Ken Oak

Got a new CD! Actually I just received a hundred of these. Thanks to @atomic.disc for shipping them so quickly. I’ll be mailing out the pre-orders this week. There are still some available if you’re interested — link in bio ⤴️ Thanks for supporting independent music!

Hey friends, This is the title track from my new EP entitled "Retired Fireman". I wrote this melody on the piano in the summer of 2020, back when we (at least our household) were still rinsing off all of our Instacart groceries, one avocado at a time. This is a followup to a similar EP I released earlier that year called "Galveston". I hope you enjoy it. I'm making a limited run of CDs available at (link in bio) - this is mainly to attempt to cover the cost of recording and encourage future releases. I truly appreciate your support and more importantly your enjoyment of the music. I hope you are doing well and making the most of 2022.

Here's a new song I've been playing with lately. I'm thinking of calling it "Retired Fireman". I was sitting at the Starbucks across from my work one morning, watching people and imagining what they did for a living, even as I was going through a career change myself and pondering the connection between vocation and identity. I liked how Retired Fireman sounded at first, but the more I thought about it the more I appreciated the meaning. The idea of transitioning out of an era in your life where you are constantly putting out fires, literal or figurative, made by yourself or others. And just being done with that. Anyway, hope you enjoy it. And imagine some strings because there are going to be a lot.

Music video directed and filmed by Nicole Soliven

When I was around 10, I moved to Michigan with my dad, stepmom and two sisters. My biological mother stayed in Houston, Texas -- our hometown. My older sister and I used to visit my mom on our breaks from school. I remember walking with her on the beach in Galveston during one of these visits. I don't remember what we spoke about that day but I remember how I felt. This song captures that feeling.