TODAY, award-winning singer-songwriter Ken Yates releases his third studio album, Quiet Talkers. Reuniting with Jim Bryson (Kathleen Edwards, Oh Susanna, Kalle Mattson), who produced Yates’ 2016 award winning release Huntsville, this new album sees a shift in the tide for Yates as he pens his most personal lyrics to date. “I’ve always been better at observing than being a part of the action, so I like to think of this collection of songs as “thoughts from the quietest person in the room;” shares Yates. The album features 12 new songs and special guest singers Brian Dunne on “Quiet Talkers”, “Anchor and Sail”, “Disillusion Day”, and award-winning artist Liz Longley on “Pretend We’re Alright”. Today, Yates also shares the brand new lyric video for “Grey County Blues”. Please watch here. He’ll celebrate the release of the album this Tuesday, May 26th at 6 pm ET with a front to back performance on Instagram live.
QUIET TALKERS LP AVAILABLE NOW VIA PHYSICAL & DIGITAL
Quiet Talkers is a dark, introspective step away from acoustic, guitar-driven, folk songs, yet still maintains Yates’ signature guitar style and lyrics that never waste time getting to the point. If Huntsville was about his experiences on the road, Quiet Talkers is about coming home, facing the monsters under the bed – or in some cases, the monsters hiding in plain sight. The new album includes the singles “Evangeline“, “Two Wrongs“, “Quiet Talkers“, “When We Came Home” and “Surviving Is Easy“. There are songs that tackle the challenges of mental illness and how it can lead to complacency, songs that search for the light at the end of the tunnel only to find there is no end, and also plenty of light such as “Two Wrongs” where Yates sings about two imperfect people finding a balance in one another.
With already over a half a million streams to date, the new music has garnered attention from digital stream platforms with playlist additions to “Acoustic Chill,” “Fresh Folk,” “Folk & Friends,” “Fresh Folk & Acoustic”; as well as media outlets including but not limited to Atwood Magazine, Great Dark Wonder, SiriusXM “The Breakdown”, The International Americana Music Show, CBC Radio One, Exclaim, SiriusXM “North Americana”, Canadian Musician, Tinnitist, and Roots Music Canada.
Since the release of his sophomore album Hunstville, Yates has done two tours with award-winning artist Passenger and supported the likes of Hermitage Green, Jenn Grant, Stu Larsen, and Rose Cousins. Earlier this year Yates completed a US tour with Irish artist Ryan McMullan with stops from New York to Los Angeles. Ken Yates’ North American tour supporting Stu Larsen, along with other release support shows were postponed due to the pandemic. For more info on Ken Yates please visit www.kenyates.com.
What’s The Story About Ken Yates?
Ken Yates is a Canadian folk singer-songwriter, who won the Canadian Folk Music Awards for English Songwriter of the Year and New/Emerging Artist of the Year at the 13th Canadian Folk Music Awards in 2017.
Since first planting roots within the Canadian music scene in 2011, Yates has steadily grown a reputation as one of the country’s brightest singer/songwriters. His sound offers the complete package—unforgettable melodies, emotionally charged storytelling, and top-notch guitar chops.
A native of London, Ontario, Yates studied at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston. His first release, The Backseat EP, came out in 2011, whereupon he got a chance to showcase for fellow Berklee alum John Mayer, who responded with a lengthy blog post that read in part, “Ken Yates wrote a song called ‘I Don’t Wanna Fall In Love.’ This song moved me when I first heard it, and it still does today.”
