Keda Cherry Tree was born on the 27th June 1985 at the White Horse free festival in Wiltshire. She would have been born at Stonehenge but The Battle of the Bean Field put pay to that idea. Her Mother was a busker and her Father was a vegan shoelace retailer. Her Mother took Keda and left soon after her first Birthday when they again found themselves in confrontation with the police, this time at Stoney Cross. The shoelace business had taken a downward turn and her Father’s prospects began to look unstable. She spent the next few years living in a beautiful velvet-lined guitar case in the bars between Nosher’s home for wayward women in Wales and the Spanish branch not far from Malaga. It was here that Keda, aged 3, started her professional music career. To entertain her while her Mum busked, Keda was given a little tin whistle, the top was broken so it only made a tiny sound but enough for her to hear where was the right place to put your fingers. So she played along with her Mum til there was enough money in the hat, then she’d grab a handful and leg it to the nearest sweet shop. Summer 1989 found Keda and her Mum in Cork, Ireland. Her Mum had fallen in love with a poet and wasn’t as much fun as before, preferring to spend her time listening to him talking in bars than playing on the streets with Keda, so Keda decided to go solo. While her Mum nipped into the bar for a quick Guinness, Keda stayed outside and played her broken whistle. Her first 10 minutes earnings was £9, enough to buy a new whistle that worked, a big bag of sweets and something nice for dinner. That year she got a violin for Christmas, but having got it out of the box once she announced that she couldn’t play the violin and put it away for good. In 1991 Keda, her Mum and 1 year old Jack joined forces with The Wagstaff Family (Geek Bouzouki, Amber aged 8, whistle and Rico aged 7, juggler) for a tour of Europe. Amber and Keda put together a set of beautiful harmony whistle tunes while Rico juggled fire. They toured France, Spain, Germany, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria and Greece before settling with baby sister Lily in Brittany, France, where Keda convinced the local school teacher that even if her parents moved she could move in with the teacher. Keda took up guitar and writing songs while continuing the whistle and trying the mandolin; she formed a band with a couple of local kids and stole the scene at the Mauron fête de la musique inciting an invitation to play at the Centre Cultural. She tested the limits of the local education system getting expelled then reinstated, then getting into a Bilingual College where instead of taking the easy option and doing French and English she decided to do French and German. During 2 years at Glasgow University she picked up the cello, worked as a DJ on the Subcity Radio, then spent 2 years at the university in Rennes studying psychology. Keda is currently studying Nuero Science (don't even ask) at Marsielle University and working on her first solo album "You Leave Traces" , due for release manana.
Myspace Layouts - Myspace Editor - Image Hosting
