Ken Stringfellow & Grazyna Bienkowski at Pianos Maene, Brussels Feb 19 2025

Ken Stringfellow, singer and co-founder of Seattle indie rock band The Posies, also known for his work with R.E.M., Big Star, Lagwagon, Neil Young and countless others, brings his most intense and personal work with CIRCUIT BREAKER, his 5th solo album, his first in over a decade.

CIRCUIT BREAKER is a journey from deconstruction to reconstruction, from death to life. It explores themes of betrayal and forgiveness, rebirth and renewal, and the overcoming of any adversity. Ultimately it is an album about how we heal.

CIRCUIT BREAKER is for anyone who finds themselves at a crossroads, unsure of where to go next; for anyone who is in need of finding hope and solace in a world seemingly fixated on cruelty; for anyone whose healing process has just begun, has yet to start or is finally behind them.

Ken's solo shows are known for the emotional intensity, their intimacy, and their musicality. Simply presented on guitar and piano, with Ken's voice capable of soothing whispers and powerful cries...the show is powerful and captivating, yet also gentle and mesmerizing. In addition to songs from all five of his solo albums, he'll certainly warm up songs from The Posies, Big Star, and other of his many collaborations over the last 5 decades of his career.

Ken appears on Grazyna's latest album, "On the Edge of Sylvia" and the two will join forces during the show; in addition to performing their material solo - they will perform some songs together from each of their respective catalogs.

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Grażyna Bienkowski is a Belgian composer, pianist, cellist, songwriter and musicologist ofFrench-Polish origins based in Brussels. Her style of music ranges from contemporary music to jazz, to indie rock. Defining herself as a purist who likes to move away from her base, this classically trained pianist does not fear mixing genres and diverse collaborations. Which has made her an atypical musician over the years. Since 2005, she has been composing music where the piano occupies a central place. Her first steps in composition with neo-classical pieces in piano solo were devoted to dance performances. Drawing on influences as diverse as Sergeï Rachmaninov, Steve Reich, Mickael Nyman, Radiohead, Fink, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Keith Jarrett or Bill Evans, she has written many instrumental piano-based pieces for small musical formations. Literature always played an important part in her inspiration and she naturally became a songwriter in 2015 with the LP PRODUCTS OF LOVE, a 14 track released under the Belgian label Homerecords.be in 2018.

Her 4th album ON THE EDGE OF SYLVIA, released under the French label December Square in May 2024, is a true literary soundtrack whose common thread is the American poet Sylvia Plath. Grażyna brings together her multiple musical influences with her love of literature by inviting the key artists who have marked her journey. The American singer KenStringfellow is one of them. Recorded in the famous ICP Studio in Brussels, this album brings together French musicians from the rock, classical and jazz scene. Prefaced by the American writer Douglas Kennedy, it’s an unusual and very personal result where poetry and music become one.

In this unique concert at Pianos Maene, Grażyna will present her last album ON THE EDGE OF SYLVIA in a piano-voice version, making some crossovers songs with Ken Stringfellowwith whom she already performed in Brussels a few years ago. This intimate musical moment will be the opportunity to discover her musical world in a place dedicated to her favorite instrument.