Keats House
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Music
Press
Leaving Mount A on a high note
May 02, 2005
SACKVILLE, NB — What’s it like to be an ‘up and coming’ face on the Maritime music scene and still be a student practising away for finals within the walls of Mount Allison’s Marjorie Young Bell Conservatory of Music? Jolene and Sharlene Keats can answer that in one word — busy. The set of identical twins will graduate from Mount Allison’s music program together this spring and are definitely starting to make their mark on the music industry.
Jolene explains, “I initially started my degree at MUN but Sharlene chose Mount A from the start. When our family moved from Newfoundland to Nova Scotia, I decided that if Sharlene and I were going to continue making music together I was going to have to move to the mainland too. I started at Mount A two years ago and it’s been a wonderful experience.” Jolene is majoring in piano and sings and plays guitar. Sharlene is majoring in voice and has recently started playing the fiddle.
The Keats sisters are heading to Halifax after graduation where they have both secured jobs within their field. Sharlene has already begun working with the Canadian Conservatory of Music as a full-time teacher while Jolene has accepted a position with SOCAN (The Society of Composers, Authors, and Music Publishers of Canada) in their Dartmouth office.
Although both will be working full-time, Sharlene and Jolene plan to continue performing and are going to be recording their first album this summer. Says Jolene, “We’ve got a few upcoming shows booked; one that we’re really excited about is the Songwriter’s Circle at the Empress Theatre in Moncton on June 24.”
Both sisters credit the size of Mount Allison with many of their recent performing opportunities. “We’ve had the chance to play with so many different people here on a personal level. When you’re at a school, and in a town this small, you’re able to do so much. We’ve played a lot of shows and have been on two Conduct Becoming albums, a fund raiser for the Cancer Society, all great experiences that partnered well with our degree programs.”
The girls’ next local show is scheduled for May 7 at George’s Roadhouse beginning at 10 p.m. Also performing are graduating students Kyle McDavid and Mike O'Brien, and Mount Allison alumnus Mike Allison. For more information about Jolene and Sharlene Keats please visit www.joleneandsharlene.com.
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For more information please contact Laura Dillman, Mount Allison University, tel: 364-2600 (ldillman@mta.ca).
http://www.mta.ca/news/index.cgi?id=740 - Laura Dillman, MTA communications
Discography
Coming soon: Full length release 'Somewhere New'
Jolene and Sharlene EP 2006
Single: Keep me Surrounded
Featured on Canso Causeway 50th Anniversary CD
Release date: Aug. 11, 2005
Single: Raining Down
Featured on Conduct Becoming 2005
Release date: March 30, 2005
Single: Ain't That Always the Way
Featured on Mount Allison University's Conduct Becoming 2004 Compilation
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
THE AVONLEA bring refreshing vocal harmonies and good old down home feeling to Canadian country music. They are currently working on new material and will be bringing that east coast sound to their uniquely styled country music. THE AVONLEA is comprised of twin sisters, Sharlene and Jolene Keats, who hail from Newfoundland and now call Nova Scotia home, whose debut full-length album Free at Last was released in 2011 under their country duo name The Keats. The album featured the clever pop / country tune Handsome, which was a finalist in the prestigious 2010 International Songwriting Competition and was penned by Sharlene, Jolene and Winnipeg Songwriter / Producer Chris Burke-Gaffney. The Keats were East Coast Music Association (ECMA) Country Recording of the Year nominees for 2010 and 2012. Their debut music video for "CowGirl Up" as The Keats was released in 2013.
Joining them on fiddle and vocals is well-known Cape Breton fiddler Rosie MacKenzie, who is no stranger to the stage, having performed as the youngest member of The Cottars from 2001-2007. Rosie released her debut solo project in 2009, called The MacKenzie Project, which featured veteran musicians Dave MacIsaac, Howie MacDonald and Irish vocalist Pauline Scanlon. Rosie has been winning over audiences with her electrifying musicianship, engaging stage presence and step-dancing prowess ever since. She is the latest in a proud lineage of Cape Breton fiddlers including greats such as Buddy MacMaster, Jerry Holland, Natalie MacMaster and Ashley MacIsaac.
The Keats - Cowgirl Up
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Stuczc4BG0
The Keats - Handsome Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJolPn6TXMc
Their song Give me a ring and accompanying video was a hit on CMT and among their Youtube fans.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsclWb4QljQ
More about Rosie:
In Fall 2009, Rosie released her debut solo album entitled The MacKenzie Project, featuring one of Ireland's most stunning vocalists, Pauline Scanlon. This album produced by Donogh Hennessy, formerly of the groundbreaking Irish band Lnasa, also includes Celtic music veterans Dave MacIsaac and Howie MacDonald. Rosie has toured internationally with The Cottars, John McDermott, Nathan Rogers, and The Tom Fun Orchestra.
When Rosie carries that proud musical legacy onto the stage, she does so with an unmistakable flare and passion, which immediately draws the audience in, and captivates them throughout her performance. And Rosie is downright kinetic when she takes the stage interacting with fellow musicians and the audience.
As a member of The Cottars, Rosie toured the world from Japan to Denmark, and shared the stage with Celtic music titans such as Altan, Natalie MacMaster, and The Chieftains, whom she joined for a 23-city tour of the United States in early 2006. Her fiddle playing and vocals were prominently featured on three critically acclaimed Cottars albums, Made In Cape Breton (2002), On Fire (2004), and on the 2006 Rounder Records release Forerunner
More about Rosie with the Cottars:
In 2002 The Cottars released their first CD Made In Cape Breton, on Warner Music. The CD won an East Coast Music Award for Best New Artist in February of the following year and a nomination for Best Artist. The ECMA broadcast received a standing ovation and the performance was nominated for an Gemini Award.
The band toured successfully in promotion of Made In Cape Breton, this time giving private performances for Senator Ted Kennedy and his family in Massachusetts. Back home in Canada, a CBC-TV Special entitled Meet The
Cottars was aired across the country. Later in the year, they appeared at several major North American music-festivals (including Newport Folk Festival, sharing the bill with Bob Dylan).inappropriate times. It is a harmony that stands the test of adversity, that is neatly woven through the seams of a family accord. It is a hearty laugh at the past, and a hopeful vision and of what is yet to come. We will now embrace everything that we have been afraid of, and we celebrate!
'Beauty, in things on earth and things above When every childish fashion Has vanished from my Rhyme Will I grey-gone in passion Give to an after time Hymning and Harmony.'
Band Members
Links
