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After being raised on classic Country music and heavily influenced by his musician father Bob Keeley, it is no surprise to anyone that Joe Keeley is now following in his father’s footsteps. As he was growing up, he would often join his father on tours while he was fronting the popular Country rock band Blackjack in the 1990s.
Having experienced life on the road where he was surrounded by this type of music he quickly fell in love with, artists like Steve Earle, Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash, all considered ‘outlaws’ of Country music. As much to the dismay of his mother, Joe found artists like these to be of a huge inspiration to him and his music.
Joe left school at 17 and although he initially got a normal day job it was his ambition that he would eventually be able pursue a career in music. Joe is a prolific songwriter and I had the pleasure of seeing him solo supporting the visiting American Country trio, Royal South at Basildon in November 2018. Royal South includes Essex guitarist Glen Mitchell (now a resident of Nashville) who fronted his own band, The Troubleshooters, in the early 1990s; they were Bob Keeley’s first experience of playing in a Country band.
Joe’s Basildon set comprised all original thought provoking songs drawing on his own life experiences and it was quickly apparent to me and many others there that he was a very talented songwriter. That was the night that Joe told his parents that he intended to give up his day job to pursue a career as a musician.
Joe has played in many bars around the country and has also earned a good living busking in Ipswich, Suffolk and networking with many other people in the music industry, having collaborated with other musicians on social media platforms.
In 2017 Joe joined his father on stage for the first time and in 2018 The Keeleys Duo was launched onto the Country circuit and have been proving very popular ever since. They were nominated as CCN newcomer of the year in 2018 and in 2019, 2020 and in 2021 they were nominated as duo of the year.
Having grown up being somewhat of a misfit with a stubborn passion for a very niche genre of music, writing songs that are authentic and from truth is very important to Joe.
He began performing solo on the Country circuit in the summer of 2019 and he has now teamed up with three other Suffolk musicians to form the The Joe Keeley Band. He has managed to create a sound that draws from both Xountry and rock influences.
Joe’s music is very lyric driven, with inspiration from his love of outlaw Country stars creating a unique style which can be appreciated by Country music fans of all ages. His debut album, Headstrong was released February 2019 and was a top 10 selling UK Country album. His follow up album, Blackwood, which was released in June 2020, topped the charts as the UK’s number one Country album.