Article Contributed by Eric Alper
Published on 2026-03-22
Photo: Courtesy of Ken Whiteley
There are artists who follow the current, and then there are those who help shape it. For more than six decades, Ken Whiteley has stood firmly in the latter camp—drawing from the deepest wells of folk, blues, and gospel to create music that resonates across generations. Now, the Canadian folk legend returns with Keep Going, his remarkable 37th album, a work rooted in perseverance, presence, and the quiet strength of carrying on.
Released via Pyramid Records and distributed worldwide by Distrokid, Keep Going arrives as one of Whiteley’s most thematically unified and emotionally resonant projects in years. A Mariposa 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 continues to prove that creative vitality has no expiration date.
The origins of the album are as grounded and human as the music itself. In February 2025, Whiteley slipped on ice and fractured a bone in his ankle. Unable to walk for a month, he turned inward—picking up his guitar and writing through stillness and recovery. “Keeping going in these troubled times is an expression of powerful determination and survival, tempered by the recognition of earthly transience,” he 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 a 12-track collection featuring seven originals, four carefully chosen classics, and a co-write with Eve Goldberg. Recorded at Casa Wroxton Studio in Toronto with engineer Nik Tjelios and mastered by Harris Newman at Grey Market Mastering in Montreal, the album bridges past and present with a sense of purpose and immediacy.
Whiteley’s musicianship across Keep Going is nothing short of extraordinary. He performs on acoustic and resophonic guitar, mandolin, Hammond organ, piano, mandola, mandocello, harmonica, string bass, electric bass, and washboard, joined by a trusted circle of collaborators including vocalist Ciceal Levy, drummer Bucky Berger, his brother Chris Whiteley on harmonica and cornet, and bassist Gord Mowat.
One of the album’s most moving moments arrives with “Reaching Higher,” featuring the late vocalist Betty Richardson—Jackie Richardson’s younger sister—on a demo track that Whiteley revisited and felt compelled to share with the world. The closing track, “At The End Of The Day,” a co-write with Eve Goldberg featuring guest vocals from Goldberg and Pat Patrick, offers a twilight meditation on transition, memory, and the voices that guide us through the unknown.
The spirit of the album is perhaps best captured in its closing lines: “I hear something calling me / taking me far away / I hear something calling me / at the end of the day.” That quiet sense of listening—of tuning into something deeper than the noise—runs throughout the record. From “Everybody’s Got to Be Tried,” inspired by Appalachian banjo legend Frank Proffitt and performed on a 1928 National guitar, to the mandolin-quartet arrangement of Noah Lewis’s 1929 jug stomper “Going to German,” Whiteley draws a continuous thread between tradition and the present moment.
Whiteley’s stature in Canadian music has been built across a lifetime of collaboration and exploration. Beginning his public performances at age 14, he has worked alongside Pete Seeger, John Hammond Jr., Blind John Davis, Stan Rogers, and Tom Paxton. He also helped shape Canadian children’s music through collaborations with Raffi and Fred Penner, while maintaining deep creative ties with his brother Chris Whiteley and extended musical family. With more than 400 songs written and over a dozen artists covering his work, his influence continues to ripple outward.
Even now, Whiteley remains as active and curious as ever—equally at home performing in a yoga ashram or a traditional concert setting, always drawing from the same well of authenticity, spirit, and connection.
To celebrate both the new album and a milestone year, Whiteley will host a special 75th Birthday Bash and album celebration at Hugh’s Room Live in Toronto on May 2, joined by a lineup of collaborators including Bucky Berger, Ben Whiteley, Jesse Whiteley, David Wall, Ciceal Levy, and Pat Patrick.
KEN WHITELEY TOUR DATES
March 28 — Guelph, ON — Guelph House Concerts
April 4–5 — Val Morin, QC — Sivananda Yoga Ashram (Concerts & Workshop)
May 1 — Ottawa, ON — Gil’s Hootenanny “Songs of Protest, Songs of Hope”
May 2 — Toronto, ON — Hugh’s Room Live (75th Birthday Bash & Album Celebration)
May 16 — North York, ON — Afro Metis 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
