Ken has always loved and played music. From before he can remember, he was busting out beats on pots, pans and any couch he could get his hands on. At the age of four he started piano lessons in the Robert Pace Method. By the age of five he received a ukulele, and the guitar obsession began. At ten Ken acquired his first acoustic guitar and midi keyboard and proceeded to produce two albums of original music and a rock opera based on the biblical Moses story.
Ken continued writing for piano and guitar. In junior high he began entering the national PTA Reflections contest and won an honorable mention at the national level, first and second at state, and seven first place district awards. He also won first in Washington state for the MTNA Composition Competition and four state level awards in the Young Composers competition.
In high school Ken broadened his musical training to include both classical and vocal jazz choirs, classical voice and classical guitar. He performed leading roles in Camelot, Once Upon a Mattress and Into the Woods. He received third place in Washington State Solo and Ensemble for classical guitar and received first, second and third place awards for classical voice. With his jazz choir he won an outstanding individual vocalist award when the group won a first place in the state.
Ken’s study of contemporary guitar styles and songwriting continued when he spent three weeks at Berklee College of Music. He studied with many fantastic musicians and it was there where he really found that music at the university level was for him.
Ken auditioned for and was accepted into University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music for Studio/Jazz Guitar. There he studied with Adam del Monte, Frank Potenza, David Oakes, Richard Smith, Steve Trovato, Pat Kelley, Nick Stubis and Anthony Wilson. He graduated in May 2006, cum laude, with a Bachelor of Music in Studio/Jazz Guitar Performance.
In the summer 2004 Ken spent 11 weeks on the Sapphire Princess cruise ship. His daily duties were to play two hours of solo guitar in the Atrium and play with the show band at night. In the show band Ken performed with such greats as Brandi Chapman, Tony Tilman, Greg Bohnom, Steven Scott and Kevin Hughes. Playing on the ship was a fantastic experience where he learned the art of background music. He has used this experience to play many hotel and restaurant gigs in Los Angeles and Seattle. Ken has done pit band work as guitarist in Grease and played banjo and guitar in the Bernstein Mass.
Since the winter of 2005 Ken has been fortunate to play with hip hop/R&B vocalist/violinist Paul Dateh. He plays guitar in Paul's band and they also play as a duo. In May 2008, they played their first live webcast concert. They have made many videos together readily found on YouTube. In 2009 and 2010 they went on a Japan tours and released their first EP.
With The Jazz Three-O, he teams with vocalist Megan Burford and bassist Tim Archer to perform swing and standards. In 2007, they released their debut CD (with original bassist Graham Hitchcock who has since left LA). A radio campaign in 2008 yielded significant airplay on stations throughout the US and Canada. They perform regularly in the LA area and are presently working on a second CD.
In 2007, Ken started working with Brandon Schwartz, playing and recording with his band. In 2008 he began working on the Kaile Goh recording project and is in Kaile's band; they began performing regularly in the spring of 2009. In 2008 he also began playing guitar and singing in Beauty Supply. In addition, he plays guitar in Kevin Bachelder's original rock band, Sun Engine. Ken and Kevin have a cover band called Fastback.
With Absolute Stereo, his four piece band, Ken sings and plays much of his original music. They recorded an EP in the summer of 2005 after two years of playing shows in LA.
Ken has also taught guitar since his sophomore year of high school, and taught while going to college. For five years he taught private guitar lessons at Grayson's Tunetown in Montrose (greater Los Angeles) CA. For three years, he taught group guitar lessons and an instrumental ensemble featuring guitar, piano, bass, and drums to middle schoolers at New Roads School in Santa Monica, California.
In May 2010, Kaile Goh and her band was signed to Lava Records-Universal working with acclaimed producer David Bendeth. In June and July of 2010 they recorded their debut album in New Jersey. It will be released in 2011.