K&K's Artist of the Month: Ken Totushek
November 2003
In
guitarist Ken Totushek’s inspirational music one senses the uplifting,
soulful, and relaxing flow of sweet sounds often whispering stories from
his and others’ life experience. Ken’s music is down to earth, inviting,
and tends to capture the heart of the listener as he leads one through
a calming musical journey. His audience has varied greatly over the years,
and includes churches, worship and praise events, children’s music venues,
community concerts and Fall Fairs, weddings, Elderly and Nursing home
venues, as well as playing in other countries. Ken’s music has always
been well received, and for that he is grateful. “It has been my experience
that in music, mankind has clearly been blessed with a truly universal
language."
Ken has been playing guitar since the age of 12, and has studied in more recent years the impact of various guitar construction effects on tone—things such as shape and size, woods used, age, specialty guitar builders (luthiers) of our day, strings, technique, etc. For Ken, any of these variables mentioned can evoke different moods, inspiration, and creativity—“it’s incredibly fascinating to me, and seems to have become a lifetime journey exploring daily new depths of musical discovery!” Ken plays his own compositions, as well as those of others that he has arranged. It is not unusual to see Ken with at least 2-3 of his favorite guitars accompany him on stage—each with their own unique qualities and tonal nuggets just waiting to resonate. He does all of his recording, as well as that of others, at Graceworks Recording, his 24 track digital, project recording studio.
Of prime importance to Ken, is that the spiritual element woven throughout his music would resonate clearly—and it does. “I believe whatever I do musically is a gift from God, and so whenever I play, I feel I am just giving back to Him that which He has graciously given me. It blesses and inspires me immensely. If there are others around to play for, so much the better, perhaps they might receive some blessing that transcends the physical as well. That is my hope and purpose in playing for and with others...ultimately that the Giver of gifts may be honored and glorified.”
Ken has recorded and released 2 albums to date (For the Rest of Your Life, ©1994; and Pilgrim Song, ©2001), and is currently working on several other CD projects at his project recording studio. He has engineered and produced CDs for others as well. Ken has performed in various parts of the country, and occasionally abroad. Ken, his wife Jennifer, and daughter Linnea (youngest of 4 children) live in Barrington, RI.
Ken uses K&K's Trinity System on three of his acoustic guitars and Pure Western Mini Systems on several others. Ken says, "I discovered these marvelous systems in the Spring of 2000. With skeptical attitude even though I heard the amazing website sample comparative tests, I installed a system in my Santa Cruz "H" koa (w/the super glue option). After a fairly brief tweaking session with the EQ box, I was amazed to hear the accurate reproduction and couldn't wait for my first gig playing out. The gig was a great success, and the acoustic tone was amplified more accurately than I had ever heard before--and I have tried numerous systems, along with expensive microphones. I no longer mic my acoustic guitars when gigging, just plug in, tweak, and play. Many of the comments I get from listeners has to do with tone as well as my playing and compositions. That's so cool, because I am an acoustic purist tone fanatic! When I purchased a 1905 Martin 0-28 recently, I thought long and hard for a couple months wanting so badly to install a K&K system for gigging. Yet I did not want to alter the guitar in any way, not even drilling out the endpin hole. Well, my instincts won out, I finally bit the bullet, drilled out the hole, and installed the otherwise non-destructive Pure Western Mini System. Upon completion, I plugged it in, turned on the PA, and aahhhh---there it was, that natural, snappy vintage Martin tone but louder--so cool! I am sold, needless to say."
For more information and news on new work, visit http://www.graceworksmusic.com or email Ken at kent@graceworksmusic.com.