Kenny Kosek

Kenny Kosek
Kenny Kosek Photograph by Geoffrey Wade
Background information
Born	1949 (age 67–68) The Bronx, New York, U.S.
Genres	Bluegrass, country, folk, klezmer
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instruments	Fiddle
Years active	1970s–present
Associated acts	David Bromberg, Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band, Wretched Refuse String Band, Klezmer Mountain Boys
Website	kennykosek.com

Kenny Kosek, born in 1949 in The Bronx, New York, is an American fiddler who plays bluegrass, country, klezmer, folk music and roots music. In addition to his solo career, he has performed with many other well-known performers and contributed to film and television soundtrack music. He is also a musical educator. Beyond the field of music, he is also known for his humor. He is a graduate of Bronx High School of Science and City College of New York.

Kenny Kosek's early musical influences included Clark Kessinger, Vassar Clements, The New Lost City Ramblers,Kenny Baker and the May Brothers - Andy and Henry. While attending college, he played with The Star Spangled String Band and The Livingstone Cowboys, and freelanced in the Bleecker Street folk scene. His first post-collegiate professional work was as a member of the David Bromberg Band, and with a short-lived rock band, White Cloud, led by legendary hipster producer Thomas Jefferson Kaye. With Citizen Kafka and John Goodman, he wrote for and performed in the Citizen Kafka Show, a monthly improv and sketch comedy show that ran on WBAI-FM in New York City through the 1980s, and as "Johnny Angry Red Weltz" was part of Citizen Kafka's influential newgrass group, the Wretched Refuse String Band. He is similarly a part of Margot Leverett's fusion quintet The Klezmer Mountain Boys.