"The 'Guitar Mass,' 'Contemporary Mass,' 'Folk Mass' — whatever one wants to call it — is not exclusively the child of Vatican II. Such an assumption is a disservice to history. The Folk Mass story begins neither with folk music, nor guitars, nor even with the Council. The Folk Mass had its origins in the Church's official music: Gregorian chant. . ."
— from Keep the Fire Burning: The Folk Mass Revolution by Ken Canedo

KEN CANEDO is a liturgical composer whose songs are sung in Catholic churches around the world. Long involved with spiritandsong.com, a contemporary Catholic music website, he is the voice behind the popular weekly Liturgy Podcast and also a Spirit Spot blogger. His most recent CD is Doxology, a collection of contemporary and traditional music to honor the Most Holy Trinity. He currently serves as a youth minister and pastoral musician for parishes in Portland, Oregon.
Ken writes frequently for Today’s Liturgy magazine. His first book, Keep the Fire Burning, was just released by Pastoral Press.



“At the time of the 1964 change to
English, the People’s Mass Book was the
only hard-cover vernacular hymnal available to the parishes. Indeed, when samples were distributed
during the St. Louis Liturgical Week conference in August, almost every diocese
placed orders, necessitating an unprecedented print run that saw eventual sales
of more than two million copies over three years.”