KEITH HARKIN
SOLO ARTISTKEITH HARKIN
Keith Harkin is an Irish singer songwriter and guitar-playing minstrel who has been singing his way into the hearts of music lovers since the wee age of four. His musical talents have brought him across the world from the UK to Canada to Australia to America and back, over and over again in his past eight years touring. He has performed many times at the Tavistock Festival in the UK, and at the Glasgowbury Festival in Northern Ireland and has composed and recorded songs for the BBC show “Dha Theanga”, an Irish language program on the BBC in which he played a lead role.
Keith was one of the first artists to be signed to the Verve Records under the new leadership of Chairman David Foster, the Grammy® Award-winning producer who also served as Executive Producer on Keith’s debut solo CD. The self-titled album’s twelve songs range between original compositions and classic covers illustrating Keith’s gifts as both an interpreter and a writer. The song selections on his debut album truly reflect Harkin’s musical passions—”I’ve learned that there’s nothing worse than doing a song you don’t love,” he says. As a huge Van Morrison fan, Keith takes particular pride in his version of “Have I Told You Lately That I Love You,” performed as a duet with Colbie Caillat.
Immediately after this first release two years ago, Keith set to work writing all of his own material for his highly anticipated, second album which he released in Oct 2015. Titled “On Mercy Street” the album takes a different, deeper and more personal direction into Keith’s musical styling. Collaborating with long time friends and talented producers, Andy Wright and Gavin Goldberg, Keith brought his own style, sound and vibes to life in Sphere Studios, London. Keith’s love for the classics (Don Henley, Glen Campbell, Tom Waits, Neil Young & Van Morrison to name a few) is reflected in his collection of folk-infused, acoustic pop sounds.
While busy at work on his solo career, Keith has continued to perform as a lead soloist in Celtic Thunder, touring Australia and the United States 2014, and the US and Canada in 2015. His role in Celtic Thunder has brought him to write and record a number of his own songs for the show; perform for over a million fans worldwide; record numerous specials for Public Television and visit the White House to perform for President and Mrs Obama.
Keith’s career with Celtic Thunder began back in 2007 when, on returning back to Derry from a recording session in London, Keith heard that auditions for Celtic Thunder were underway and decided to chance calling in. He auditioned and was ultimately selected as one of the principals for the new Celtic Thunder show. The self-described “singer-songwriter-surfer” does not fit into any particular role in Celtic Thunder. As an avid surfer, though, he’s not afraid of taking risks, and is able to enjoy the sense of artistic achievement he’s already attained. When Keith isn’t touring or recording, you can catch him at the beach surfing or continuing the gypsy travel life from adventure to adventure. But always with a guitar nearby.
Keith has left Celtic Thunder to work on his dream as a Solo Artist.