industry profile - KEN INOUYE

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Posted on July 1st 2009 by Owen Thomas

Who: Ken Inouye
What: Industry profile

Ken Inouye has been a major contributor to the Hamilton music scene for almost a decade.  Originally from Vancouver, he moved to Hamilton after his brother opened a restaurant called Pepper Jacks Café.

They were having some trouble attracting the restaurant crowd they set out for, so the decision to start doing live music was one of necessity. People needed to be in that room one way or another. He booked a group called Hot Butter Soup and self admittedly learned the hard way that promoting live music isn't as easy as it seems. "I got the band, put some posters around the city, then told everyone I knew...but the show didn't go too well." Valuable lessons were learned and business moves on.

With an appetite for funk & soul, Ken invited Jon Sicitch to come play records in the café. Jon was known for his "crate digger" appeal and a keen ear for funk, afro beat and soul records. He began attracting some of the spillover from their neighbors Fever Nightclub. By this time, word started going around that Pepper Jacks was the place to hear the rarest or rare.

They eventually started a Grateful Dead night with Shady Grove crowd. It was just a dj playing a lot of live recordings from The Dead, but the weekly event became strangely popular. "We were getting a lot of hippie types coming through. People from all over the place" Says Ken. Things started picking up with their live music crowd as Ken began booking more and more bands. A lot were recommended by friends. They were usually jam bands and attracting an audience from Niagara, Guelph, Toronto and some even further. Most notably at the time, was Sharron Jones of The Dap Kings, easily on of Kens' favorites.

My personal introduction to Ken & Pepper Jacks was through their neighbor Fever. Anytime I'd been smoking outside, there was always interesting music pumping on the PJC patio. Groups like Lotus and Nautilus were always on the bill when I popped in. Those types were an extension of the jam band scene. "A little more raver and less hippie. Same type of idea though" Ken explains.

Oddly enough, if you look through all the genres and artist in each genre that have played the PJC stage, hip-hop might have taken the tops. Groups like Alcoholics, Souls of Mischief, KRS-One have all slapped the mic stand.

It's hard to condense 8 years of live music into one small page. Scenes go through many cycles. Bands come and go. But both Ken and I agreed that one thing always stays the same. The same small amount of people, regardless of how many times the faces change. And those same faces would always be seeking their new music at PJC.

Like everyone in the Hamilton music scene, I'm sad to see Pepper Jacks close. It's been a labor of love for Ken but 8 years of anything is enough to burn anyone out. He seems pretty happy to move on. When asked what's next? "I'm not thinking about it. I'm just going to enjoy my summer off before I do anything"

Thanks Ken and farewell Pepper Jacks Café!

Check out the last few remaining shows at www.pepperjackcafe.com

 

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