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Selection of Holiday
Patron
1 A—
Prince Ave.
UGA Medical
Campus
> 1452 Prince Ave (beside Sam's Texaco)
Normallown, Athens
706 353 8881
tlabbn Sang Bass
(Anti the Turms) otneb Right lit)
t ocal producer John Keane is well known
for his work with R.E.M, the Indigo Girls,
Widespread Panic, Uncle Tupelo and
| other noteworthy acts; he's down-to-earth,
friendly and highly sought-after in Athens
and elsewhere. Keane may be a big-shot pro
ducer, but he has another fulltime gig: dad.
Since his twin daughters, Paige and
Rachel, were around 13 or 14, Keane has
been accompanying them on traditional
Christmas songs, performing these tunes
for friends, family and the sheer fun of it.
Calling themselves We Three Keanes, the trio
% decided to take it to the next level this year
and record an album of their Christmas cov
ers called 0 Christmas, Where Art Thou?
For Keane and his daughters, this project
is chiefly about the experience and second
arily about the future. "We had some friends
that also sang and played guitar," says
Rachel, "and we wanted to make a CD with
them just for fun."
"We always liked playing Christmas
songs," adds Paige, "and we already knew
them. Also, we're trying to save money for
college tuition, because we both want to go
out of state for college. We thought it'd be a
I good way to make extra money."
Clearly, Keane is an accomplished artist,
but he doesn’t try to push his kids into his
line of work. Rather, he seems to incorpo
rate his passion into family life liqhtheart-
ealy. "He did a contest earlier." says Rachel.
| "where Paige, our brother Ian and I had to
write a song, and he'd give $30 to the person
who wrote the best song. I won that one."
"Bravo, Rachel," replies Paige, in a jocu
larly begrudging (sisterly) tone. At 17, the
Keane twins have their own future ambitions,
but Paige does intend to remain on the artis
tic route. "I actually hope to pursue more of
a theater career," she says. "(Music] is more
something we do as fun, not something I'd
want to do as my job, professionally. I think
that might take some of the fun out of it."
Rachel, on the other hand, doesn't plan
on studying the arts full-time. However, she
acknowledges the need for art in her life.
"I'm actually interested in international
affairs," she says, "and I want to go to
school in Washington, D.C. But I'd definitely
do theatre and music while there. I don't
think I could give it up; I just wouldn't want
to pursue it as a career."
Recording with family members must be
a different experience from what Keane is
accustomed to, but he says that the produc
tion techniques were largely familiar on this
project.
"I didn't really approach it that differently
than I would recording a singer-songwriter
type project, except for the fact that it was
spaced out over such a long period of time.
The girls are very busy with school and vari
ous drama productions at the high school,
so I had to catch them when they weren't
busy and have them come in a little bit at
a time and record these vocals... It's pretty
low-key... really oriented toward the vocal
harmonies more than anything else."
When it comes to holiday music, there
are countless songs to pore over. The task of
oicking the right tunes seems like a daunting
one, but according to Keane, it wasn't as dif
ficult as one might think. "To me, it wasn't
really that big of a pot to choose from,
because I don't really like most Christmas
music," says Keane, with a laugh. "I let the
girls pick songs that they wanted to do, and
then I picked out a few songs... so it was
kind of a group effort."
Paige describes the experience as "a good
way to just hang out with our dad and get to
know him better." If Christmas is about fam
ily, We Three Keanes really hit the nail on the
head this year.
0 Christmas, Where Art Thou? is available
for purchase downtown at Wuxtry Records
and Chick Music as well as online via www.
johnkeanestudios.com, iTunes and Amazon.
Kevin Craig
20 FLAGPOLE.COM • DECEMBER 14,2011
