Devoted Folk Legend Ken Whiteley Releases A Fascinating 37th Album
Mariposa Hall of Fame inductee channels blues, gospel, and perseverance on deeply personal new record
Canadian roots music icon Ken Whiteley has released his 37th studio album, Keep Going, a powerful new collection rooted in blues, gospel, and folk traditions. Released via Pyramid Records and distributed worldwide by DistroKid, the album continues Whiteley’s remarkable six-decade journey as one of Canada’s most respected voices in folk and roots music.
A Mariposa Folk Festival Hall of Fame inductee, Genie Award winner, and recipient of Lifetime Achievement Awards from both the Maple Blues Awards and Folk Music Ontario, Whiteley has built a legacy that spans generations. With Keep Going, he delivers one of his most unified and reflective works in years—an album that draws from traditional sounds while speaking directly to the challenges of the present moment.
The inspiration for the record came unexpectedly. In February 2025, Whiteley slipped on ice and fractured a bone in his ankle. Unable to walk for a month, he turned to songwriting.
“Keeping going in these troubled times is an expression of powerful determination and survival, tempered by the recognition of earthly transience,” Whiteley reflects. “I immersed myself in old blues and gospel tunes and that message kept coming up. May listeners also find the inspiration to keep going.”
The result is 12 tracks recorded at Casa Wroxton Studio in Toronto, engineered by Nik Tjelios and mastered by Harris Newman at Grey Market Mastering in Montreal. The album includes seven original songs, four classic interpretations that resonate strongly today, and a closing co-write with Eve Goldberg.
Whiteley’s musicianship across Keep Going remains as impressive as ever. On the album he performs acoustic guitar, resophonic guitar, mandolin, Hammond organ, piano, mandola, mandocello, harmonica, string bass, electric bass, and washboard, supported by longtime collaborators including vocalist Ciceal Levy, drummer Bucky Berger, bassist Gord Mowat, and his brother Chris Whiteley on harmonica and cornet.
One of the album’s most moving moments arrives with “Reaching Higher,” which features the late vocalist Betty Richardson, whose demo vocal Whiteley revisited and felt deserved to be heard. The album closes with “At The End Of The Day,” a reflective collaboration with Goldberg featuring guest vocalists Eve Goldberg and Pat Patrick, offering a quiet meditation on transition, reflection, and listening for the voices that guide us forward.
That sense of continuity between past and present runs throughout Keep Going. From the opening track “Everybody’s Got to Be Tried,” inspired by a phrase remembered from Appalachian banjo legend Frank Proffitt, to the mandolin-quartet interpretation of Noah Lewis’s 1929 jug band classic “Going to German,” Whiteley draws clear musical lines between historic roots traditions and the realities of today’s world.
It’s a perspective earned over an extraordinary career. Whiteley began performing publicly at 14 years old, later sharing stages and recordings with legends including Pete Seeger, John Hammond Jr., Blind John Davis, Stan Rogers, and Tom Paxton. He also helped shape the landscape of Canadian children’s music through collaborations with Raffi, Fred Penner, and many others.
Over the course of his career he has written more than 400 songs, many recorded by other artists, and released multiple acclaimed albums in recent years, including CFMA-nominated projects Long Time Travelling and So Glad I’m Here.
Today, Whiteley continues to perform across Canada—sometimes in concert halls, sometimes in community spaces, and sometimes even yoga ashrams—drawing on the deep well of blues, folk, and gospel to bring people together through music.
To celebrate the release of Keep Going, Whiteley will also mark a major milestone with a 75th Birthday Bash and album celebration at Toronto’s Hugh’s Room Live on May 2, joined by an all-star lineup of collaborators and family members.
Upcoming Tour Dates
March 28 — Guelph, ON Guelph House Concerts
April 4–5 — Val Morin, QC Concerts & Workshop, Sivananda Yoga Ashram
May 1 — Ottawa, ON Gil’s Hootenanny “Songs of Protest, Songs of Hope” First Unitarian Church
May 2 — Toronto, ON Hugh’s Room Live 75th Birthday Bash & Album Celebration
May 16 — North York, ON Afro Métis Anthem Peace Concert
May 23 — Caledon, ON Whole Village Eco Village Concert
May 28 — Burlington, ON Retired Teachers’ Luncheon Concert
June 7 — Orangeville, ON Orangeville Blues & Jazz Festival
June 23 — Roseville, ON Detweiler Meeting House Concert
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