Folk Roots Radio Episode 521: feat. Ken Yates – Quiet Talkers & More New Releases

Jul 03 2020

Toronto based singer-songwriter Ken Yates picked up a couple of Canadian Folk Music Awards for his critically acclaimed 2016 album “Huntsville”. He’s just released the follow-up, “Quiet Talkers” – an album Ken describes as his most personal to date, which is equally as wonderful and already picking up some critical buzz. Ken Yates joins us on Episode 521 of Folk Roots Radio for a great in-depth conversation about the new album, and life in lockdown – as we all continue to weather the coronavirus pandemic. We also hear from some other great songwriters as we check out new music from Glen MacNeil, Michael Logen, Barbara Jo Kammer, John Moreland, Graham Lindsey, Jason Wilber, John Prine and Gretchen Peters. Check out the full playlist below.

Interview

“Quiet Talkers”, the new album from Ken Yates is a much more introspective recording than his previous release, 2016’s Huntsville, which picked up Canadian Folk Music Awards for both Songwriter of the Year and New Artist of the Year. Featuring twelve songs, the new recording has much more of a domestic focus than the expansive Huntsville, which explored life on the road. Quiet Talkers was again produced by multi-instrumentalist Jim Bryson at Fixed Hinge Recording, who was able to bring some of his own musical flare to the arrangements.

“This is by far my most personal album to date. I’ve always been better at observing than being a part of the action, so I like to think of this collection of songs as “thoughts from the quietest person in the room”. If Huntsville was about my experiences on the road, ‘Quiet Talkers’ is about coming home, facing the monsters hiding under the bed – or in some cases, the monsters hiding in plain sight.”

For more information abut the music of Ken Yates, visit kenyates.com.

That’s all we have time for. Thanks to all the artists who share their music with us, and thank you for listening. We have a lot of great music and interviews to bring you on future episodes.

If you enjoy the music we play on this show and want to support the artists – many of whom aren’t able to play live at the moment because of the Covid-19 pandemic, don’t just stream their music – that earns them much less than a penny per play. Instead, buy their music – and really make a difference to their income. They’ll love you for it!

Listen

You can listen to this episode again on Soundcloud by following the link below. You can also listen to episodes of Folk Roots Radio, on demand, via Apple Podcasts, Stitcher and Tune-in Radio. (Click on the highlighted link to reach your chosen platform.)