Archive: Around Town

Lansing musician Bob Keefe has just released a Christmas album with a twist: the CD blends 60s surf style with Christmas songs.  The result is Surfin' With Santa, Keefe's California take on Christmas.  The album features 12 Christmas songs and carols like you haven't heard them before.

"Surfing is in my roots," Keefe says.  "I grew up in California in the '60s and this music was extremely popular.  The music is enjoyable, but there is an 'in the know' aspect, because if you know surf music you'll recognize things I borrowed to put in my songs, either an opening riff, or a sound."

Keefe first played surf music in a band when he was in the 8th grade in California.  In some ways the album is an homage to that time.  He recorded the guitar tracks using a 1964 Sunburst Fender Stratocaster that he played in that 8th grade band.  He also used a six string bass to record the bass tracks.  He notes that Carol Kaye doubled the base parts on many of Brian Wilson's Beach Boys recordings using a similar six string bass.  It has a brighter sound than a typical four stringed bass that Keefe says is associated with the California surfing sound.

Keefe has played guitar since 1963.  He earned his BA at California State Fresno, then went on to get his Masters and Doctorate in music composition from North Texas State University.
He has taught music on the college level, and currently teaches guitar from his basement studio, and at McNeil Music in the Triphammer Mall.  He has played guitar many times in the pit orchestra of Lansing High School musicals, and performs locally with Backtalk Band and the Bob Keefe Trio.

The album is not his first recording.  Clips are available on Keefe's Web site to demonstrate his style to potential clients.  He has recorded with Backtalk Band and the Bob Keefe Trio, as well as a CD that was recorded in Texas.  Society For New Music recordings also include his compositions.

Surfin' With Santa is for sale online at CD Baby, the largest online distributor of independent music.  The site provides an avenue for musicians to publish their music without the stereotypical corporate middle-men.  To date the company claims 360,000 available albums and more than three million tracks in its catalog, that have generated $157 million paid directly to its artists.

Customers can order CDs on the site, or purchase tracks for downloading to be played on iPods or similar devices.  They also provide tracks for other online music venues including iTunes, Amazon, Rhapsody, and eMusic.  The 12 individual tracks from Surfin' With Santa are sold on the site for 99 cents, or all 12 tracks for $11.00.

Locally the CD will also be available at McNeil Music, Ithaca Guitar Works, and other local stores, as well as gigs where Keefe is playing.

This is the season when Keefe teaches guitar students Christmas songs. He teaches arrangements with a twist that makes familiar music fresh.  That might include a tempo change, a key change, doubling a part, and other techniques.


"When you sing a hymn or carol the music stays the same," he says.  "The variable is the lyrics.  So what I had to do as an instrumentalist was figure out how I could make it interesting, because if I play the melody over and over again and expect people to sing the words to the melody it's not going to happen.  So I decided to orchestrate it slightly differently -- change the key in the second verse, or tempo, or use a different instrument.  It's a challenge."

Keefe says he was a big fan of the Beach Boys as a child, and still is.  The new album is also influenced by Dick Dale, the Ventures, and Jan and Dean.  He says he has tried surfing, but is not really a surfer.

The album was recorded in the studio where Keefe teaches guitar in his home.  He used a Macbook and a mixer that are dedicated to music and recording, and multi-track Cubase studio recording software.  As he developed the tracks he played snippets to his family and students to gauge how listeners would respond.

"I wanted to make this happy sounding with just a little bit of a different twist on what holiday music is about.

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