Artist: Ken Oak
Format: CD
Release Date: February 17, 2005
Label: jd8 Records, LLC

WIN A SIGNED CD
An Interview with Ken Oak

It’s been about ten years since the last time I went to the Korean Street Festival in Chicago and not much has changed since then. It’s still small, noisy and dirty. All of the booths seem to have been thrown together pretty haphazardly. Aside from the exhibitions that are scattered throughout the weekend there really isn’t a large display of Korean culture; unless you count the various array of food stalls that make up the majority of the booths lining the street.

The yearly festival is located near Chicago’s K-town on Bryn Mawr in between Kedzie and Kimball. The middle portion is where the booths and the Korean wrestling exhibition site are located while stages flank the outside. Small stores and cafes line the street on either side. The larger stage is the traditional stage where the, well, traditional performances are held, which includes Korean drumming exhibitions and even karaoke contests. The smaller stage on the opposite side is the contemporary stage where there are shows and musical performances geared towards younger audiences. This is where Ken Oak performed on Sunday as the final act of the Korean Street Festival.

It was a good night to be out. The heat wave that had enveloped Chicago earlier this summer had more or less dissipated and the evening was cool with a light zephyr occasionally running through the street. Earlier that day, I picked up a friend of mine who had attended Ken’s performance in New York City a couple of weeks prior to the Street Festival. Since I had only heard recordings, she assured me that he sounded much better live and you know what? She was right.

The event organizers had scheduled performances almost back-to-back on Saturday and Sunday for the contemporary stage. As the adolescent fangirls of the hip-hop group, IBU, filed away from the seating area, Korean young adults suddenly appeared to claim the vacant seats. A little before 8:30 p.m., Ken came out on stage and began tuning his cello and guitar. At exactly 8:30, he launched into “Analog Girl” and the performance was underway.

During the one hour solo set, Ken interacted with the audience, alternating between self-deprecating humor and explanations of the origins of his songs. I don’t know what the audience looked like from his vantage point, but from where I was sitting, we seemed pretty dead. Sorry, man. We’re Koreans from the Midwest and thus, we’re pretty inhibited. However, Ken forged on, accompanied by the quiet foot tapping and head bobbing in the audience.

Most of the songs in the set were from his first CD though he played a couple of new ones, one which was actually written just a few days prior to the Festival. Although he laughingly admitted that he may get some of the chords wrong because of its “new-ness,” there was no great hesitation in his playing. Around 9:30 p.m., Ken ended his set with his instrumental piece, “Soma.” Afterwards, Ken stayed around to sign autographs and have his picture taken with a few of his Chicago fans, including me.

Though the stage was small and the audience pretty undemonstrative, the performance was still highly enjoyable. I, for one, am looking forward to seeing him perform again when he swings by Chicago on his campus tour later this year.

A. Kim is the Halfway Senior Editor

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