Ken Ainsworth, folk-rock musician, singer and songwriter, has been performing professionally for over 35 years. In addition to his solo act, he has appeared with with the rock band Mystic Procession, the contemporary folk group Night Whale and the The Rondos, playing classic Rock 'n' Roll. On Sunday mornings, he can be found leading music at the Machias Community Church in Machias, Washington.
Ken's earliest influences came from the folk-revivalist tradition of the late 50s and early 60s. Records by The Weavers, The Kingston Trio, The Limelighters, Bob Dylan, Peter, Paul and Mary, and (later) Simon and Garfunkle were always playing in his basement bedroom. It was rock 'n' roll, however, that provided him with his first professional gigs. A series of high school garage bands culminated with a year and a half stint with Mystic Procession, a cover group that featured much of Credence Clearwater Revival's catalogue.
Then came Vietnam.
A low draft number enticed Ken to enlist in the Navy, where he spent a couple years on a submarine playing tag with his Russian counterparts. During this time, he rediscovered acoustic music, and bought a second-hand guitar with which he began to write his own songs. He also enticed a young woman from his home town into marriage. Ken and Kris have been in love and together since.
After his release from the Navy, while enrolled at Washington State University, he played weekends at a little fondue joint in Moscow, Idaho. Gordon Lightfoot, Jim Croce, Harry Chapin and Paul Simon were major influences during this period, but the long gigs (6 hours a night, Thursday through Sunday) gave him plenty of time to try out his own compositions. He honed his songwriting skill by watching the response of the mostly college-age crowd.
One night in 1974, a young couple happened by. They liked what they heard, and stayed until closing. Phil (Kaufmann) and Denise (Nina Brandt) were extremely talented musicians themselves, and soon the three became very close friends. In early 1976, they formed the Night Whale group and began playing bars, coffeehouses, lounges, and college campuses all over the Pacific Northwest. One reviewer from Spokane said "Night Whale is what would happen if Gordon Lightfoot, James Taylor and Joni Mitchell decided to form a group."
Being a road musician was great fun, but Ken had a young family. In 1978, he turned his back on music (temporarily) and took a teaching job in Marysville, Washington. That same year he began attending Machias Community Church, a small congregation between Lake Stevens and Snohomish. The saints at that little country church helped rekindle Ken's faith in Christ. The song "You Came To Get Me" was written with profound gratitude to God for His work in Ken's life during this period.
Night Whale resurfaced during the eighties, despite the fact that Phil and Nina had settled three hundred miles to the South. Weekend gigs were played after marathon drives one way or the other, giving Ken the opportunity to play new songs for new audiences. At the end of the decade, he was invited to join a well-established classic rock group from Seattle, The Rondos. Ken split time between the group in the early nineties, but the Rondos gradually became his most frequent musical experience, primarily because the drives to the gigs were usually much shorter.
In 1997, Nina suggested that Night Whale head for the studio one last time to "put down some of our songs before we're too old to sing". Several long weekends later, what was to be a keepsake for the musicians and their families turned into the released CD "Soundings". Most of the cuts were recorded "live", with very little overdubbing, and the 16 songs provide a wonderful retrospective of the music Phil, Ken and Nina shared over the years.
A number of performances followed the CD release, and it gave Ken a renewed interest in his folk-rock roots. He began to write with renewed enthusiasm, and in 2000 released his first solo CD, "Machias Morning". As Ken penned in the liner notes, "The Machias Community Church has been the center of our spiritual lives since my family and I moved to the Everett, Washington area in 1978. When it came time to put together this, my first solo recording, it seemed appropriate to fill it with songs of faith."
Ken's spiritual journey continues. In 2000, he graduated from Contender's Bible School, and now teaches Doctrine for that institution. He is passionate about his faith, the ministry of Machias Community Church, and the work of Village Missions, an organization who supplies pastors to small, rural communities across the United States and Canada.
His second solo album, "There's Only One", was released in the spring of 2005. In December of 2006, he released "Waterville", a concept album inspired as he was driving through a small town in Eastern Washington. "Grandkids are Cool", a cut off the Waterville CD, has sold surprisingly well on iTunes, proving that songs by and about upper middle-aged guitar pickers can be popular.
Ken makes himself available, at no fee, to churches throughout the Northwest, always willing to play and share his "tunes and testimony".
Hi Ken, thank you for accepting my friend request. I appreciate the opportunity to introduce You to the music of ALIEN SKIN.
You are welcome to free PROMOTIONAL songs including: After the Funeral & Burning In My Hands, from the BabyFace widget on my Profile ....... the ATMOSPHERIC melancholia continues on DON’T OPEN TILL DOOMSDAY ........ the full album is streamed on the ALIEN SKIN home website > www.alienskinmusic.com
"alien skin......a kaleidoscope of electronic melancholia" .
Hey! Please take a look at my brand new music video "Stand On Me" on my page... it was just released. You can also view it on my Youtube channel: www.youtube.com/annagilbertmelodies love! Anna
Hi, Ken!!! :) It has been a LONG time! I am happy to hear that everything is going well for you in Montana!! And that you enjoy being a pastor. :) Thank you for all of your prayers! And for keeping a prayer card for my family. My dad seems to be doing well as far as being cancer-free, but he has been having some kidney problems and they have been pretty serious. I just keep praying that he is going to be alright. My brother Matthew just got home after being stationed in Germany in the Army. He is not living right...I worry for him. He just cannot seem to let go of the world. My grandpa passed away on August 28...I was heartbroken....But I know that he was saved and that I will see him again one day. I liked the picture of you and your wife. :) I hope that the Lord continues to Bless you and the work you are doing for Him! God Bless you!
Hey hey! Hope you have a great day! :)
I just released a new cd! :) Hope you'll come by and take a listen and download a free song!
Thanks a lot!
love love love...
Anna
Please have no doubts...You and your family are in my prayers....I pray for your music ministry as well....The Lord has really Blessed you with a talent! :)
I will definitely be praying for Rick and his wife...And that the cancer is gone...Maybe God sparing his life will bring him to Christ...
I pray that everything goes well Saturday!!! :) HAVE AN AWESOME TIME!!! And, yes, I will be praying for you....I said a prayer for you as soon as I read this...
You have been an encouragement and Blessing to me...And so has your music...I LOVE IT!!! My husband does too...And that is a BIG compliment...He is very picky about what he listens to, and this morning, he asked if he could take a few of your cds to listen to at work! :)
Thank you once again for everything! :)
My husband has been laid off, off and on, for the past year....But I want to give you something for your cds...They are great.... We will be sending you some money for them....And we are definitely sending our prayers your way as well!
God Bless you, Ken! :)
I look forward to meeting you one day...Maybe not here, but definitely in Heaven! :)
Ken, THANK YOU!!!!! I do not check my mailbox very often...Once a week, if that....All of us were sick last week, and so I had not checked it for 2 weeks.... I did today and got your cds! THANK YOU!!! I have already started listening to them, and I am adding you to my favorite bands and singers on my profile! You are awesome! Thank you again!
I hope that everything is going well for you and your family!!! May the Lord Bless you!!!
Thank you once again for your prayers for my dad....My mom is getting pretty worried about him,...We all are....
I am praying for your friend Rick....For his health and him(and his wife's) salvation,...
Cancer is so terrible...It not only hurts the person, it usually hurts the family as well...It did us...
I am so sorry that you lost your dad and your friend to cancer...I am happy that they are in Heaven waiting for you.... :)
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! His own 3x5 card! I love it! :o)
I am sorry to hear about cancer taking the lives of your father and close friend...But like you said..They both knew the Lord!!!! :)
My father is a Christian also....I was trying to prepare myself for the worst outcome last year...I knew that I would be with him again in Heaven, but at the time, that did not make me feel much better because I did not want to lose him...
I am thankful that the Lord spared him...But I hate seeing him the way he is now...I want him to get back to normal...Well...As much as he can...
Thank you once again for praying for him!!! I know that God heard the prayers for him before and spared him...And I know that He is hearing them now! :o)
Hi, Ken!!! I would LOVE to have one of your cds!!! That would be SO awesome!!! Thank you so much for the compliments!!! I try to do the best that I can for the Lord...I do not want to stand ashamed, but I know that I will.... Would you please pray for my dad, Steve Riddle? He battled cancer last year...It was a TERRIBLE ordeal...If you want to understand more, here is the link to what I wrote on John's site...http://members7. boardhost. com/CHRISTIANTALK/msg/1229921502. html That is a pretty detailed account of everything that happened...Please pray for him...He is having a hard time... That you for everything!!! Tamara :o)
It is great to meet you too!!! And, I pray that the Lord continues to Bless you richly! I love the songs on your profile! The words and the sound! They are awesome songs! And I LOVE Indie music!
Thanks you for the encouraging message, Ken! We are actually playing again at Under the Red Umbrella in both February and March- I don't know the days off the top of my head but they are on my myspace calendar. You should definitely stop by! Thanks again!
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