Unseen Hands – 12 songs 12 strings

“Unseen Hands” is Ken Whiteley’s 35th album and it both transcends and includes the legacy of Ken Whiteley’s large body of work (see the press kit page for bio).  To push boundaries you first need to know where you are and that is a big question.  Big questions abound on this album.  

Take “Cosmic Course” which is a conversation with the moon.  It starts with Whiteley observing the moon and then the moon sharing its observations of the earth.  If you want to get closer to home there is “Here I Stand” which celebrates the artist’s connection to the small lot in downtown Toronto he has called home for decades. “Stars” is a cover of The Weather Station’s brilliant storytelling that connects dots between small human acts and a very large universe.  “Mixed Up World” sounds like it could have been cut by Bluebird Records in Chicago in the early 1940’s but with an underlying social justice theme. Nurturing the soil, nurturing each other and engaging in collective action all are given voice in these twelve songs.

Twelve string guitar forms the central, musical core of the album, uniting disparate styles with its big, ringing, jangly sound.  The many musical hands which contribute to the broad palette of musical colours include Ben Whiteley and Gord Mowat on bass, Bucky Berger on drums and percussion, Sundar Vishwanathan on sax and bansouri flute, Roly Platt on harmonica and Tom Sczesniak on accordion.  No Whiteley album would be complete without rich vocal harmonies and those are supplied by Ciceal Levy, Adrienne Mackenzie and songwriter Georgia Harmer.  Ken adds immeasurable texture with tenor guitar, Hammond organ, piano, vibraphone, slide guitar, tenor mandolin, washboard, lap steel and his own overdubbed harmony singing.

Unseen Hands 12 songs 12 strings (the album)

“Unseen Hands” is a metaphor for uncountable connections that are both universal and at the same time individually unique.  It aspires to be an inspiration for us to embrace those connections, raise our voice in song and take hold of those “unseen hands”.

Unseen Hands 12 songs 12 strings mp3 and wav files

Hole In The Clouds

Watch lyric video for the single Hole In The Clouds here

Hole In The Clouds wav and mp3

ALBUM NOTES:

• 1. Hole In The Clouds (K.Whiteley SOCAN)  3:13
• Ken Whiteley – tenor guitar, Hammond organ, Tibetan bells Ben Whiteley – el. bass  Bucky Berger – bongos, drums  Georgia Harmer – harmony vocals
• 2. Here I Stand (K.Whiteley SOCAN)  4:11
• Ken Whiteley – 2nd 12 string, piano  Ben Whiteley – string bass  Bucky Berger – drums  Sundar Vishwanathan – bansouri flute  Ciceal Levy, Adrienne Mackenzie – harmony vocals
• 3 Stars (Tamara Lindeman SOCAN)  3:37
• Ken Whiteley – 2nd 12 string, el. piano, vibraphone, Hammond organ  Ben Whiteley – string bass  Bucky Berger – drums  Georgia Harmer – harmony vocals
• 4 April In Paris (Vernon Duke, Yip Harburg)  4:14
• Ken Whiteley – 2nd 12 string, vibraphone  Ben Whiteley – string bass  Bucky Berger – drums  Tom Sczesniak – accordion  Georgia Harmer – harmony vocal
• 5 Fast Freight Train (K.Whiteley, Bucky Berger SOCAN)  3:48
• Ken Whiteley – harmony vocal  Ben Whiteley – string bass  Bucky Berger – drums  Roly Platt – harmonica  Ciceal Levy – harmony vocal
• 6 That’s The Way I Feel About You (Bobby Womack)  4:37
• Ken Whiteley – slide guitars, Hammond organ, el. bass  Bucky Berger – drums  Ciceal Levy, Adrienne Mackenzie – harmony vocals
• 7 New Growth (K.Whiteley SOCAN)  3:02
• Ken Whiteley – tenor mandolin  Ben Whiteley – string bass  Bucky Berger – drums  Sundar Vishwanathan – bansouri flute  Tom Sczesniak – accordion  Georgia Harmer – harmony vocals
• 8 Cosmic Course (K.Whiteley SOCAN)  2:49
• Gord Mowat – string bass  Bucky Berger – drums  Sundar Vishwanathan – soprano sax  Ken Whiteley – harmony vocals
• 9 Mixed Up World (K.Whiteley SOCAN)  3:34
• Ken Whiteley – washboard  Gord Mowat – string bass
• 10 Just So (K.Whiteley SOCAN)  4:35
• Ken Whiteley – 2nd 12 string, lap steel, harmony vocals  Ben Whiteley – string bass
• 11 Night Is Coming  (K.Whiteley SOCAN)  4:07
• Ken Whiteley – lap steel, mouth trumpet  Gord Mowat – string bass
• 12 So We Sing (K.Whiteley SOCAN)  4:59
• Ken Whiteley – 2nd 12 string, Hammond organ  Ben Whiteley – string bass  Bucky Berger – drums, conga, tambourine  Ciceal Levy, Adrienne Mackenzie – harmony vocals  Additional singers – Georgia Harmer, Ken Whiteley and friends from Roxton Road: Anna Pappas, Keith Kemps, Lia Pappas Kemps, Nastasia Pappas Kemps, Joel Archimbeault, Catherine Stockhausen, Ellen Manney
• All songs: Ken Whiteley – 12 string guitar, lead vocals