Ken Totushek

The Providence Journal - Providence, R.I.
 

Who he is: Ken Totushek, of Barrington.

What he plays: Ken Totushek is a guitar aficionado and it shows. In his new album, Pilgrim Song, his instrumentals tell stories using several styles of acoustic guitars.

"I wanted to do an instrumental and focus more on the acoustic guitar, and different acoustic guitars," Totushek says. "Different makes and different woods used have different tones. I wanted to make a CD that has a lot of variety in it, but still the acoustic guitar was the spotlight."

His arrangements on Pilgrim Song include the nuances of several guitar styles, including jazz, classical and folk.

Fire And Ice carries the pace and rhythm of a festival in Spain, where families gather to celebrate one another. Rebound and Twilight Serenade suggest a closer-to-home feel, a New England autumn in the vivid style of George Winston's seasonal ballads a vision of the bare trees that make us miss the colors once there.

Influences: Totushek's influences include Winston, James Taylor and other guitar instrumentalists. "Most of this music comes out of my own life experiences," he says.

Recording: Last November, Totushek released For Love of Christmas, with Pastor David and Anna-Lisa Madeira of Barrington Baptist Church. In 1994 he released For the Rest of Your Life, with Ken Totushek and Friends.

He wrote Pilgrim Song over four years - "there were a lot of ups and downs and emotions," he says. "Different songs will reflect some of that.

"Without lyrics, I wanted to try to convey a sense of what is going on with me at the time, but also hopefully it might evoke some kind of story for a listener. It may be a different story for you than it is for me. The songs do minister to people in a way, which is a goal and a prayer."

Fundraising: The proceeds from Pilgrim Song, released on his Graceworks Recording, go to Sept. 11 relief. "That really made it more meaningful in my mind," he says, "not just to release a CD that people can listen to, but to have it help families of victims of the attacks on Sept. 11."