“Masterful and amazing!” ~ Tampa Acoustic Music Exchange
Ken Whiteley has been playing folk, blues, gospel and other roots traditions at the highest level for well over fifty years. He has received many awards including a Canadian Folk Music Award, 7 Juno nominations, 18 Maple Blues nominations, a Genie Award (for Best Song in a Canadian Film) and Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Mariposa Folk Festival, The Maple Blues Awards and Folk Music Ontario but ultimately for Ken his music is all about making connection. He loves to get people singing with him whether he’s on a concert stage, a folk festival, a church service or a yoga ashram.
Ken has made over 32 albums and his most recent one, “Long Time Travelling” was just nominated for a Canadian Folk Music Award as Best Traditional Album this year. He has written over 400 songs that have won numerous awards and been covered by more than a dozen artists. Ken is a living link to the traditions of people he has sung and played with including Pete Seeger, The Georgia Sea Island Singers, Tom Paxton, John Hammond Jr., Blind John Davis and many others. He brings this vast experience to each performance as a way to allow all of us to come together through the power of song.
First up is a Whiteley Family show with brother Chris, son Ben and nephew Jesse at the Acoustic Harvest in Scarborough. Here’s where you can get tickets. This will be a wonderful and rare chance for the four of us to perform together. Chris Whiteley, master songwriter, guitarist, trumpet and harmonica player is mostly busy performing in the blues duo with his wife, Diana Braithwaite. Jesse Whiteley is busy playing piano with all kinds of projects including Raoul Bhaneja, Kristin Lindell and his own gigs around town. Bassist Ben Whiteley’s efforts this fall are on a brand new The Weather Station recording as well as other projects with Georgia Harmer and Emma Worley among others. Acoustic Harvest is a great concert venue.
At the brand new Hugh’s Room Live I’ll be premiering my new album “So Glad I’m Here” on Sunday, Nov. 12 @ 2 p.m. The new location at 296 Broadview Ave. is a great spot. The concert will run on the format of my long standing gospel shows that I have done with Hugh’s Room since 2002. I hope to be joined on stage by none other than the visionary world music ensemble Jaffa Road.
cover photo of “So Glad I’m Here” by Colin Medley
I have played around with different titles for my new album but have decided on “So Glad I’m Here”. That was the first, very well received single from the album and it seemed to encapsulate the moment. I will have more information soon on it’s release.
