Ken Whiteley

SHOUT OUT AND HUGE THANKS: Ken Whiteley and the Beulah Band’s Spring concert tour was generously supported by the Arts Across Canada: Circulation and Touring Grant. Thank you Canada Council for the Arts for the much appreciated financial support. We also wish to thank all the amazing folks from those special ones who invited us to their venuesand communities to perform, to the folks who hosted us in their homes and restaurants and finally, to the folks who came out to the shows. It truly was a wonderful 2 weeks. Thank you one and all.

FESTIVAL OF SMALL HALLS CONCERT: Just announced! Ken Whiteley, vocalists Ciceal Levy & Venissa Butler and bassist Gord Mowatt will be performing on Friday, Sept. 28 @ Seeley’s Bay Community Hall. Blues/R&B artist Kim Pollard will grace us with an opening set. Tickets are now on sale. We hope to see you there!

FMO CONFERENCE: Ken, Rosalyn Dennett & Rob McLaren open the Musicians United to Protect Bristol Bay showcase on Friday, Sept. 28 at 12noon for conference delegates. Not open to the general public but you can support the cause by going to www.musiciansunited.info.

IN THE RECORDING STUDIO: This summer Ken and Nik worked with a number of talented artists… The Afro-Métis Constitution Project, Vince Halfhide, Chris White, Lenore, Sam Broverman and Kim Wallach.

The weekend of August 11 & 12, Ken will be doing daily yoga programs and performing at the Saturday evening satsang @ the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Camp, Val Morin, QC.

Come celebrate with us the history, struggles and contributions of people with mixed Black, Native and Nova Scotian ancestry. There will bea press conference and musical performance presented by The Afro-Métis Constitution Project on August 8 from 7-9pm at A Different Booklist Cultural Centre (779 Bathurst St). This FREE event will feature 4th Poet Laureate of Toronto (2012-15) and 7th Parliamentary Poet Laureate (2016-17), George Elliott Clarke, and multi-talented artists Sugar Plum Croxen, Shelley Hamilton, Russ Kelley and Chris White with moderator Daniel David Moses.

The weekend of August 11 & 12, Ken will be doing daily yoga programs and performing at the Saturday evening satsang @ the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Camp, Val Morin, QC.

TODAY! The Cramahe Township Public Library presents Ken accompanied by CLUB (Colborne Library Ukelele Band) with band leaders David Hayes and Wendy Bellan (from Cedarail) on Tuesday, July 17 at 11am in Victoria Square, Colborne, Ontario. See you there!

Next up for the Ken and the Beulah Band will be the Hillside Festival from July 13-15 in Guelph, Ontario. Friday @ 5:55pm on the Lake stage for the Over The Hills workshop with Ken & the Beulahs, Al Simmons, Twelfth Day, Poor Man’s Whiskey. Saturday @ 12:45 to 1:30pm on the Main stage featuring Ken & the Beulahs. Sunday @ 10:30am on the Island stage for The Sunday Gospel Session with host Ken and the Beulahs, Rev. Sekou, Ladama, Cecile Doo-Kingue, Haley Heynderickx, Martin Harley & Fortunate Ones.

Next up for the Ken and the Beulah Band will be the Winnipeg Folk Festival from July 5-8. Friday @ 11:30am on the Bur Oak stage for the Grass Is Always Bluer workshop and then @ 1:15pm in the family area on the Chickadee Bigtop stage for a show for all ages with Ken & the Beulahs. Saturday @ 11am on the Snowberry stage for the main concert hour featuring Ken & the Beulahs. Sunday @ 10am on the Big Bluestem stage for the I’ll Fly Away gospel-themed workshop hosted by Ken with the Beulahs, War & Treaty, Amythyst Kiah. Sunday @ 9pm on the Main stage for the Finale with Ken & the Beulahs, Wallis Bird, Amythyst Kiah. See you there!

What better time to start a discussion on “freedom”. Ken describes the philosophy and some of the process behind the creation of his latest recording, “Freedom Blues” and lots of live clips give you a musical taste (in the first video below). This is uplifting blues for anyone who wants to dig a little deeper. We also hope you also enjoy the live performance version of “Omar Khadr’s Blues“. Thanks to Riddle Films and specifically Liam Romalis and Mako Funasaka for the video production and all the incredible musicians including Amoy Levy, Ciceal Levy, Bucky Berger, Ewan Divitt, Richard Underhill, Perry White, Alastair Whitehead and Denis Keldie. Please tell your friends to check these videos out.

Friday, May 4 in East Lansing, MI – Ten Pound Fiddle presents Reggie Harris& Ken in celebration of the folk icon Pete Seeger @ 7:30pm at MSU Community Music School, 4985 S Hagadorn Rd, East Lansing, MI 48823. Tickets $20 public, $18 Fiddle members, $5 students from www.tenpoundfiddle.org or the box office at 6:30pm. Then on Saturday morning Ken will do a Fiddle Scouts Concert for the kids from 10am-11am at MSU Community Music School.

Saturday, May 5 in London, ON – The 8th Annual Smales Pace Reunion Concert @ 8pm at Aeolian Hall with special guests Ken Whiteley, Brent Titcomb, Fraser & Girrard, Liam Russell Titcomb, New Cumberland with John P. Allen, Nora Galloway. Remembering Those Who Have Gone Before Us – celebrating the music of Stan Rogers, Willie P. Bennett, Billie Hughes, Colleen Peterson, Michael Lewis, and Ken Palmer. Tickets from the Aeolian Hall box office or by calling (519) 672-7950.