrina has decided to base herself permanently in North Shields and has become entrenched in the community. As part of her interest in the power of modern day witchcraft Sabrina also became involved with ‘The Green Door,’ a small collection of holistic and shamanic health practitioners based in Nile Street.
But her main ambition remains songwriting and performing. She feels unburdened living here and is set for lift off. She believes the stars have aligned for her and, for the first time, she is able to express who she really is – her songs Puritan and Magic & Mayhem are testament to this.
‘I want to lead my life with the utmost authenticity. And I love this place, there’s something magical here, there’s an energy for creatives.’
As if to prove her point she tells me that she has recently been working with Martin Glover (‘Youth’) from Killing Joke who is producing her new material and already has big shows in Newcastle and London planned.
With her talent, determination, and a growing fanbase, Sabrina is poised to take the music world by storm. Her recent collaborations and upcoming performances are just a taste of what’s to come. As she continues to evolve and share her music with the world, North Shields can proudly claim Sabrina Kennedy as one of its own.
‘But the plan is world domination,’ she smiles, purposefully, while Johnny Cash nods in approval.
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