Ken Stringfellow (born October 30, 1968 in Hollywood, California) is an American musician, best known for his work with The Posies, R.E.M., and the re-formed Big Star (also alongside fellow Posie Jon Auer). His association with R.E.M. extends to the mid-90s Seattle scene, where he first met guitarist Peter Buck, with whom he also plays in Scott McCaughey's The Minus 5. Ken also spent time recording and touring with Lagwagon in the late-1990's, during which he helped craft 1997's Double Plaidinum, adding a unique flare to the band's high-paced melodic brand of punk rock. Stringfellow is recognizable for his flamboyant hair color - often a dark red, though currently dark brown/black. He has also formed a new band with three Norwegian musicians from the band Briskeby, called blank">The Disciplines.
He has currently released three solo albums: This Sounds Like Goodbye (1997, on the Hidden Agenda label), Touched (2001, on _Manifesto Records), and Soft Commands (2004, on Yep Roc Records). Touched was also released outside the United States by Pop Tones with different cover artwork; the Japanese release contains a bonus track (a cover of Robyn Hitchcock's "Airscape"). An international version of Soft Commands was released by Rykodisc; it has the same cover artwork, but contains four bonus tracks (covers of "Never My Love" by The Association, "Down to the Wire" by Neil Young, "New Test Leper" by R.E.M., and "Knocks Me Off My Feet" by Stevie Wonder). In 2003, Stringfellow and Jon Auer released Private Sides, a six-song split EP (Arena Rock Recording Co./Rykodisc).
Stringfellow is currently married to a French band manager, Dominique Sassi, and they have a daughter, Aden. He was previously married to The Fastbacks' bass player Kim Warnick. They divorced in 1996, after a three-year marriage.
On December 22, 2007, Stringfellow revealed, via his blog, that he won't be part of R.E.M.'s 2008 tour in support of Accelerate.
