Pamela Keld

THE ARTS
COMOX VALLEY RECORD FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2006 COURTENAY, B.C.
COURTENAY

Story by Beth Scott
Photo by Carl Tessmann

With a folk-based pop musical
styling that rings of Nora
Jones, Courtenay’s Pamela
Keld is making sweet music of
her own.
Keld has been making music ever
since she can remember.
“Growing up I would listen to my
dad playing in his rock band and
I would just boogie,” she said in a
recent interview. “I wanted to be on
stage and boogie with
him — I was about
five.”
With what the
27-year-old Keld
describes as “absolutely
incredible
support” from her
parents she has
spent a lifetime creating music.
At just eight years old Keld said
she went out for, and was accepted
into, a child choir that travelled Vancouver
Island singing harmonies. At
10 she enjoyed learning to play the
piano.
But it was as a student at G.P.
Vanier Secondary School that Keld
felt the greatest opportunity to develop
musically.
“We had a high school program
that included guitar classes,” she
said. “I always knew I wanted to be a
singer...the guitar gave me a voice.”
After graduation Keld moved to
Vancouver to study vocal jazz at
Capilano College. “It was a huge culture
shock moving to Vancouver,” she
said. “But I am glad I did it as it was
inspiring. It also gave me the opportunity
to work with my music more.”
Keld said that while in Vancouver
she entered a talent contest that she
saw advertised. It led to opportunities
to play in a variety of venues
and genres including musical theatre,
coffee houses, recording studios
and local bands.
R and B, pop, Celtic, country or
jazz, Keld said she has enjoyed them
all but along the way has developed
her own personal style.
After moving back to the Valley,
Keld continued to write songs and
play her guitar at every opportunity.
For the past decade Keld has worked
diligently on her music which has
resulted in the release of her first
CD Maybe back in July.
Maybe has appeal to a wide audience
as Keld’s angelic voice draws
listeners who are looking for pleasant
music for a
social gathering
around a campfire
or dining table,
to teens allowing
Keld’s music to
take space on their
iPods.
“I like her stuff,”
said Bianca Orr, 16.
“It’s a little more
folk than I would
normally listen to,
but her voice is
nice.”
Keld, who wrote
all the songs on the CD except for he
cover of Janice Joplin’s Brand New
Key, said working as a singer/songwriter
is something she finds very
satisfying but a process that leaves
her a bit vulnerable as well.
“When you are writing the songs
and then performing them, you are
naked as you are exposing your
soul,” she said. “But then singing can
be easier than talking sometimes.”
Keld describes her music as creations
derived from raw emotions
that we have all
felt. Emotions, she
explains, are what
makes us all alike.
If you listen to not
only the lyrics, but
the movement and
feeling of the music
you will find a
piece of yourself in
every song on her
CD.
“I can’t write
songs that are not
true to me,” she
said. “It’s all about
my feelings no matter what that is at
the time, and that is something all of
us share.”
Keld is bringing a mix of seasonal
music, as well as tunes from her CD,
to her new show, Winterpiece, at the
Old Church Theatre on Dec. 17

Joining Keld on stage
is Jordan Stringer, who
provided drums, percussion,
electric guitar, train
whistle and spoken word
on Maybe.
Winterpiece tickets are
$15 and are available at
Sound Advice Music Shop,
Bop City Records, Cody
and Company, Blue Heron
books, Tarbells Coffee Bar
or by calling 898-1088.
Partial proceeds from the
concert will be donated to
the Pennies for Presents
campaign.

Doors for Winterpiece
open at 7 p.m. with the concert
starting at 8 p.m.
For more information on
Keld visit her website www.
pamelakeld.ca; for more
information on Stringer
head to www.jordanstringer.
com.
. - Comox Valley Record