For as long as he can remember (which, given how bad his memory is, may actually
only be the middle of last week), all Keith ever wanted to do was to be able to
play the guitar (unfortunately, the rest of the band think that still applies !)This stemmed from seeing the Shadows with Cliff in Summer Holiday at the tender age of 5 (all together now…Aaah). He’d drive his parents mad, continually singing the songs over and over and turning the living room into a makeshift replica of that famous Routemaster. It wouldn’t have been so bad, but he made them buy tickets to be able to come in and watch TV!
Finally, after much begging, his Dad bought him a Spanish guitar, hand-made by two Spanish firemen; Hose A and Hose B. He was overjoyed, but this didn’t last long, as he soon realised he didn’t actually know what to do with it. It subsequently sat neglected in the corner of his bedroom, until his early teens when he decided to dust it off and give it another go in a feeble attempt to woo teenage girls.
In spite of this lack of knowledge, he did not give up and some of his earliest musical memories are of playing along to his Dad’s (now well worn) copy of The Shadows Greatest Hits. The breakthrough came when he joined his first band at the age of 15. This, of course made him unbelievably cool, which also got him his first serious girlfriend.
From these early beginnings, Keith has played in numerous bands over the years, until recently, when he has finally come full circle and, having joined the Bootleg Shadows, is back to playing all those great Shadows tunes he started with.
As you can plainly see, Keith was chosen because of his flowing locks, an uncanny resemblance to Bruce Welch himself. He is keen to emphasise that he has the most difficult role in the band, as, playing rhythm guitar, he has to play all 6 strings at the same time.