Leoni Jane Kennedy

At just 24 years old, Leoni Jane Kennedy already has some seriously impressive achievements under her belt. Music has always been in her life, and despite not having a particularly musical family, she was exposed to the guitar from an early age.

“I was initially invested because I was just a kid and intrigued by the actual instrument, but that eventually led to me getting into heavy rock groups. My first concert was Status Quo,” she says. “When I got to about 11, my mum took me to pubs for jam nights, which were just groups of 60-year-old men playing old school rock every Thursday night. I loved it,” she explains.

At 18, Leoni moved to Guildford where she was awarded the Freddie Mercury Scholarship, endorsed by the remaining members of Queen. This allowed her to participate in the Rock The House under-19s competition, which she would go on to win, and then perform in the Houses of Parliament alongside Bernie Marsden.

“He was playing a semi-hollow sunburst PRS Custom 24. I just remember seeing that PRS and going, ‘That’s insane. I need one.’ They sound good, but fuck me do they look good. It was like a piece of art.” Afterwards, she met Skunk Anansie’s Ace, who connected her to PRS Guitars when she had her eye on a “really, really nice” SE Ebony Floyd Rose guitar. “I applied to be a Pulse artist in 2023, I did that for a year, and then at the end of last year they announced me as an official PRS Guitars artist, which was ridiculous.”

In 2023, Leoni released //New World Woman// – an album of completely acoustic reinterpretations of Rush tracks. “When you really like a band, you hear it for everything that it is rather than the individual instruments,” she explains, “so I collated all of the different instruments into one. I didn’t want anyone to be able to criticise me for doing it an injustice, I know how the Rush community can be!”

Now, in 2025, she’s releasing her original material for the first time ahead of going on tour with Procol Harum’s Robin Trower, and performing at Midsummer Prog Fest with Solstice. She’s also named as one of //Prog//’s best new artists in our readers’ poll, which she finds “fucking mental!” Those achievements haven’t elevated her ego at all though. Leoni is a breeze to chat to, and remains grounded. “I’m about to play Shepherd’s Bush Empire, supporting the Manic Street Preachers [as a member of The Anchoress’ band], and the next day I’ll go to Lidl and buy toilet rolls. What is going on!?”

With finding a passion so early in life comes a pressure to constantly seek the next goal. “I don’t know if it makes me insecure that I don’t have something that I’ve achieved, but when I do it’s a relief,” she says, “I doubt myself every day, I just can’t let anyone else see that.” Despite a run-in with a “really shitty producer” that delayed the release of her solo material for half a decade, Leoni is feeling positive about the future: “Now that it’s finally coming out, I can breathe a little bit.” CF

Prog File

LINE-UP: Leoni Jane Kennedy (vocals, guitar)

SOUNDS LIKE: Hauntingly beautiful, complex acoustic guitar cushioned by an ethereal voice.

CURRENT RELEASE: New single //Closer// is out on March 29

WEBSITE: https://www.leonijanekennedy.com

— Cheri Faulkner