Ken Stringfellow

Kenneth Stuart Stringfellow (born October 30, 1968) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, arranger, and producer. Best known for his work with The Posies, R.E.M., and the re-formed Big Star, Stringfellow's discography includes more than 200 albums.

Early life and education

Stringfellow was born in Hollywood, California. His father, a television executive, relocated the family frequently as his career developed, and Stringfellow went to elementary schools in New York, Chicago, and Detroit. After his parents divorced, in 1978, he moved to Bellingham, Washington. In high school, Stringfellow, who had learned to play piano at nine and guitar at 11, met Jon Auer, with whom he would later form The Posies.

Stringfellow attended college at the University of Washington, where he and Auer remained in touch, trading cassettes of songs.

Career

The Posies

In 1988, Stringfellow and Auer began playing together as The Posies and self-released their first album, Failure, which included some of the earlier material they'd written separately. Immediately after the record's release, Stringfellow left the University of Washington to focus on the Posies full-time.

Failure was well received by the press and put into regular rotation at college and commercial radio stations, prompting Stringfellow and Auer to quickly assemble a full band. Adding Mike Musberger on drums and Rick Roberts on bass, the Posies made their live debut in May 1988, two weeks after the release of Failure. The album was subsequently reissued by the Seattle-based independent label, Pop Llama. An expanded version of Failure with eight bonus tracks was reissued by Omnivore Recordings in 2014.

Following a series of dates with The Replacements, Hoodoo Gurus, and They Might Be Giants, among others, the Posies were signed by DGC, a Geffen Records imprint. Dear 23 was released on DGC in September 1990, with the album's lead single, Golden Blunders, appearing in the Top 10 on the college radio charts.

The band's next record, Frosting on the Beater, was released in 1993 and included the song Dream All Day, which hit No. 4 on the modern rock charts and No. 17 on mainstream radio. In addition to extensively touring the United States, the Posies toured internationally and developed large followings in Europe, Australia, Japan, and elsewhere. Their final record for DGC, Amazing Disgrace, was released in 1996.

The Posies broke up in 1998, but reformed in 2000 for an acoustic tour and later recorded two more albums, Every Kind of Light in 2005 and Blood/Candy in 2010.

Big Star

In 1993, Stringfellow and Auer were recruited to join Alex Chilton and Jody Stephens for a Big Star reunion; Stringfellow and Auer performed and recorded with Big Star until Alex Chilton's death in 2010. He continues to perform in projects related to Big Star, including the ongoing series of "Big Star's Third" concerts.

R.E.M.

In 1997 Stringfellow began a long association with R.E.M.. He performed with the band on world tours in 1999, 2003, 2004, and 2005, and appears on several R.E.M. records, including the Man on the Moon soundtrack, Reveal, and Around the Sun.

Side projects

Although the Posies were Stringfellow's main project during much of the 1980s and 1990s, he additionally performed and recorded with Sky Cries Mary, a band he founded with Auer in 1989, Lagwagon, Saltine, White Flag, and The Minus Five.

Stringfellow co-wrote and recorded several songs with Scott Miller's band The Loud Family in the mid-1990s, appearing on their albums The Tape of Only Linda (1994) and Interbabe Concern (1996) as a guest guitarist and vocalist.

In 2003, Stringfellow and Auer released Private Sides, a six-song split EP on Arena Rock Recording Co./Rykodisc.

As a sideman, Stringfellow has worked with Brendan Benson, Cali, Snow Patrol, and others. Beyond North America and Europe, Stringfellow has also collaborated with Senegal band Waflash.

In 2007, he formed The Disciplines with members of the Norwegian pop band Briskeby. The Disciplines released two records, Smoking Kills in 2009 and Virgins of Menace in 2011.

In March 2015 he announced a country album together with Holly Muñoz. The album was recorded at his studio and was a response to Willie Nelson's 1975 album Red Headed Stranger. The album received positive reviews. The Boston Globe commented that it was a " fascinating left-field listen" noting "the gorgeous back-and-forth dueting of Stringfellow and Munoz". Willie Nelson's daughter Amy Nelson also called the album "amazing" on her Instagram feed and thanked them on behalf of the Nelson family.

Solo recordings

Stringfellow has released four solo albums: This Sounds Like Goodbye (1997, on the Hidden Agenda label), Touched (2001, on Manifesto Records), Soft Commands (2004, on Yep Roc Records), and Danzig in the Moonlight (2012). Released on Lojinx (Europe), Spark & Shine (US) and Target Earth (Japan), Danzig in the Moonlight featured Charity Rose Thielen and Margaret Cho. In 2008, he also released an EP of cover songs, The Sellout Cover Sessions Vol. 1. He has toured extensively in support of each of the albums.

Production work

Since 2005, Stringfellow has been increasingly involved with production, and has composed film music and string arrangements. He has produced albums for Damien Jurado, The Long Winters, and Carice van Houten.

As of 2016, he is producing and performing on the final Game Theory studio album, Supercalifragile, a collaborative project that completes the unfinished album Scott Miller had been working on at the time of his death. The album is scheduled for release in early 2017.

Stringfellow has composed soundtracks for short films such as The Kitchen Party and Bunker.

Personal life

Stringfellow is married to Dominique Sassi; they have a daughter, Aden. He was previously married to The Fastbacks' bass player Kim Warnick.

Selected discography

Solo

• This Sounds Like Goodbye (1997)
• Touched (2001)
• Soft Commands (2004)
• The Sellout Cover Sessions Vol. 1 (2008)
• Danzig in the Moonlight (2012)
• I Never Said I'd Make It Easy: a Ken Stringfellow Collection (2014, initial Australian release)

with The Posies

• Failure (1988)
• Dear 23 (1990)
• Frosting on the Beater (1993)
• Amazing Disgrace (1996)
• Success (1998)
• In Case You Didn't Feel Like Plugging In (2000)
• Alive Before the Iceberg (2000)
• At Least, At Last (Box Set) (2000)
• Dream All Day: The Best of the Posies (2000)
• Nice Cheekbones and a Ph.D. (2001)
• Every Kind of Light (2005)
• Blood/Candy (2010)
• Solid States (2016)

with Big Star

• Columbia: Live at Missouri University 4/25/93 (1993)
• Big Star Story (2003)
• In Space (2005)

Other

with R.E.M.

• Man on the Moon OST (1999)
• Reveal (2001)
• In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988-2003 (2003)
• Perfect Square (2004)
• Around the Sun (2004)
• R.E.M. Live (2007)

with The Disciplines

• Smoking Kills (2009)
• Virgins of Menace (2011)

with Jon Auer

• Private Sides (2003)

with Sky Cries Mary

• Until the Grinders Cease (1989)
• Don't Eat the Dirt (1990)

with The Loud Family

• The Tape of Only Linda (1994)
• Interbabe Concern (1996)

with The Minus 5

• Old Liquidator (1995)
• Down with Wilco (2003)

with Lagwagon

• Double Plaidinum (Fat Wreck Chords, 1997)

with Chariot

• I Am Ben Hur (1998)

with The Orange Humble Band

• Assorted Creams (1998)
• Humblin' (Across America) (2001)

with Saltine

• Find Yourself Alone (1999)
• Reveal Love (1999)

with Bootsy Holler (as "Twin Princess")

• The Complete Recordings (2000)

with White Flag

• On the Way Down (1999)
• Eternally Undone (2001)
• History Is Fiction (2002)
• Piangi Con Me (2006)

with Holly Muñoz (as Ken and Holly)

• The Record: A Country Concept Album (2015)