Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ken Stacey. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Ken thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?
I was in my last year of college at Cal State University Northridge and had just taken the LSAT’s with the intention of going to law school. I had a major in Psychology and a minor in Economics and had done well on the LSAT. I enjoyed singing for most of my life, had an acoustic guitar and even tried my hand at writing a song or two, but being a professional singer/musician was NOT on my radar. My closest friend at the time, Ron, was attending CSUN as well and also was a very accomplished, professional guitarist and composer. He had a band a fantastic up and coming musicians in a group called Sound Advice, that would play weddings and events! Ron knew I sang for fun and on occasion I was asked to sit in with the band at one of their gigs! Little did I know I was being auditioned for an original band, formed my Ron and the keyboard player, David. They asked me to be in the band and not knowing ANYTHING about what I was getting into said sure! Well, we wrote a bunch of songs, rehearsed and did our first concert at a club in the San Fernando Valley called the FM Station. It was a long time well established rock club that had helped break a lot of rock bands back in the 80’s and earlier. The house was full and when we began to perform, something in me was turned on for the first time! There is video of me running all over the stage, spinning around, grabbing the mic and singing! I was horribly shy and lacked much self confidence most of my life, so I don’t know where that guy came from, but that moment completely changed the direction of my life! I put law school on hold and begin pursuing a career in music, having no clue what I was doing, but I just kept showing up, learning, struggling, achieving…it as a long and winding road that has taken me around the world sharing the studio and stage with some of music’s greatest icons! I have worn so many hats I could start my own haberdashery! I have been a session vocalist, a touring backing vocalist and lead front man, coached arranged, produced, written…all of this over the last almost 40 years all germinating from that one fateful moment back in 1985!
Ken, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I have been a professional vocalist/musician for almost 40 years. I shared how my career started in the last question, so I will focus on what my career has been like. The first band I was in, The Habit, spent almost 6 years shooting for a record deal! We had great management and were getting a lot of attention showcasing for all the major labels! Then, the world of music went through a seismic shift when Guns N Roses broke out! We were not that kind of band and suddenly the labels lost interest! The Habit broke up shortly after and I was left wondering what to do next. So, I started to pursue a career as a session vocalist singing on commercials for TV and Radio, songs on films, demos for professional song writers looking to get cuts with major artists! I got my first commercial client, Kevin Nadeu, and began signing on Toyota commercials. I was also building a reputation as a versatile vocalist and was gathering an ever growing songwriter/producer client base that led to working extensively with Diane Warren and other seasoned and acclaimed song writers and producers, like David Foster.
While I was building my session career in the 90’s, I also was teaching voice, performance and mentoring at world renown, Musician’s Institute in Hollywood California. This allowed be great flexibility in my schedule when I was called for session work. At the same time, I was performing around town with a variety of amazing bands that I would put together to stay in the public eye, fill the need to perform and create more opportunities within the Los Angeles music community! As more and more awareness of my skills reached more industry peers, personal friendships formed out of professional ones and my network was gaining strength. In the mid 90’s I auditioned for an opportunity to go to Italy and sing on movie soundtracks and got the job! This led to doing a record of my own original music, which was recorded in Italy and here in Los Angeles. As it would turn out, I was able to red-line my record contract with the label and once they found out that I knew too much and would not sign a bad deal, I was dropped and the record shelved! I guess that was actually some good luck! Then as 1999 approached, my dear friend, Mark McMillan, suggested me for a backing vocalist and percussionist position with the great Bobby Caldwell! I knew one or two percussion patterns and Bobby was patient with me! Vocally, he was very happy with my presents in the band and that seemed to make up for my limitations as a percussionist! We toured Japan in late 1999, survived the return flight back on Y2K day and came back to do some wonderful smooth jazz concert dates in Southern Cal!
What happened next requires that I go back in time a bit. In the late 90’s I was recommended to the Elton John organization as a candidate for an additional backing vocalist by Billy Trudel, who was currently in the band, and whom with I had sung on recording sessions as well as a few live gigs. I met Davey Johnstone, Elton’s guitarist and Musical Director, and all seemed a done deal! Then, suddenly, the opportunity went away when John Mahon, a wonderful vocalist AND serious drummer/percussionist was brought aboard instead! Elton got 2 for the price of one! I was really disappointed, but I did form a wonderful personal and professional relationship with Davey Johnstone, began signing on songs for him and expanding his awareness of my skill set at an acoustic guitarist! This led Davey to ask me if any future opportunity came up to be in Elton’s band, would I be interested…hmmmm? YEAH! Well, this brings me back to early 2000! That opportunity came in the form of a promotional tour for the sound track to “The Road To El Dorado” an animated film that Elton and Tim Rice wrote the music for! The opportunity that Davey spoke of had come and suddenly, I was on a promotional tour with Elton John and the band which culminated with a very special, live concert event, 2 nights at Madison Square Gardens that would end up being “One Night Only – Elton John’s Greatest Hits Live”! This soon led to an invitation to officially join the band as a featured backing vocalist and acoustic guitarist! This also included the Face To Face tour with Elton John and Billy Joel! Well, after almost 2 years of heavy touring, I came to the conclusion that if I stayed with Elton that would be my job for the next many years to come as Elton is very loyal, I was close with the band and Clive, Elton’s sound man said the vocals with this line up and never sounded better since the early Elton days! I was in! But that meant petty much living on the road for 10 months or more a year, giving up my session career, facing the challenges of having a relationship, soon to be marriage and possible family while almost never being home! The guys in Elton’s band are not only incredibly talented but they have made great sacrifice to stay in the band! I realized that I was not built to make that kind of choice, not at that time in my life, professionally and personally! So I did what few every do, I elected to leave the band once “Songs From The West Coast” was finished and about to be tour supported! If I stayed, that was going to be it! I had to trust my gut and take a leap of faith! For several years after leaving the band, my clients would often ask “”when I was going back out with Elton?”
Few in my business could imagine leaving such a prestigious and lucrative position! Were there times I thought I had made a mistake? Well it took some time for me to build my session career back up here in Los Angeles and yes, there were moments I thought I may had chosen incorrectly! That said, that was the choice I made, worked my ass off to build my at home career back up, get married and start a family! For about 4 years I was doing well as a session vocalist. Then, in 2006, I was offered a spot in 5x Grammy Nominated Ambrosia as their new front man, replacing the lead vocals of original member, David Pack, who had left the band a while back! Because this was more of a weekend touring situation, there was room for me to be a family guy, keep my session career going and still have the opportunity to tour with and front such a highly respected musical group! For 2 years that was my career and life! Until, as fate would have it on a Sunday night just before Midnight, I got a call from a dear friend and musical peer, Dorian Holly! He asked me if I would like to join the newly forming Michael Jackson band as a backing vocalist along with he, Darryl Phinnessee and Judith Hill! This was to be MJ’s huge comeback, something that was sure to be historic! After consulting my then Wife, we realized what a unique, rare and huge opportunity this was and that we would do what we had to, to make it work! I said yes, and from that moment on, for almost 4 months, I was in rehearsal 6 days and week, 15 hours a day! As far as Ambrosia, they were disappointed to loose me, but understood what an incredible opportunity this was and gave their blessings!
Well, the “This Is It” tour would not come to be! Just 8 days out from leaving for a several month residency at the O2 Arena in London, Michael passed away under the worst of circumstances and everyone in the band watched their world and dreams of this once in a life time tour collapse! With a heavy heart, I had to get back to my regular life and session career, which fortunately had not diminished during those several months and was easy to slip back into! What came from the experience was a level of professional and personal growth that is hard to fathom, truly transformative! Almost 4 months of working with some of the most talented people on the planet, in support of a once in a generation musical genius at a level of tempo and intensity that most would collapse under! Add to that being feature in the record breaking music documentary “Michael Jackson’s This Is It” and you can imagine what an incredible journey that time had been for me! I now find myself in early 2009, and when Dorian returned to his position as a vocal coach on American Idol, he was taken along with the band and band leader, Ricky Minor, to the Tonight Show. This is when Dorian once again changed my life by referring me as his replacement on American Idol!
Those years working at Musician’s Institute during the 90’s along with many years of singing and performing at a world class level gave me the skill set I needed to step into Dorian’s huge shoes on American Idol! During my tenure of season 10 and 11 on Idol, I had several responsibilities. I was a vocal coach, a performance mentor, a vocal arranger and producer, a talent scout, first line judge as well as creating mash up numbers that would be performed by the contestants on Thursday voting nights! As a first line judge, I was instrumental in selecting Scotty McCreery as a potential contestant on the show, then worked with him on his vocal and performance skills. Scotty went on to win Season 10! I also brought potential contestants to the show, one of which made it to Top 12! I also assisted the Wohjan Bros. with producing the vocals on the Ford commercials that featured the contestants as well as traveling with the final 10 performers to multiple events as their vocal director, including the Fox Network Upfronts. Needless to say, my time of American Idol was rich, complex and deeply educational! It was setting me up for things to come!
Shortly after Idol, I was approached by Ambrosia to fill in on a few dates that Rick Cowling, who replaced me when I left for MJ, could not do! I was available and thought, sure why not! Well, things seemed to fall right back into place and I spent the next 7 years fronting the band again! During this period, we would package the band with artists like, Michael McDonald, Stephen Bishop, John Ford Colley, Bill Champlin (Chicago) and so many other amazing legacy artists! It really was a dream come true to perform with the greats of pop music from the 70’s and 80’s, often referred to as Yacht Rock!
Well, when the pandemic hit, touring, and life around the world came to a sudden halt! It gave me time to reflect on my career and retool for what looked like at that time a very uncertain future! ZOOM was a critical tool that allowed me to pivot with my vocal coaching clients! Yes, I kept a decent number of coaching clients through the years and I am so glad I did! In Fall of 2020, I got a call from Kenny Loggins! I had been referred to him as a vocal coach! I consider Kenny to be one of the greatest vocalist pop music has ever known! His 50 year career is filled with so many hits and accolades that it defies logic! Well, now in his early 70’s, Kenny was far from ready to throw int he towel, but his voice had began to diminish through the years as he aged and toured less and less. Throw in a pandemic and he was in trouble! Kenny had plans for the next few years being is final touring seasons to support his autobiography as well as culmination of his touring career. In typical Kenny Loggins fashion, phoning it in and resting on his laurels was not an option! He wanted to go out on top vocally! So, we worked together 3-5 times a week for almost 3 years as the world began to open back up and his touring schedule resumed! I can say with much satisfaction and gratitude for Kenny’s tireless work that he BLEW people away! No one could believe he could come back singing so incredibly well, some saying he sounded better than EVER! Kenny credits me with saving his voice and career! I say it was a team effort, a result we achieved together, and I remain deeply moved and grateful! Having such great results together, Kenny referred me to his close friend, Richard Marx! I am equally proud to say that Richard continues to knock out his audiences and tells me he has never felt stronger, vocally, in his entire career! I also helped Jason Derlatka get himself in top vocal shape as he joined the band Journey, as an additional lead and backing vocalist as well as amazing keyboardist!
I continue to coach to this day, seeking to expand my reach into the world of legacy artists, as I have a passion for helping our great musical icons extend their careers and go out on top, just like Kenny! I also produce some of my clients, helping them release beautiful self produced records into the world and fulfill their musical dreams! Oh, I think it is worth mentioning that back in 2014, Davey Johnstone and Elton John brought me back into their sphere when they asked me to be the vocal contractor, vocal arranger and vocalist on the demos they were developing for the Tammy Faye Musical, which is not about to hit Broadway and received accolades and awards back in London! I have deep passion for vocal arranging, and even garnered a wonderful complement from Elton when he heard all the work I had done producer, Matt Still and the other vocalists, on the demos! He turned to Matt and said, “Ken is the best f*&#ing vocal arranger there is!” I know he was caught up in the excitement of the project, still, high honors from one of my Heroes!
I still remain an active live and studio session vocalist along with my vocal coaching and producing career. What I have realized is that a career of this length is built on many pivots! Re tooling is a skill set that is mandatory to remain competitive in an ever changing musical industry landscape. If you don’t give up and you don’t stop learning and you are willing to make the necessary sacrifices and invest endless amounts of energy required, then you stand the best chance to invite opportunity in to your life and have the skills and confidence necessary to exploit them and thrive! Now, at this juncture in my career, it gives me such joy and fulfillment to give back and pass on my knowledge and experience and help others achieve their goals and aspirations and discover who they are as musical creatives and vocal artists! Claire Khodara, who happened to appear on season 9 of American Idol under a different last name, is not only a vocal coaching client, but also a creative partner and artist I am producing. The first time we worked on a vocal for her “Modern Lullaby” record, released last year, she came out of the vocal booth, sat in front of the speakers and began crying as I played down what we had just worked for hours on! She turned to me and said, “I have never heard my voice like that!” I said, “I would like to introduce you to Claire Khodara!” That is what I live for in all aspects of my career, and strive to accomplish with my own continuing musical journey, to keep growing, keep learning and keep revealing another aspect of the potential that lives within me!
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
When Michael Jackson passed away, there was a memorial at the Staples Center. The band was scheduled to perform behind each guest artist that memorialized Michael as well as perform ourselves! We were all exhausted with sadness and I have a chronic lower back issue called degenerative disc disease, which can be quite debilitating! It is incredibly painful and when my back goes out I can be laid up in bed for days, unable to move! Well, the stress, fatigue and emotional exhaustion triggered one of the worst episodes I have had! I could barely move! Yet, somehow, I endured the pain, making it through several hours of rehearsal and performance during the memorial, which was televised all over the world with about 2 billion people watching! One by one, Stevie Wonder, John Mayor, the Jackson Brothers, Maria Carey and more came up to perform and give tribute, and each time I would have to either climb the stairs back to the stage in intense pain or continue to stand, motionless, one stage, which was equally painful and terrifying! Honestly, there had to be some greater power getting me through, but I knew I could not give up!
This was too important a moment in my career and the need to give Michael respect and to gain some level of closure was simply not negotiable! So, I made it all the way through to the end, when we, the Michael Jackson This Is It Band took the stage to perform “We Are The World”, each of us 4 backing vocalist walking around the stage taking our individual step out/solo lines! As this all transpired, I suddenly found myself surrounded my Michael’s children, his sister, Janet, our producer Kenny Ortega as well as Brook Shields and several of the dancers! With hands on my shoulders I continued to sing and perform to those present and the world that watched! It was a surreal moment in my life! I could see from video and images later shared with me, the joy an healing that everyone around me was experiencing. There was an image of me actually singing to Paris Jackson as she smiled up at me! There are no words for what this moment meant for us all! I had every reason to bow out, or, my back could have simply given out, which it did later that day! I used all my will power and prayer to get through, show up and be of service and I was given the strength to do so! There are times we must dig deeper than we ever have during the course of our career and lives, to find the strength and determination to overcome the challenges placed before us! This was one of many moments in my career in which I have had to do so and I will be forever grateful that I overcame and delivered for Michael, his fans, the band, all in attendance and to everyone watching around the world! And, perhaps equally important for myself!
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
Our society must decide to make the arts a central part of our educational system again! Unfortunately, there are forces that do not wish this to be! The arts help to develop critical thinking, problem solving, a broader scope of the world, compassion! This appears to be antecedent to those that wish for people to remain stuck in the dogma of rhetoric and polarization. Impoverishing our children from a well rounded arts program is like feeding them lead, it weakens the mind and spirit and leaves them emotionally and intellectually malnourished! The answer is to elect people into office who support that arts in public school systems throughout the United States and to recognize that if we are to remain a robust, forward thinking, compassionate society built on democratic ideals, where the numerous issues facing our society and the world rit large can be faced with courage and vision, then we must bring back the arts and make them a central part of our educational and value system!
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
Our society must decide to make the arts a central part of our educational system again! Unfortunately, there are forces that do not wish this to be! The arts help to develop critical thinking, problem solving, a broader scope of the world, compassion! This appears to be antecedent to those that wish for people to remain stuck in the dogma of rhetoric and polarization. Impoverishing our children from a well rounded arts program is like feeding them lead, it weakens the mind and spirit and leaves them emotionally and intellectually malnourished! The answer is to elect people into office who support that arts in public school systems throughout the United States and to recognize that if we are to remain a robust, forward thinking, compassionate society built on democratic ideals, where the numerous issues facing our society and the world rit large can be faced with courage and vision, then we must bring back the arts and make them a central part of our educational and value system!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.kenstacey.com
- Instagram: @KenStaceyMusic
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ken.stacey.music
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ken-stacey-52aa353b/
Image Credits
Liz Kamlet, Jerry Watson