Ken Hamm and Chris Coole

Ken Hamm and Chris Coole share a deep love of roots music...delta blues, Appalachian old-time, early country music, and good old folk. Each is a respected player, singer, and songwriter. While they met through the music, the duo immediately discovered they had a mutual love of fishing. In June 2018, these two friends will embark on their first tour together, which will see them pick and fish their way across the North Shore of Lake Superior! 

Ken Hamm is a well known acoustic solo musician based in Forget, SK. His playing is influenced by early blues recordings and a love of oldtimey music, resulting in a varied repertoire of original and traditional songs ranging from metalguitar driven hardedge blues workouts to softer dobro and banjo pieces. His main influences include Ry Cooder,  Mississippi John Hurt, John Fahey and John Hartford. Ken learned to play during the 1950,s, when guitar slingers like Elvis, Buddy Holly, and the Ventures prevailed. In the 60's, music went through coffeehouse folk and electric rock and clues phases, and Ken was swept up by these influences,playing in blues based bands in Thunder Bay like Tundra and the Bay St Blues Band, and eventually going acoustic with the release on vinyl of Ken Hamm and Friends in 1978.That LP led to a string of positive reviews and nominations in publications like Guitar Player magazine. A juno award in 1991 was followed by the Great Canadian Blues Award in 2010.Hamm has recorded 8 CDs to date, the most recent a double disc live collection released in 2006.

Chris Coole is a Canadian folk musician who has toured and performed with the likes of The Foggy Hogtown Boys, Erynn Marshall, Ivan Rosenberg, David Francey, and currently, The Lonesome Ace Stringband. He is known for his interpretation of Southern old-time music, as well as his original songs and instrumentals, played on clawhammer banjo and guitar. Through many workshops, as well as an instructional DVD, he has taught a league of people how to play clawhammer banjo. As a collaborator or sideman, he has played on over 200 recordings by artists such as Sylvia Tyson, Jim Cuddy, Natalie MacMaster, Cara Luft, John Reishman, April Verch, Justin Rutledge, The Slocan Ramblers, and David Francey. . In 2016 he released his 2nd solo album entitled "The Tumbling River" which fRoots magazine called "Unassumingly excellent old-time country music".