Biography

Start with Irish and French-Canadian roots. Combine with a generous helping of love and respect for folk, the blues, and country music. Season with influences as diverse as Gospel, Celtic, and Buddhist chanting. Finish with an upbeat rock twist, and you have a recipe for the unique, acoustic sound of rural Ontario's Ken Dunn. Compared to performers as diverse as Valdy (Northern Journey, Toronto) and Neil Young (Folk Roots, UK), Ken's work has been characterized as "highly evocative and intriguing" (Folk Roots, UK), "the folk tradition with integrity and sincerity" (Chart, Toronto), as well as being "filled with the human spirit" (CFMU Radio, Hamilton).

Blending a powerful stage presence with a wry sense of humour and quiet sensitivity, Ken performs original songs about love, loss, environmental crisis, and redemption which "reflect refreshing insight into human complexities" (Festival of Friends, Hamilton), and harken "back to values lost in the winds of technology" (Chart, Toronto). Traditional and contemporary music by other writers are also included in Ken's solo performances which feature his "strong, distinctive vocals" (Rock n' Reel, UK), rhythmic fingerstyle guitar, bluesy harmonica, Appalachian dulcimer, mandolin, and occasional drumming forays on Bodhran or Djembay.

Over the past few years, Ken has performed at dozens of folk clubs, concert halls, and festivals including such venues as the Lighthouse Theatre (Port Dover), Free Times Cafe (Toronto), Morgan's Coffee and Tea (Monterey, California), Carnegie Gallery (Dundas), Festival of Friends (Hamilton), and Chesley's new July Folkfest. Over his musical career, Ken has enjoyed sharing the stage with a number of top Canadian folk performers including Richard Knechtel, Willie P. Bennett, Ray Materick, and Doug MacArthur. In addition to concerts, Ken enjoys participating in festival workshops on almost any topic.

Ken's most recent CD, Precious Life , has been acclaimed as having "all the love and rage one expects from a good folk album" (SOCAN, Toronto), receiving substantial airplay on CBC ("Blues Time"), CJRT ("Absolutely Folk"), CKLN ("Acoustic Routes"), CKWR ("Songs From The Wood"), as well as other Canadian, US, and European stations. A new album is also in the works, to be released in the Summer of 2000.

Ken is a member of the Ontario Council of Folk Festivals, the Georgian Bay Folk Society, and founder of the new Saugeen Valley Folk Society in Markdale, ON.

SAUGEEN VALLEY
     FOLK SOCIETY

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