this is my OLD blog, new one is on tumblr

This is my OLD blog... I moved to Tumblr in 2012 and this site is an orphan. To read news from 2012 onwards go to zoekeating.tumblr.com Thank you!

Tshirts, Tours n Toddlers

Hello Dear Listeners,

By popular request, tshirts are available for sale on my website. Now you can have a cello-action-figure silhouette of me emblazoned on your chest with which to, um, impress your friends and family with both your sublime style and taste in music. The shirt was designed by yours truly, made and printed in the US of A and will be personally mailed to you by my sister. You can find these shirts (and posters too!) at http://music.zoekeating.com.




More tours are being plotted for next year. So far we’ve got the Midwest in February and then Virginia, southern California, the Northwest and Ecuador in April/May (those places are all near each other, right?). I’ll also be an artist ambassador at the Direct2Fan camp in MIDEM in Cannes in January if you’d like to come and hang with me on the French Riviera in the middle of winter. Tickets for all these dates (and more are coming) at http://bit.ly/zoetour.

In other exciting news, I’ll be performing live with San Francisco’s legendary ODC Dance at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in March. More about that one as it draws closer. Have I missed anything? Well, I can definitively say that I am WORKING ON A NEW ALBUM. I might even release it next year…. but I am the parent of a toddler so I don’t like to promise too much.

I guess that’s it. I hope you enjoy the long, dark days if you’re in the Northern Hemisphere…the long, light days if you’re in the Southern Hemisphere…and the equally light and dark days if you’re near the Equator.

Thank you for listening and for your continued support!

best wishes to you and yours,


Zoe



Feb 11 Evanston, IL: SPACE

Feb 13 Iowa City, IA: Englert Civic Theater

Feb 14 Omaha, NE: Waiting Room

Feb 17 Scottsbluff, NE: Midwest Theater

Feb 18 Denver, CO: Soiled Dove

Mar 15, 17, 21, 23 San Francisco, CA: Yerba Buena Center for the Arts

Apr 12 Minneapolis, MN: Cedar Cultural Center

Apr 14 Reston, VA: Reston Community Center

Apr 26 Los Angeles, CA: Largo at the Coronet

Apr 27 UC Riverside, CA: Culver Center of the Arts

May 3 Seattle, WA: Neptune

May 4 Portland, OR: Aladdin Theater

May 17 Quito, Ecuador: Teatro National Sucre

concert tickets: http://bit.ly/zoetour

tshirts & albums: http://music.zoekeating.com

Northeast & Midwest tours, NPR & Tears for Fears

Hello Cellofriends,

I've been having a very productive and enjoyable month of composing. It really is such a joy to be writing new music and its been just spilling out. I'm trying to capture it as quickly as possible before it evaporates (I don't know if it WOULD evaporate, but better safe than sorry).

A little interruption though to announce some things....

In case any of you are NPR listeners, I'm on All Things Considered today. Tune into your local radio station, or you can hear it on the NPR site.


I have short Northeast tour planned for November. There are more dates coming, but here are the three confirmed so far:

Nov 5 - Boston, MA
Nov 6 - Burlington, VT
Nov 18 - New York, NY

And in two days, I'll get to live out my fangirl dream, and play a cello version of Mad World with Tears for Fears at their Northern California shows this week.

There are other things:

- A speaking engagement on Sept 12 at the SF Music Tech Summit
- A short performance on Oct 3 at the Fillmore in SF to kick of the SF Mayoral Candidates Forum.
- The November 3 premier of the Kepler Project at the SF California Academy of Science Morrison Planetarium. I'm currently composing the score and it's an inspiring subject to write music for: snowflakes, harmony of the spheres, paradigm shift. Plus it will happen in a DOME.
- A Midwest tour in Feb 2012
- A new work for the Low End String Quartet that will premier in April 2012.

Tickets and details for all these events can be found HERE.



Thank you, thank you for listening!

celloly yours, Zoe

New Video: The Avant Cellist

A couple of weeks before I left to go on tour, a crew came north to the forest to shoot a short documentary about me. Most interviews have tended to focus on either the technology I use, the business of my career or my use of social media. So it was refreshing, and anomalous, to be asked about music for once. The video crew wanted to know about my artistic life and inspiration and point of view. But what makes the video even more unusual is that this wasn't made by an indy documentarian or a media outlet....but by Intel as part of their Visual Life campaign.

If you know me, you already know that I don't do endorsements (well, to be honest, no one has ever asked) and that I choose my licensing clients very carefully (you'll never hear my music in a Coca Cola ad for example). So for the record, I was not paid to do this video. So far everyone I've met at Intel has been genuinely interested in and supportive of the arts. So if they want to highlight that support with their campaign, I think its a rare example of corporate intent and artistic purpose dovetailing. I'm ok with it.

Its beautifully done and I think they captured me and my artistic life extremely well (although I find it hard to watch myself on video without putting my fingers in my ears and diving off my chair to hide under the table every 30 seconds). Thank you Intel.

Hope you enjoy it.

A tour...and shows with Kaki King & Radiolab

Hooray, an "Into The Trees" tour is finally coming into focus!

I've said it before, booking seems to be the last hurdle for a DIY artist. My previous efforts at lining up concerts in a logical geographical order haven't always been a success ;-) These new headlining concerts are thanks to my new booking agent.....(thank you Mark Lourie of Skyline for helping me get to my fans)

I'm going to visit the continent in stages. This first round I have concerts on both coasts, and a few dates in Europe. We'll visit more of the continent in May and June. I say "we" since for the foreseeable future I tour with Cellofamily in tow (i.e. #cellobaby and #cellobabydaddy to those of you who follow me on Twitter...or Alex and Jeff to everyone else!). No doubt this experience of touring with a baby will lead to a fair amount of mommy-blogging....I apologize in advance.

Click here for Into the Trees Tour dates and ticket info

Radiolab shows...

In March I'm pleased to announce that I'm joining the creators of my very favorite radio show, Radiolab, as they hit the road on a three-city tour...

"Jad and Robert will be performing an upcoming episode on symmetry, and how it shapes our very existence—from the origin of the universe, to what we see when we look in the mirror. We'll search for love in ancient Greece, head to modern-day Princeton for a look inside our brains, and revisit an unlikely headline from the Oval Office circa 1979. And one of our favorite musicians, the amazing Zoe Keating, will be on stage to provide live cello scoring!"

We're performing the show in NYC, LA and Seattle.
Tickets for these very special dates can be purchased here


Kaki King shows...

AND last but certainly not least.... I have four concerts on the West coast supporting Kaki King! Kaki is amazing and I love her music (did you hear the score to "Into The Wild"?). I can't tell you how pleased I am to be opening up for her. We have plans to do a little special something together too...

Ticket info for these shows & the rest of my tour can be found on my performing page.

So what is one of my performances like?
In case you've never seen me live before, hopefully this review will give you an idea...
Zoe Keating at the SF Independent 1/19/2011

Thank you, thank you for all your continued support. I hope to play for you this year.

Celloly yours,

Zoe

Feb 27: The Compound Grill, Phoenix, AZ
Feb 28: UCSD The Loft, La Jolla, CA (Supporting Kaki King)
Mar 2: Largo at the Coronet, Los Angeles, CA (Supporting Kaki King)
Mar 3: College of the Sequoias Theater, Visalia, CA (Supporting Kaki King)
Mar 4: Yoshi's, San Francisco, CA (Supporting Kaki King)
Mar 6: Le Poisson Rouge, New York, NY (2nd show added at 9pm!)
Mar 11: Red Room at Cafe 939,Berklee College of Music, Boston, MA
Mar 14: Radiolab Live: Symmetry, NYU Skirball Center, NY
Mar 17: Teatro de la Ciudad, Mexico City, (Supporting Andrew Bird)
Mar 20: The Kate Theater, Old Saybrook, CT
Mar 23: Radiolab Live: Symmetry,UCLA Royce Hall, Los Angeles, CA
Mar 29: The Triple Door, Seattle, WA
Mar 30: Radiolab Live: Symmetry,5th Avenue Theater, Seattle, WA
Mar 31: The Aladdin Theater, Portland, OR (tix onsale 2/11/11)

A few shows in Jan & March

Ahoy me cello friends,

Baby Alex (aka Cellobaby) has shown himself to be a happy sailor. He seems to enjoy new places, people and singing along during my concerts. So while the going is good, I have a plethora of performances in the approaching months. If you don't see your fair port in this list please do not be alarmed! In the coming year I do really intend to visit as many locales as possible, but I must do it in small chunks. Stay tuned for more concerts as I book them.

One huge way you can help....tell me where you are! While we might occasionally frequent the same cafes in the astral plane (you know that one with the red sofas?)...I only know the terrestrial location of a small fraction of you. To tell me where you are, just sign up on my email list (I won't write you too often, don't worry).

Lastly, I wanted to mention that (cough) my cd "Into The Trees" could be the perfect gift...say for a certain someone you'd like to impress with your sublime musical taste...or maybe as a peace offering to an estranged relative...or maybe to the person who seems to have everything and you never know what to give them. My sister Laura has been doing an amazing job sending cds off to every corner of the earth, and if you need them sent speedily or to be gift wrapped, she can do it (just say so in the order). They are available at the usual place: http://music.zoekeating.com

Here are those shows in 2011...

Jan 19: SAN FRANCISCO
The Independent
628 Divisidero Street
San Francisco, CA 94117


Mar 6: NEW YORK
Le Poisson Rouge
New York, NY


Mar 11: BOSTON
Cafe 939
939 Boylston St
Boston, MA 02115


Mar 17: MEXICO CITY
Teatro de la Ciudad
Mexico City

Mar 20: OLD SAYBROOK
The Kate: Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center
Old Saybrook, CT


Thank you yet again.

celloly yours,

Zoe

NPR, BBC, NBC and other acronymns

I've had a stroke of media luck this last week. I was interviewed by Laura Sydell for NPR's All Things Considered. Then, over the weekend BBC played me on "Introducing with Tom Robinson" and NBC used one of my songs (without telling me, ahem) in a Dateline special about Hurricane Katrina. Not a bad week!

NPR: Women Musicians Seize on Social Media

BBC Introducing with Tom Robinson (I'm about 1hr30 in)

NBC Dateline: Hurricane Katrina, the First Five Years (my music at 06:51)


Right now I'm working on three things. First, my composition for the 01SJ Biennial with digital artist Robert Hodgin. We'll be premiering a BRAND NEW WORK in San Jose on Sept 18th. Here's where you can find out more details about both this incredible art festival and the concert.

01SJ Biennial "Build Your Own World"

And second, I'm recording some more cello loops for Mark Isham for his score to a film called "Warrior" (can't remember if I mentioned it, but less than 1 day before baby Alex was born, I recorded parts for another of his scores...a Robert Redford film called "The Conspirator"). Then, I leave in less than 2 weeks for Switzerland, where I'm performing in the tiny town of Ilanz and in Berne. Thank goodness baby Alex seems to enjoy traveling...so far ;-)

Zoe Keating at Cinema Sil Platz: Sept 9 & 10


My concert with Apex Dance at Boulder Chautauqua was heaps of fun. Thank you to Apex Dance, Dan Gesmer of Seismic Skate and the Colorado Music Festival for hosting Jeff, Alex and I and for making my first major concert as a mother logistically possible. And thank you to everyone in Colorado who came to see us!




My next goal is to do a national tour to play for as many of you as possible. I'll need your help in figuring out which cities to visit...but more about that in my next post.



Anyway, I hope you've had a wonderful summer, nutty weather and all.

Thank you, thank you for listening....

celloly yours, Zoe