Singers, songwriters
Warren & Kalen
Past. Present. Future.
It’s not until we are “older” that we can look back over our lives and see the synchronicity, the weaving together of people and events, the perfect timing of God’s plan unfolding through the years. Warren and Kalen have different stories and different life experiences to tell, but in 2006 their parallel universes came together, accompanied by romance, purpose and, of course, music! Looking back, through the years, we see that God had a plan for them and it was all just as it should be.
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More about us
Warren Huscroft, was born Kenneth Warren Huscroft in 1946, in the small rural town of Creston, BC. The Huscrofts were the first white settlers in the area, and to this day Huscrofts make up a large portion of the local population in Creston. Warren comes from a large family of ten siblings and has four children of his own.
Kalen Huscroft, was born Kalen Elise Wild in 1950, in the big city of Toronto, Ontario. She is from a very small family, having just one sister.
Warren was interested in music at a very young age, especially the popular music of the day. His first acoustic guitar was soon replaced by a second-hand Silvertone Jupiter electric guitar. By age 16 he was playing guitar in local dance bands, talent shows and concerts. Warren also started developing his talent for song writing. He found teenage angst to be an excellent source of song-writing inspiration. In the 60’s, Warren played guitar with The Ambassadors band, which competed in and won many battles of the bands in the Kootenay region. (See more about The Ambassadors below.) Other bands Warren played in during this time were Lost Generation, Summit, Deja Vue, and The Canada Ice Machine. In the late 60’s Warren moved to Vancouver, BC and became lead singer and bass player for the band, Amethyst. (See more about Amethyst below.)
Kalen, meanwhile, in Toronto, was pursuing studies in classical piano, and playing in a Renaissance recorder ensemble. At age 17 she was accompanying ballet classes in Toronto and spent summers accompanying at the Banff School of Fine Arts.
What did they have in common? Well, they were both young, romantic idealists. Both pursued their music, making time for it by doing as little school work as possible!
They grew up, each in their own worlds. Things changed.
Warren got married, got a job at his father’s sawmill, and proceeded to raise his family. His children all took violin lessons, and with their dad on guitar, toured the Kootenays as “The Huscroft Family Fidders. Warren continued to write songs and play and sing in local dance bands, performing in Creston and the Kootenays.
Kalen remained unmarried, did some traveling and then one day, sitting on the front pew at Paul’s Saloon in San Francisco, discovered that bluegrass was her true love! Kalen spent the next twenty years attending bluegrass festivals and playing mandolin in bluegrass bands: The Cotton Street Band, The Angel Band and The Really Picky Bluegrass Band. Kalen also spent many years playing piano for a popular Vancouver contra dance band, The Headbender Family Pickers. And, for the record, Kalen did finally marry at the age of 35, and moved to Creston!
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About The Ambassadors:
“Back in the day”, (the 60’s), the teen band, The Ambassadors, had their own dance hall in Kitchener, BC. They called it “The Embassy, Home of the Ambassadors.” The Ambassadors would open for all the big name dance bands that would pass through Kitchener, BC during the week, on their way to playing bigger venues on the weekends. The Ambassadors’ manager, John Huscroft (Warren’s big brother) worked in conjunction with Alex Powell of the Slocan Playmore to connect with big bands who normally wouldn’t come to such a small area, but were willing to do so on the off nights. For example, Jack Ely and the Kingsmen would play in Kitchener on a weeknight for an audience of 400, and then play in Edmonton for an audience of 10,000. Buddy Knox and his band also played at The Embassy, Home of the Ambassadors. The Ambassadors band in the 60’s consisted of lead singers, Ernie Klaffke and Pat Paterson; lead guitar, Gene Anderson; rhythm guitar, Warren Huscroft; bass guitar, Orly Anderson; drums, Davey Arbuckle.
About Amethyst:
Amethyst was a popular band in Vancouver, BC, in the late 60’s. Amethyst caught the attention of Al Reusch at Sixth Avenue Recording Studios (previously Aragon Studios and Mushroom Studios). When Al Reusch heard the original music of Amethyst, he liked what he heard and offered to record their music at no charge, taking Amethyst under his wing, so to speak. Al would come out to gigs to get live recordings of Amethyst. At their concerts Amethyst played only their own original music, often lengthy “trippy” improvisations, which their fans just loved. Amethyst concerts in Vancouver were held at The Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Rock Expo at the Agradome, The Commodore and The Bayshore, among others. They also opened for Quick Silver Messenger Service in the Pacific Coliseum.
Things continued to change. It is now 2003. Warren’s marriage had broken up long ago; Kalen’s husband had died. Kalen was now living in Creston, BC, but did not know Warren! Kalen had met Warren’s daughter, Zavallenaah, through a fiddle connection, but had only vaguely heard of her father, Warren Huscroft. Then one day, it was the Summer of 2006, Kalen got a phone call from Warren Huscroft. Although they had never met, Warren had an interesting offer for Kalen – no, not marriage… Warren was putting together a reunion gig for his old band, The Ambassadors. He was looking for someone who could play classic rock keyboard to replace the famous (infamous?) Jack Velker. Kalen was intrigued, as she had never before played rock ‘n’ roll music.
To make a long story short … they met! And Warren proceeded to teach Kalen how to play rock ‘n’ roll piano – a long arduous task, as Warren could not play piano himself, and so had to demonstrate everything on the guitar and by waving his hands around in the air (his preferred method). They fell in love, of course. And began to write songs together. Kalen expressed her love for Warren by notating on manuscript paper every single song, guitar lick, bass riff he had ever written….
The Ambassadors reunion band featured the lead singing of Ernie Klaffke and Pat Paterson. Together with Warren on lead guitar, Kalen on keyboards, Stephen Bullock on bass and Davey Arbuckle on drums, they played for class reunions and local dances and concerts, until 2008.
Warren and Kalen were married in September of 2010. They continued to write songs together and play gigs with The Ambassadors reunion band with lead singer Pat Paterson and and bassist Stephen Bullock.
Fast forward to 2020, and we see Warren and Kalen Huscroft looking back through the years and realizing that they were no longer young! Warren decided it was time (“high” time, actually) that he preserved some of the songs he had written through the years, and that he and Kalen should make an album together. They called upon Adrian Dolan of Adrian Dolan Productions, who they knew was a multi-instrumentalist and producer extraordinaire. Adrian had past history working with Warren's children, Zavallennahh and Daniel, both professional musicans, and had recently produced an album for Warren’s daughter, Velle Huscroft Weitman, and so ... with high recommendations, Warren and Kalen contacted Adrian Dolan.
“Through the Years”, said Warren, let’s call the album “Through the Years”. Warren and Kalen decided not to play their instruments on this album, but to leave all that to Adrian, and so they made the journey to Adrian’s studio in Ladysmith, BC, where they enjoyed the recording experience of just singing their songs.
Warren says this album is his bucket list project, something he can leave for his family and friends. Almost two years in the making, “Through the Years” is a collection of original songs, well worth the wait. Arranged, recorded and produced by Adrian Dolan, “Through the Years” is an album of inspirational love songs and more, that you won’t want to miss!
"I thank God for the blessing that music has been to me and my family through the years. Especially, I thank my wife Kalen for her musical contribution and dedication to making this album possible. And I thank my family for their encouragement in going ahead with this project. Although I have recorded before, making this album has been my first experience working with a producer, and what an awesome experience that was! I especially want to thank Adrian Dolan for bringing each of these songs to life, beyond all our expectations. I'm grateful to Adrian and all the wonderful musicians who have contributed their creativity to these songs. This album marks the completion of my musical bucket list! These are songs I've written "through the years" dating back from the early '70's and more recently with my wife, Kalen. We hope you enjoy them!"
– Warren
