A native of Bloomington, Indiana, and the son of a classical music devotee, Ken didn't hear a lot of jazz growing up. He began to discover the music when he picked up the saxophone during his days at Denison University, in Granville, OH. His growing passion for jazz led to him hosting a show on the college radio station. He graduated in 1990 with a Bachelor of Arts in Music, and has been involved in radio since then, having spent a year with WHCU/Lite 97 in Ithaca, NY, followed by WSKG, starting in 1991. In 1995, WSKG added a jazz radio service, WSQX 91.5, and Ken was assigned almost exclusively to the new station. With the advent of JazzWorks, he's been switched to morning announcer on WSKG's primary service, but remains Music Director for WSQX.

Ken has, when his schedule permits, continued to pursue his saxophone playing since graduation. He's played with the Harpur Jazz Ensemble (Binghamton University) and the Cornell University Lab Ensembles, as a "community member". In his times with those bands he's had the thrill of sharing the stage with the likes of Donald Byrd, Dr. Billy Taylor, Toshiko Akiyoshi and McCoy Tyner.