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World Trade Centre High Wire Stunt - 1974 - video powered by MetacafeMasthead Banner Made with MyBannerMaker.com! Click here to make your own!A Viola Keeton/Chinese Bookie BIO:THE EARLY YEARS****
Viola Keeton took up the guitar at age 8. Age nine
brought a year of clarinet playing. Concurrently,
there was track and field. There was also a great love
affair with a "Campus Green" Schwinn Stingray during
this period, as well as with cap guns, Dobermans,
cats, tall grass, snakes, colored rocks, girls, women,
boys, slot machines, sugar, baseball mits, baseballs,
footballs, matchbox cars, foreign coins, bowling,
pinball machines, television, disaster movies, and
chess class. FACTOID: Viola is Terry Riley's second
cousin. Look him up!The 1980's brought more guitar playing, much tenor sax
playing, and a lot of painting and drawing. Film and
video were explored, as were the joys of tackling the
service industry one table at a time."HEY, ART SCHOOL!"****
Viola earned an art degree from CCA in San
Francisco/Oakland, CA, and was a commissioned portrait
artist/muralist for a time.The mid nineties brought more painting and gallery
shows, a few music performances, a solo trip to Spain
and Portugal (with guitar on back), where a taste for
anchovies was developed.FIRST RECORDINGS****
In 1997, Viola started making four-track cassette
recordings, playing all the parts. In 1998, someone
named Ray helped produce "Easy Grapefruit", a new
album, which featured Aude Castagna ..o and Paul
Sprawl on beats and slide guitar.Other collaborators over the years have included, but
are not limited to: Bernie Jungle (of Warm Wires, The
Great Auk, and Lipsey Mountain String Band), Brian
Belier (duo partner in Fried Pie and The How), Robert
Gaw the drummer, B. Mossman (Warm Wires), Chad ("The
First Time Ever I Saw Your Face"), Mike the drummer
(Man's Cabin), and Faye Dunaway. These have been
rewarding experiences overall. 2000 brought the
acquisition of a Roland 8-track digital recorder,
which Viola has put to so much use, it's just about
crap now. Chinese Bookie is now transitioning into
using a Mac for recording.Viola is very proficient in doing comedic characters
(think sketch comedy, ugly faces, and
authentic-sounding accents), and is Meisner-trained,
as well as having voice actor training and experience.
Viola has appeared in plays and short videos.In 2003, a Jeff was kind enough to record some Viola
Keeton songs in his Chicago studio. "Integrity",
"Monogamy", and "Loving Man" were recorded on Goose
Island with the help of a one-woman string section,
and a guy who played in the Coctails, and a bass guy
who also played banjo.hISTORY IN THE MAKING****
Flash forward to CHINESE BOOKIE! "The Killing Of A
Chinese Bookie" is a movie from 1976. Look it up on
imdb. Read about it. See it. Draw your own
conclusions.Chinese Bookie, the music project, is Viola Keeton’s
happy/mad music backed up both on recordings and on
the stage by self-made musical tracks, including beats
from either a drum kit or electronic sources,
synthesizer lines/melodies, beatle bass, and some
guitar. When performing, Chinese Bookie incorporates
dancing, and plans have been drawn to choreograph the
moves of dancers who may appear with Chinese Bookie in
the future. Chinese Bookie is universal, but from the
New West. A new album is in the works, so stay tuned.In the last year, Chinese Bookie has played The
Rickshaw Stop, The Stud, Hotel Utah, House Of Shields,
The Blue Lagoon, The Knockout, El Rio, Thee Parkside,
Femina Potens Gallery, Creative Clash (a loft party
with a corporate sponsor), and a couple house parties,
as well as playing in The 12th Annual Mission Creek
Music Festival 2008. ASK CHINESE BOOKIE/VIOLA KEETON TO MAKE YOU A FILM OR CABLE TV SOUNDTRACK.Masthead Banner Made with MyBannerMaker.com! Click here to make your own!
