Hear Ken

Ken Soltys, MMGI Artist

Ken was born and raised in Long Island, New York where he received his formal instruction on trumpet and in music theory. In the early 80's, Ken attended Baldwin-Wallace College in Cleveland, Ohio where he earned his BA in Psychology, German and Criminal Justice. While in Cleveland, Ken performed in many productions with renowned local and national theatre production companies. One production required that Ken play eleven different instruments during a performance. After graduating in 1983, Ken toured briefly with a Las Vegas show group before returning to his native New York to continue his studies on the trumpet.

During his career, Ken performed with many well-known secular and Christian artists including James Brown, The Spinners, Gary U.S. Bonds, The Roland Parker Blues Band, Larry Gatlin, Lee Roy Parnell, Brian Duncan, Scott Wesley Brown, Wayne Watson, Phil Driscoll, Twila Paris, and others. As a School Band teacher, Ken established a band program in 1984 that is still running today at Smithtown Christian School in Smithtown, Long Island, NY. During his time in Smithtown, he met his wife, Barbara. Ken and Barbara married in 1986 on the platform where they met 13 months earlier during an orchestra rehearsal.

Shortly after their wedding, Ken and Barbara moved to Nashville, Tennessee where he held a recording contract with Powerlife Records and released the first of 13 solo CD's, "There is a Power". While in Nashville, Ken became part of “World Wide Drug Free Youth” and wrote music with a team that included Larry Gatlin and the Gatlin Brothers for the purpose of developing an drug/alcohol abuse awareness campaign. The campaign included live performances of the composed music with well known Nashville musicians and artists. During the 90's and early 2000's, Ken and his family lived in Miami, Florida and was Music Minister at Christian Family Worship Center. For two of those years in Miami, Ken was musical director for R&B great and now pastor, Wayne Cochran at Voice for Jesus Church. From February of 2000 to November of 2003, Ken's music and releases from his music company has been heard in over 170 nations and territories. Ken's music has had dozens of songs reach the top 40 on various Internet chart ratings and many top 10 placements. Ken has held at least 10 #1 chart ratings in Internet sites and digital musical charts from Australia to North America, including a #3 (Jingle Bells))and #18 (O Holy Night) placement in December of 2000 on Billboards Internet Worldwide Charts. Ken’s music is currently released and available on all major Digital Distribution sites such as: iTunes, Rhapsody, Napster, AmazonMp3, SoundClick.com, AudibleFaith.com and many others.

In 2006, Ken released two new CD’s. “Conversations” released in June of 2006 is a collection of spontaneous instrumental and vocal compositions from live services and performances from services and gatherings throughout the USA. In the same year, Ken released his first DVD from a live concert recorded on August 19, 2006 in Hayesville, NC.