PinkBeltRage

Ken Stringfellow, Here's to the future

5 June 04 ¦ Permalink ¦

I have been a Posies fanatic since my early college days. I remember having insomnia, lying on my brother’s couch in Berkeley at 4am, listening to The Posies and experiencing one of those perfect music revelations.

I grabbed a piece of paper and fervently wrote a letter to the band.

Much to my surprise and delight, Ken Stringfellow wrote me back and shared his own similar experience with Zen Arcade. I couldn’t have imagined anything cooler. We continued to correspond for a bit (somewhere in storage I have a shoebox with these letters).

Whenever The Posies came to CA, I made every attempt to be there. In fact, one of the best shows I have ever been to was back in 1991. The Posies opened for Redd Kross at Slim’s in San Francisco and rocked the house. The show ended with The Posies joining Redd Kross for an energetic rendition of “Drive My Car”. I’ve honestly never had so much fun at a show since.

Most people already know that Ken Stringfellow has been touring with REM and playing on their albums. He’s also been in-studio with The Posies (hooray!) and Big Star as well. His new solo album Soft Commands is due out July 13 on Yep Roc Records with a tour to follow. I’ve listened to the preview clips and it sounds beautiful. I can’t wait.
_{Photo by Bootsy Holler}

I recently emailed Ken and posed my 3 Questions to which he kindly replied:

1. What is your favorite love song?

Knocks Me Off My Feet by Stevie Wonder is a fave.

2. If you weren’t a rockstar, what would you be doing instead?

Still changing diapers like I do now.

3. Your superhero super power of choice would be?*

To know where everything is.

*_{I asked Ken this same question back in 1992 and his answer then was the ability to be invisible. Funny how preferences change. His latest answer is much more practical.}

Always wondering when people and bands I love will be in SoCal, I asked Ken if his upcoming tour would bring him this way:

I don’t think I’ll play SD on my tour…but LA for sure…check the site in a couple of weeks for dates….

Thanks Ken! You rock. And might I add, get more handsome with age.

Ken Stringfellow is a scheduled in-studio guest on my favorite radio station KEXP Friday, July 16 @ 9:00am. So be sure to listen in.

Here takes you to Ken Stringfellow.calm.
Ken Stringfellow on iTunes :you can purchase This Sounds Like Goodbye and preview some of Soft Commands. I’ve been religiously listening to Touched since 2001.
11/23: Ken & WaFlash Ep available on iTunes. Click link below: