It was a cold winter night in the high desert, a perfect evening to get cozy in the Gatos Trail live room and listen to Ken Stringfellow perform his music and share his stories. His band, The Posies, were college radio darlings in the 90’s and he has since gone on to work with REM, Big Star and Neil Young to name a few. With a career spanning 3 decades, Ken had plenty of catalog to draw from for this intimate solo show as he switched back and forth between guitar and piano, passionately singing on and off mic all the while.

As the night began to unfold Ken told personal stories, like when, as an awkward kid, he was dragged behind a boat while trying unsuccessfully to water ski, which somehow lead to a carpenter ant making a home in his nasal cavity. He also answered questions and gave insight into his notable career as a singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. One such story was having had his solo album “Touched” released on the fateful day of 9/11/2001. With a tour already scheduled, he wound up playing that record at The Mercury Lounge in NYC on the first night of the venues reopening after the entire city was pretty much shut down. During that performance he formed what he calls “(for lack of a better description) a spiritual connection” with the audience, which continues to shape how he views his roll as an “entertainer” and which has forever left its mark on how he views that album.

We were all lucky enough to have Ken perform the album “Touched” in its entirety as he frequently stopped to contextualize the songs and tell stories from the road. Adding to an already special night at Gatos Trail, it just so happened to be Ken’s birthday so we helped him celebrate into the wee hours of the morning…. Ken has been on a whirlwind tour throughout North America this year and is now on tour in Europe opening dates for Wilco. Rumor has it that a new Posies record is in the works so we’ll be keeping our fingers crossed and our ears open for that release, hopefully soon.

xo Dan Joeright - GT