Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
Ken Edwards and His Well Strung Band carry on in the tradition of Waylon and Willie... they are more Steve Earle than Kenny Chesney and more Oxford than Nashville.
- Ben Bounds
Music Editor - Oxford Town
Ken Edwards and His Well Strung Band have come onto the scene challenging contemporary country music... their non-comformity has made Edwards and his band stand out from mainstream pop-country and helped fill the void with edgy, heartfelt country-rock.
- Chelsea Taylor - Jackson Free Press - Jackson, MS
Country Music aint The Squid's thing..but good drumming is good drumming and this Kenny Graeber guy can down right play. This guy hits so good I actually listened to their whole disc, twangy vocals, guitars and all and caught myself humming along. A country convert you wonder? Yep, The Squid is cephalopod enough to admit it. Yee-Haa!
- Waldo The Squid - Drum! Magazine
"It is a wonder that between his solid songwriting and the steady musicianship he hasn't received serious notice beyond the major bars of the region." - Clarion Ledger - Jackson, MS.
"Authentic, heartfelt and very well delivered. Ken Edwards and his band tap into American roots music with the gusto it deserves."
-Britt Strickland
EQ Magazine
Bass Player Magazine
Southeastern Performer - Britt Strickland - Music Journalist
Mitch Morgan of The Oxford Town Entertainment Guide writes:
"Nashvillywood" forces country music closer to its roots. With an Americana style that represents
alt-country in its purest of forms, Ken Edwards' newest release is all the more likely to catch the ear
of newcomers.
The album harkens the same progressive feel of superstars like Steve Earle and lamentations on
relationships, work, and life that could only belong to a Mississippi songwriter.
His songs are a large step beyond anything found on today's country music station. The lightning fast
Telecaster solos and scratchy vocals recall early Uncle Tupelo.
"Nashvillywood" remains an easy listen and a nugget of new country.
- Oxford Town
Discography
Ken Edwards - "A Long Time Coming" (2004)
Ken Edwards and His Well Strung Band Live (2005)
Ken Edwards - "Nashvillywood" (Release 4/20/06)
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
Ken Edwards learned to play his first guitar chord his freshman year in college. After a year he
began to play weekly acoustic gigs at The Gin (a legendary watering hole located in Oxford,
Mississippi) where he covered songs from his Texas Country influences as well as country music's
original honky-tonk heroes.
Upon graduation from Ole Miss, Edwards put away his guitar and moved to Nashville with a
marketing degree and a "real-world obligation" to get a nine-to-five job. After deciding the coat
and tie career was not what he wanted, Edwards moved back to his home state of Mississippi with
a new found desire to get into the home improvement business. Working construction enabled him
to continue playing music and inspired his songwriting. Two years later, Edwards formed a band
whose sound rivaled that of today's pop-country music. Their live shows began to make a name for
them about town.
Ken Edwards and His Well Strung Band have taken their music throughout the region, playing
venues in college towns and cities in Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Tennessee and Texas.
In the bands short time together they have opened for recording artists Jack Ingram, Chris Knight,
Dierks Bentley and Pat Green. Edwards has also shared the stage with Cory Morrow, Charlie Robison
and his original inspiration, Robert Earl Keen.
Ken Edwards debut CD "A Long Time Coming" was finished in September of 2004. The band released
a live album in November of 2005 and will be finished with Edwards's second project, "Nashvillywood" in April 2006.
With a classic bar room sound that is influenced by artists ranging from Steve Earle to Jerry Jeff Walker,
Ken Edwards and His Well Strung Band are poised to make their mark on the up and coming progressive
country music scene.
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