Throughout his life, during the good times and bad, the music has been there for Ken Totushek. 

It started decades ago when he was in the seventh grade, grew during his teenage years and blossomed as he found his faith. It swirls through his memories and wraps itself into the milestones. The music seems to touch everything, or nearly everything. 

“It has been a thread through my life,” Totushek said. 

Totushek recently released his latest album — “Island Songs.” This is his ninth album.

“I love it,” Totushek said. “I could say they’re all my favorites, but they’re all different.”

Totushek makes music for the love it. He sells his CDs at The Coffee Depot in Warren and online, but that is not what drives him. He just loves the entire process — thinking up new songs, working in the recording studio inside his home, tinkering with his different guitars. All of it is a joy, he said. 

Totushek has been posting his songs online for years, actually many years. He started putting his tracks on YouTube “10 or 15 years ago.”

Early on, his songs drew a lot of interest. But that was when YouTube was still relatively young. 

“Anything I did that was halfway decent was thousands of hits and watches,” he said. “Now (YouTube) is just saturated.”

These days, his songs may get 15, 20 or 25 clicks. 

“Normally, 20 or 30, or eventually maybe 100… one of the songs I posted… it’s already got 250, 300 hits,” Totushek said. “When it hits 500, for me, that’s viral. For me, that’s like somebody else’s million.”

Totushek said the clicks or likes are not what fuels his passion for creating music. He just hopes that his songs are enjoyed. 

“That’s what helps keep me going,” he said. 

How it started

“I started actually in seventh grade. My dad had a concertina,” Totushek said. “I didn’t have lessons.”

Totushek said he became a bit rebellious in his teenage years. He went to trade school and got a job as a welder. Totushek said he grew more curious in finding his faith. He eventually visited with the pastor of his family’s church and opened up about his search. 

“And he asked if he could tell me about his walk with Jesus? … He told me about his faith in Christ and he recommended to give Jesus a chance. I went home and prayed that night. Why trust in all these human beings — I’m going to ask God to show me the way. So I did. I asked Jesus into my heart and things really changed for me, spiritually,” Totushek said.

“I got involved with the church. Youth group. Youth leader. And then I decided I’m going to get a nice guitar. So I got a nice Martin guitar. I played in the church band for a while. I liked it a lot. It was very instructive for me because the other guitarist was really good. He was a singer, songwriter. He was the pastor’s son. He was really gifted. I learned a lot from him. And we had a bass player.”

Since those days, music has remained a key ingredient in his life. 

“I got married. Kids,” Totushek said. “When we had kids my thrust went to children’s songs. And I did fall fairs and things like that, where my family could be there too. I learned a lot of children’s songs. I did home recordings of some songs and gave them to my nieces and nephews. Everybody loved them. They’re not anything like the quality now, but kids don’t know that. 

“When my kids got older and I had my own studio set up in the garage on Massasoit Avenue. So I started doing more recording, and my late wife gave me a gift of studio time in 1993.”

Totushek said his music has changed a bit over the years.

“My writing… I think most musical is spiritual. I’ve gone from a more evangelical approach early in my years to much more inclusive now. I’ve got a lot of non-Christian friends … it’s evolved. My life has evolved. My philosophy has evolved. My music has evolved with that,” he said.

Island Songs

Totushek shared the story behind his recent album. 

He and his late wife started going to St. John, US Virgin Islands in 2007. He said they planned to go each year — rent a villa and wait out the cold weather months. 

But, sadly, Totushek’s wife passed away in 2009. He later rekindled a relationship with a woman he knew from decades earlier — in the 1980s their families had been friendly. 

“We went to the same church. She lost her husband two years earlier,” he said. “We started talking and one thing led to another, and I said I’ve got this villa in St. John, and I understand if you’re not ready to go or do that. I invited a bunch of friends. It started out it was going to be three or four other couples, she was like ‘Yeah.’ But little by little as time got closer they (the other couples) all dropped out. … I told her this was not planned. But she decided to go. We got married about a year later and we’ve been going ever since. We spend at least four or five weeks there each year.”

Sometimes, on the island, Totushek plays with a group of musicians. The album cover depicts the group playing at a restaurant in Coral Bay.