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Keith Pyle
- Avg user rating:
Out of 4 votes - Similar Artists: Beatles, U2, Lemonheads, Weezer, Juliana Hatfield, The Killers, The Strokes, Snow Patrol
Out of 4 votes
- Location: Sacramento, California, United States
- Genre: Alternative/Punk » Indie Pop
Editor's review
Rivers Cuomo taught us a lesson that we still often forget: Chirpy hooks aren't anathema to good indie pop, they're square in its sweet spot. Sacramento's Pyle paid attention while we dozed, and his new work shows the payoff in a slew of juicy guitars and sing-along vocals.
Biography
Singer/songwriter/guitarist Keith Pyle is obsessed with melody. His inspiration to write comes from years of listening to artists like Weezer, The Lemonheads, and Juliana Hatfield. Pyle credits his mother, Connie, with raising him on a "steady diet of music" throughout his 80's-spanning youth, that included The Cars, Bryan Adams, Kenny Loggins, and Fleetwood Mac. As an only-child growing up in Fresno (often referred to as "the armpit of California"), Pyle developed an undying love for popular music.
As a teen, Pyle spent many an hour standing on oil-stained concrete, banging out power chords in various garage bands. The bands would take their stabs at building cohesiveness through Pearl Jam, Guns & Roses, and Stone Temple Pilots covers. Craving more originality, Pyle began putting the pen to the paper and quickly developed a thick catalog of his own material.
In 2003, Pyle began collaborating with producer Dave Middleton and a host of studio musicians on what would become Pyle's first full-length album. In 2004, that album, ...and everything's a blur was released, and became a mild success. The songs "Waiting" [Track 2] and "Ashes Ashes" [Track 1] were soon added to college radio playlists and indie internet stations like SOMA FM.
Not one full day had passed after the release of ...and everything's a blur when Pyle and Middleton began work on a second album. The project was put on hold, however, when Pyle suffered a broken finger during a football game and could not play the guitar.
In November 2005, the sophomore album
Peace And Quiet
was finally released. The album was a much higher-quality piece than the debut, in terms of both production and songwriting.Peace And Quiet
received positive reviews from music critics. "He Jumped Ship" [Track 5] and "Rich Man" [Track 2] soon found their way into rotation on college radio and on some of the local-music-friendly stations around Sacramento, where Pyle makes his home. "He Jumped Ship" was also featured on a December 2005 podcast of Boston's Too Much Rock. "Rich Man" kicked off one Sunday night edition of Cocoa, Florida's Pop Garden Radio.Both albums can be found in local music stores around northern California, as well as through online retailers like Amazon.com, iTunes, and CD Baby.
