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Alas-KEN COUNTRY
February 8

2pm - 10pm
at the Mat-Su Resort
NON SMOKING

Check out the Poster (pdf)

Ken Peltier Biography

 Kenny Peltier is the front man for "The Ken Peltier Band", Alaska's premier country band which he started in 1996. Ken explains "I began playing guitar 'seriously' in 1989, and singing professionally in 1992."

His band has played all sorts of events and venues, from clubs, arenas, and special events including the Alaska State Fair and Arctic Man, to being the opening act and sharing stages with Jessi Colter, BlackHawk, Marty Stuart, Little Big Town, Tim McGraw, Clint Black, Toby Keith, Pam Tillis, Mel McDaniel, John Anderson, Hobo Jim, Trace Adkins, Mark Chesnutt, Confederate Railroad, Montgomery Gentry, Billy Dean and Emerson Drive.

Ken's band also works with The Shriners, The Elks and St. Jude’s as well as the Rainbow Connection. The five-piece band works every weekend year-round. They are very versatile with obvious deep country roots, but classic rock and blues definitely have a place on their stage as well. When they are not booked for private dates, you can see the band perform Thursday through Saturday at Eddie’s Sports Bar in Anchorage. They were the house band at Four Corners Bar in the Mat-Su Valley with a strong following from local country music fans from 1996 until the bar closed in 2008.

Kenny's first self-titled CD was recorded in 1998. His latest musical release was completed in Nashville in February 2004. It is titled "Educated Man" and is packed with variety. There are only two traditional songs tucked into this CD, one a classic Waylon tune and the other a duet with country great, Mel McDaniel. (For those of you not in the know, Mel had a string of hits on Capitol Records and still performs on the Grand Ol' Opry almost every weekend.) Aside from actually performing together in the studio and on the road, one of Kenny's proudest moments was when Mel informed Kenny in the studio it was the first duet he had ever agreed to do.

Local country singer and long-time Alaska State Fair favorite Ken Peltier has recently been diagnosed with throat cancer and is undergoing treatment.   Ken and his family have been very special people in this community, and a group of Ken’s friends are planning three fundraising events for Ken and his family.  A donation account has been set up at Alaska USA FCU to gather funds to help support the Peltier family. Donations should be directed to account # 1437462.  The upcoming events are as follows:

FEBRUARY 8th (12 pm- 10 pm):  an all-day Music Festival at the Mat-Su Resort in Wasilla hosted by Hobo Jim and Mat-Su Resort managers James and Mary Hastings. This is a family-oriented NON-SMOKING event with no cover charge and kids welcome. To raise funds for Ken and his family, there will be a live auction with donated items, t-shirts and Ken’s CD’s for sale. Live bands will provide a full day of music on two stages, and there will be a kids’ room with games, prizes and face painting. Call James at the Mat-Su resort for more information – 907-232-1527. 

FEBRUARY 22nd (2:00 pm- 9:00 pm): a benefit concert and dance in the Raven Hall at the Alaska State Fairgrounds in Palmer.  There will be a $10 cover charge (kids 12 & under free) with all proceeds going directly to Ken. The event will feature live music, live and silent auction items, food and fun for the whole family, with Hobo Jim as emcee and special guest performer.  For more information call 907-746-7152.

March 15th (time TBA): another benefit hosted by Eddie’s Sports Bar in Anchorage (watch for details at the two February fundraisers for this and other upcoming events).

The immediate goal is to raise enough money the Peltier family to live comfortably for the next six months without having to worry about the everyday bills that they will face. Knowing that stress decreases the body’s ability to heal, our hope is to enable Ken to focus all his energy on the healing process by lifting the burden of financial stress from his life.

The long-term goal is to establish the “Ken Kare Foundation,” a non-profit organization which will help other Alaskans in need of financial assistance due to medical emergencies.   We are asking for donations of cash or silent and live auction items. Anything you can do helps so much, and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Call 232-1527 for more information regarding donations or event details.

Check out Ken’s music at www.kenpeltier.com or www.myspace.com/kennypeltier

Alaskans helping Alaskans – let’s do it!