About Me
With a concert pianist grandmother and folk singer-guitarist mother, Kathleen's early music memories recall singing along with her Mom leading the Campfire Girl Troop in rounds of "If I Had A Hammer," not to mention exposure to everyone from Neil Diamond to Willie Nelson to Peter, Paul, and Mary. O'Keefe's earliest recording was a retainer-mouthed cover of Edie Brickell's "Circle Of Friends," created with the groundbreaking technology of a blank tape and jambox microphone. Her sophomore effort was a middle school recording of Biz Markie's "You Got What I Need" in a Sea World studio booth. Both recordings were met with little success and absolutely no critical acclaim. Cutting her performance teeth in theatre and choir while growing up in Dallas, O'Keefe first picked up the guitar in high school to keep up with her older brother. Along with her fake id (for age 18), she tagged along to his gigs, early Rhett Miller (Old 97's) shows, the first (best) Lollapalooza, and more...thus contributing to Kathleen's healthy departure from the land of Paula Abdul to the enlightened world of The Replacements, The Stone Roses, The Ramones, Fugazi; to Liz Phair, Whiskeytown, SonVolt, Wilco, Lucinda Williams, Ani DiFranco and on and on. Honing her original tunes since college, O'Keefe has shared stages with esteemed talents including Trish Murphy, Reckless Kelly, and Jason Boland and the Stragglers; opened for acts like Susan Gibson, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Cody Canada and Stoney LaRue; and performed at festivals including the Old Settler's Music Festival and the MusicFest at Steamboat. O'Keefe contributed vocals on Jason Boland and the Straggler's release, Somewhere In The Middle, as well as backing vocals on the brand new Micky and the Motorcars album, Careless. Though currently a solo artist, Kathleen O'Keefe aims to find a band of collaborative cohorts to support the release of her debut album, expected in early 2007. Armed with a brand spanking new EP backed by Shane Vannerson (Micky and the Motorcars); Cody Braun, Willy Braun, and David Abeyta (Reckless Kelly); Bryan Shaw and the multi-tasking skills of Adam Odor (Bass and Cedar Creek Studio's Head Engineer), Kathleen O'Keefe is rolling up her sleeves and ready to rock it to the next level.
