A superb instrumentalist, Ken is considered a pioneer of the style known as "melodic clawhammer". This approach has greatly expanded the range and flexibility of clawhammer. As Bluegrass Unlimited magazine notes in a recent review:
"His...recordings...solidify his role as one of the most creative practitioners of this art. He has stretched the boundaries of what can be done on the clawhammer banjo...His...techniques open up a new world to the clawhammer banjoist."
Ken's banjo books are considered classics in their field. They include Clawhammer Style Banjo (Centerstream), Melodic Clawhammer Banjo (Music Sales), and Basic Clawhammer Banjo Solos (Mel Bay: formerly publisher under the title, New England and Irish Fiddle Tunes for Clawhammer Banjo). He has recorded two video banjo instruction tapes for Mel Bay-- entitled "Beginning Clawhammer Banjo", and "Intermediate Clawhammer Banjo". He has also recorded audio and video banjo instruction series for Homespun and Centerstream, respectively. He has been a regular columnist for Banjo Newsletter for over a decade.
Ken is also a well-known guitarist. His guitar books include Fingerstyle Guitar, Contemporary Fingerstyle Guitar, (both from Centerstream Music), and Traditional Dance Music for Acoustic Guitar (Mel Bay: its former title was Fingerpicking Fiddle Tunes). He has recorded a guitar instruction video for Centerstream. He is now the regular guitar "teach-in" columnist for Sing Out! Magazine.
Ken has produced several works devoted to traditional fiddling on Prince Edward Island in the Canadian Maritimes. These include a tune book called The Fiddle Music of Prince Edward Island: Celtic and Acadian Tunes in Living Tradition (Mel Bay), and anthology cassette called The Old Time Fiddlers of Prince Edward Island (Marimac), and an anthology CD (as yet untitled) to be released shortly by Rounder Records.
Ken lives and works in the Boston, Massachusetts area.
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