Started teaching guitar at Rock City Music

In 1995, Kennedy started teaching guitar in a store called Rock City Music. By August 1996, he became the lead vocalist and lead guitarist of The Mayfield Four , a rock band he formed with his childhood friends Zia Uddin, Marty Meisner, and Craig Johnson (also of Citizen Swing). They signed a contract with Epic Records thanks to a critically acclaimed demo called Thirty Two Point Five Hours that the band recorded in 1996, followed by a live extended play called Motion in 1997. The Mayfield Four’s debut album, Fallout , was supported with a fifteen-month tour with bands such as Creed , Big Wreck , and Stabbing Westward . The album was praised by critics, but it failed to chart, and ultimately became the only album by the band to feature rhythm guitarist Craig Johnson, who was fired from the band due to undisclosed reasons.