In memory of Ken Backer. Dedicated to Lin and Ken Backer.

A song for the kind of person who says yes before you finish asking. Ken rolled into St. Albert in a Volkswagen Bug with nothing but a coffee and a smile, and became the ninth soul a group needed simply because he offered. He collected instruments the way some people collect stories — fourteen and counting, an er-hu on the way — and gave away every guitar he built, because he believed music wasn't meant to be owned. He kept telescopes in the backyard and cocoa on the boil, endlessly curious about planets, pond scum, and everything in between.

Ken passed a couple of years ago, and this song – recorded with an 20-voice pub choir in Sidney, BC called the Tuneless Choir (Special thank you to them and to Sharon) – is my way of keeping his answer alive: whatever you need, whatever you're asking, the response was always the same. Why not? I'm Ken.

Also special shoutout to Borys Koniukhov for playing his incredible violin on the track.

Words and Music by Eric Harper

©2026