Bap's initial flush of fame began in 1990 with the release of "Energy Orchard" by his group of the same name. Energy Orchard were a legendary live band, all from Belfast and highly regarded on the tough London gig scene. A young Brian Kennedy was the original singer, departing for a solo career before the fledgling band began to perform live. As the reputation of the band - now featuring big brother Bap on lead vocals - gathered momentum, they signed to M.C.A. records - mainly thanks to friend and bad behaviour enthusiast Steve Earle - and began to tour extensively in Europe and America, including support slots with Van Morrison - a major musical influence on Kennedy and the band (in 1993 Bap joined Van on stage at three gigs to sing 'Gloria.')
Bap's next album "The Big Picture" (4 out of 5 MOJO ) was recorded with the help of Van Morrison -a long standing friend and mentor. Van also co-wrote one of the songs on the album (Milky Way) with Bap - a very rare thing indeed and a measure of Bap's standing in the song-writing community. Shane Macgowan appears on another of the songs (On the Mighty Ocean Alcohol) and following the release of The Big Picture, Shane played several secret gigs with Bap and his band at the notorious Boogaloo bar, a celeb hangout in north London. Other musical guests included Pete Doherty and David Soul of Starsky and Hutch fame.
A tour of the US and Europe followed, as special guest of Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits) who is now a convert to the Bap back catalogue. The tour included five nights at the Royal Albert Hall, London.
Bap has also been involved in the Belfast / Nashville twin cities song writing festivals and has contributed to song writing workshops over the festival period. In March 2009 he formed part of a Belfast contingent of singer-songwriters who performed in Nashville and Austin.

• Rock