Biography
Bill Keith left a lasting mark on contemporary banjo technique, especially within the evolution of newgrass, and inspired an informal picking approach that still bears his surname. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, he started banjo instruction early and also mastered piano and ukulele. As a teenager he performed in several Dixieland ensembles, yet by the closing years of the 1950s he had turned toward folk music under the influence of Pete Seeger and Earl Scruggs. While enrolled at Amherst College he studied both musicians’ approaches through printed manuals and gradually forged an original method known as melodic, chromatic, or “Keith” style, devised expressly so he could replicate fiddle tunes on the five-string banjo. In 1958 he joined forces with Amherst classmate Jim Rooney to appear at nearby coffeehouses and college venues; promoter Manny Greenhill soon brought them together to establish the Connecticut Folklore Society, which organized touring campus shows across New England.
After receiving his degree and completing a short tour of duty in the U.S. Air Force Reserve, Keith apprenticed in banjo construction under Tom Morgan. He next helped form the Kentuckians alongside Rooney, mandolinist Frank Wakefield, and guitarist Red Allen. Earl Scruggs reached out to him in 1963 to prepare tablature for the instructional volume Earl Scruggs and the 5-String Banjo. That same year Keith and fellow Amherst alumnus Dan Bump created an innovative tuning peg that Scruggs endorsed, lending his name to the enterprise they launched in 1964. During the mid-1960s Keith entered Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys, appearing under the name Brad Keith; eight months later he departed to pursue session work and finished the year by joining Jim Kweskin’s Jug Band, remaining four years. He subsequently played with the Blue Velvet Band before setting the banjo aside in 1968 to concentrate on pedal steel guitar.
Keith relocated to Woodstock, New York, in 1970 and spent a year accompanying Jonathan Edwards, later collaborating with Judy Collins as well. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s he and Rooney toured the United States and Europe, where Keith cultivated an especially devoted audience in France. Back in Woodstock he contributed banjo to the Woodstock Mountain Review; in 1977 he briefly wrote a column for Frets magazine. In 1989 he reunited with Rooney, Eric Weissberg, and Kenny Koseck under the revived name New Blue Velvet Band. He continued to perform and record sporadically into the new millennium, appearing as a guest on Beausoleil’s Alligator Purse in 2009 and releasing instructional booklets packaged with CD or DVD accompaniments. Bill Keith died of cancer at his Woodstock residence in October 2015.
After receiving his degree and completing a short tour of duty in the U.S. Air Force Reserve, Keith apprenticed in banjo construction under Tom Morgan. He next helped form the Kentuckians alongside Rooney, mandolinist Frank Wakefield, and guitarist Red Allen. Earl Scruggs reached out to him in 1963 to prepare tablature for the instructional volume Earl Scruggs and the 5-String Banjo. That same year Keith and fellow Amherst alumnus Dan Bump created an innovative tuning peg that Scruggs endorsed, lending his name to the enterprise they launched in 1964. During the mid-1960s Keith entered Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys, appearing under the name Brad Keith; eight months later he departed to pursue session work and finished the year by joining Jim Kweskin’s Jug Band, remaining four years. He subsequently played with the Blue Velvet Band before setting the banjo aside in 1968 to concentrate on pedal steel guitar.
Keith relocated to Woodstock, New York, in 1970 and spent a year accompanying Jonathan Edwards, later collaborating with Judy Collins as well. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s he and Rooney toured the United States and Europe, where Keith cultivated an especially devoted audience in France. Back in Woodstock he contributed banjo to the Woodstock Mountain Review; in 1977 he briefly wrote a column for Frets magazine. In 1989 he reunited with Rooney, Eric Weissberg, and Kenny Koseck under the revived name New Blue Velvet Band. He continued to perform and record sporadically into the new millennium, appearing as a guest on Beausoleil’s Alligator Purse in 2009 and releasing instructional booklets packaged with CD or DVD accompaniments. Bill Keith died of cancer at his Woodstock residence in October 2015.
Albums
