Nominated for no less than FOUR Washington Area Music Awards at the 2016 30th Annual WAMMIES – for Best Roots-Rock Vocalist, Best Roots-Rock Instrumentalist, Best Roots-Rock Group (Ken Wenzel & Cross Kentucky) and Best Roots-Rock Record (...Beneath Potomac Skies) – singer/songwriter/saxophonist Ken Francis Wenzel has come into his own as one of the DC/MD/VA region’s most recognizable, unique performers & songwriters.

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A saxophonist, a guitarist, a singer/songwriter, and a bandleader, Ken has been described as a purveyor of restless midwestern sentimentality, who searches in his songs for the kinds of truth that’s often best found within oneself. Whether performing as a solo acoustic singer-songwriter or with his full band Cross Kentucky, Ken stays busy, playing 200+ shows a year across the DC, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia region, the eastern seaboard, the midwest, and south.

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With the 2014  release of  “…Beneath Potomac Skies”  –  a 12-song, full-band collection of moments and memories culled from time spent in Washington DC, and many other locales – Ken Francis Wenzel introduced his own roots-rock, country jazz-tinged take on love, learning, and life in contemporary America. Featuring several guest appearances from some of the DC area’s finest musicians, “…Beneath Potomac Skies” is the long-awaited follow-up to Ken’s 2010 debut acoustic EP, “…This is Cross Kentucky”. With a raw voice, lyrical saxophone, and honest, straightforward songwriting, both records showcase the perspective and passions of a well traveled, yet still searching singer/songwriter – one with a somewhat different story and background than most.

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Born and raised in Champaign, Illinois, Ken studied classical saxophone at the University of Illinois before graduating from UNLV in Las Vegas, NV with a degree in jazz studies. He spent the next decade playing all over the world: in Las Vegas casinos; on cruise ships in Northern Europe, Africa, and Asia; at Universal Studios in Osaka, Japan; on national tours of Broadway musicals; at festivals including the 2004 Montreux Jazz Festival and 2010 Chicago Blues Festival; and of course, in countless clubs and small venues. He continually worked as an in-demand freelancer, playing saxophone with artists both locally and nationally – including, among many others, Frankie Avalon, Ben Vereen, Bobby Parker, Noel Gallagher & High Flying Birds, and Carlos Santana.

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In 2007, tiring of the endless grind of freelancing and the narrow branding brought on by being considered “just” a saxophonist, Ken decided to buy himself an acoustic guitar. What followed, during time spent practicing and singing at home and at local open mics, was a transformation both personal and artistic – reinventing his own sense of musicianship, and in the process, reinventing himself.