Kelly Keeling
| Kelly Keeling | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Kelly Keeling |
| Born | June 25, 1968 |
| Origin | Lafayette, Louisiana, United States |
| Genres | Hard rock, blues-rock, heavy metal, Progressive metal |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, singer, songwriter, record producer |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitar, bass, piano,multi instrumentalist |
| Years active | 1980–present |
| Labels | Mascot Records |
| Associated acts | Baton Rouge, Blue Murder, John Norum, Carmine Appice's Guitar Zeus, Michael Schenker Group, Heaven and Earth, Erik Norlander, Lynch Mob, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, O'2L, |
Kelly Keeling (born June 25, 1968) is an American musician and songwriter. Keeling started playing at the age of 14 and first appeared on the music scene as the lead singer of the American heavy metal band Baton Rouge.[1] In his career, he worked with many major hard rock acts, wrote movie soundtracks and played also with Christian rock bands.[2]
Contents
- 1 Biography
- 2 Discography
- 3 References
- 4 External links
Biography
Keeling was at first the guitarist and then the lead singer of the band Baton Rouge, which had three Top 40 AOR hits entitled "Walks Like a Woman," "Doctor," and "The Storm." in 1990. His association with producer Jack Ponti led him to provide songs for the German hard rock band Bonfire and music and backing vocals for Alice Cooper's album Hey Stoopid.[3]
In 1991, he left Baton Rouge to join John Sykes' band Blue Murder. Keeling recorded tracks on the album Nothin' but Trouble with Carmine Appice and Tony Franklin, which he worked again with on many projects in later years. Sykes decided to re-record his voice over Keeling's, so that the latter appears only for backing vocals and lead vocals on only one track of the album.[3] Blue Murder broke up in 1994.
Kelly Keeling then joined the solo project of former Europe guitarist John Norum. He worked on Norum's albums Another Destination (1995) and Worlds Away (1996), but left the guitarist in 1997.[3]
Keeling continued to collaborate with renowned hard rock musicians, and joined with Michael Schenker for MSG album The Unforgiven in 1997 and Live world tour album in 1999 and wrote songs for Gary Barden Graham Bonnet and Himself for The Tales of Rock & Roll MSG album in 2005[3] and with The Guitar Zeus project as main songwriter, singer, multi-instrumentalist, producer, mixer founded by famous drummer Carmine Appice (Vanilla Fudge, King Kobra).[3]
He wrote songs with Don Dokken for the Dokken albums Long Way Home and Hell to Pay and did a series of high profile sold out acoustic show dates with Don Dokken opening for Queensrÿche. In 2004 he sang on former Dokken guitarist George Lynch album Furious George, followed by a tour with Lynch. The same year he also performed more acoustic shows with Don Dokken.
In the 2000s, Keeling recorded and toured with the bands O'2L, featuring all members of the west coast branch of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and recorded eight songs intended for another solo album which eventually appeared in the first studio album of the project Paris Keeling with executive producer Marty Paris. He started his solo recording career with the album Giving Sight to the Eye in 2005. In those years, he toured with Erik Norlander, Trans-Siberian Orchestra (he received gold and platinum album awards from TSO) and Wayne Morrisson's Rock4Xmas, featuring Badfinger member Joey Molland. On this tour he performed backing vocals for Eddie Money and did his solo career retrospective set The Kelly Keeling Show, with band mates Ethan Brosh, Alex Pierce and Dave Vandiggitty.
In 2012, Kelly formed the band Balance with guitarist/co- writer Kim Roy, formerly of the band Kingdom, and reunited Baton Rouge for a new recording to appear on Frontier Records, which was cancelled in 2013.[4]
Kelly continues to play in his hometown and neighboring states doing his Piano Show and also a monthly Beatles Night featuring local High School Choirs and College Horn Sections.
Discography
Solo albums
- Giving Sight to the Eye (2005)
- Lime Green Limousine with Marc Zimmerman (2010)
- Mind Radio (2015)
With Baton Rouge
Studio albums
- Shake Your Soul (1990)
- Lights Out on the Playground (1991)
- Baton Rouge (1997)
Compilation albums
- The Hottest of Baton Rouge (2006)
With John Norum
Studio albums
- Another Destination (1995)
- Worlds Away (1996)
With Carmine Appice's Guitar Zeus
Studio albums
- Carmine Appice's Guitar Zeus (1995)
- Guitar Zeus II: Channel Mind Radio (1997)
- Conquering Heroes (2009)
Compilation albums
- Ultimate Guitar Zeus (2006)
With MSG
Studio albums
- The Unforgiven (1999)
- Tales of Rock'n'Roll (2006)
Live albums
- The Unforgiven World Tour (1999)
Compilation albums
- Forever and More, The Best of Michael Schenker (2004)
- Greatest Riffs (2009)
With King Kobra
- Hollywood Trash (2001)
With Heaven and Earth
- Windows to the World (2001)
With Erik Norlander
- Music Machine (2003)
- Stars Rain Down (2004)
- Live in St. Petersburg (2006)
- Hommage Symphonique (2007)
With George Lynch
- Furious George (2004)
With Paris Keeling
- End of Ride (2006)
- End of Ride Revisited (2009)
With O'2L
- Eat a Pickle (2007)
Other appearances
- Alice Cooper – Hey Stoopid (songwriting and backing vocals – 1991)
- Blue Murder – Nothin' but Trouble (backing vocals, lead vocals on "On Fire" – 1993)
- Dokken – Long Way Home (songwriting – 2002)
- Jack Ponti Presents – Volume 1 (compilation – 2003)
- Dokken – Hell to Pay (songwriting – 2004)
- Lana Lane – Lady Macbeth (backing vocals – 2005)
- Moonstone Project – Time to Take a Stand (guest vocalist – 2006)
- JK Northrup – Wired in My Skin (guest vocalist – 2007)
- The Screamin' Lords – Long Live Me (guest vocalist – 2007)
- Liberty N' Justice – Independence Day (guest vocalist – 2007)
- The Rocket Scientists – Looking Backward - The 2007 Sessions (guest vocalist- 2007)
- Lana Lane – Gemini (backing vocals – 2007)
- Don Dokken – Solitary (backing vocals – 2008)
- Trans-Siberian Orchestra – Night Castle (backing vocals – 2009)
- Moonstone Project – Hidden in Time (guest vocalist – 2009)
- Liberty N' Justice – Light It Up (guest vocalist – 2010)
- Chris Bickley – Tapestry of souls (guest vocalist – 2012)
Tribute albums
- Smoke on the Water: A Tribute to Deep Purple (1994)
- A Tribute to Grand Funk Railroad...an American Band (2000)
- A Millennium Tribute to Sammy Hagar (2006)
Soundtracks
- Rich Girl (1991)
- Dish Dogs (two songs – 1998)
- Chasing Destiny (1998)
- Totally Irresponsible (1998)
- Killer Bud (2000)
- Kill Speed (one song – 2010)
