Billy Keane

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Performer;Songwriter;Vocalist

Rock

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Billy Keane

LA-based Billy Keane proclaims that he loves "Everything that rocked in the 60's 70's and 80's," and he proves it with his group Burnin', comprised of he on lead vocals and Mark Torosian on guitar. Comprised of veteran musicians from Los Angeles, Las Vegas and the Nashville music scene, this five piece rock band plays Rock-n- Roll their way! Influenced by classic rock bands of the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s with a taste of Blues and a Dash of country.

Billy Keane was born in Los Angeles, CA to a musical family. His  mother played the clarinet and sang.  She was still performing right up  until her passing. Growing up, all of Billy’s cousins had formal  training in piano and played in the school band.  His Uncle Allen was  the music coordinator for the Fresno Unified School District and his  uncle, Walter Keane, was a world famous artist in the 50’s and 60’s.   Walter was known for his signature “Keane” paintings depicting children  with big eyes. His life story is the focus of Tim Burton’s movie,  BIG EYES.

Billy began playing the piano at the age of eight, with his Nana teaching  him the basic notes.  He took interest in the piano and studied  privately for the next 6 years.  At age 13, Billy joined the school  band.  He wanted to play the clarinet like his mother (and the cutest  girl in the school) but when there weren’t enough clarinets to go  around, Billy was put in the back with two snare drums, one bass drum  and 13 other boys. Billy took a liking to the drums and soon wanted to  play all the time. His first drum set was a chrome Ludwig with Zildjian cymbals. When he attended his first concert, Aerosmith with AC/DC as the  opening act, Billy had one thing on his mind…Rock-N-Roll!!

In high school Billy joined his first rock band, Winged Victory.  They played for the high school, Jr. high, and plenty of back yard  party’s. Billy also drummed in his high school’s Jazz Band.  After high  school, Billy attended Fresno State University and played in many bands  that circuited the club scene throughout Fresno, California and the San Joaquin Valley. (Not to mention playing at some legendary frat  parties.)  Upon graduating from FSU with a B.A. in Liberal Arts and a  minor in Speech Communications, Billy threw a huge keg party that made him enough money to move to Hollywood the following weekend.

After being in Hollywood only a few weeks, Billy auditioned for one  of the biggest bands on the Sunset Strip. He got the gig and was  immediately playing the Whisky, The Roxy, The Troubadour and Gazzarri’s.  About the same time Billy met the drummer for country artist Mac Davis who referred him to legendary drum teacher Fred Gruber who taught such artists as Neil Peart from Rush, Steve Smith from Journey and Anton Fig  from The David Letterman Band. Billy studied privately with Fred for  seven years while playing the strip and partying at the Rainbow Bar  & Grill.

Five years after Billy moved to Hollywood, the Sunset Strip music  scene dried up and Billy was forced to face the unresolved issues he had  about his father’s death when he was only 2 ½ years old as well as  other demons that had been haunting him. A couple of years later, Billy  resurfaced a better person. It was then that his good friend Scott  asked him to fill in for a gig at the Coconut Teaszer on Sunset. When that band took off Billy’s talent started to shine, which led to him  getting calls to play shows with numerous bands. He played industry  showcases, supported solo artists, and even played drums on the title  track of the movie Silent Scream. Once again, Billy was playing all of  the clubs on the world famous Sunset Strip, including The House of  Blues, and the legendary Viper Room.  Billy’s newest band Storyteller  opened for Foreigner, Ratt, Y&T, L.A. Guns, Kip Winger, and Eric  Martin of Mr. Big.  Storyteller won Best Songwriting and Best Unsigned Band two consecutive years at the L.A. Music Awards. Unable  to attend the award show, Billy received a phone call letting him know  his band had won Best Unsigned Band minutes before going on stage in  Denver, Colorado. Billy toured extensively with that regional act  playing everywhere west of Kansas.

Two days after opening for Eric Martin, Storyteller received a call  from Martin’s management Co. asking them to be the opening act the  following weekend in Las Vegas with the option of a tour to follow.   Everyone in the band was excited but true to Rock –N- Roll, the band had  a falling out.  They had fallen victim to LSD…..(Lead Singer Disease)!   After years of frustration dealing with his lead singers and wanting to  express himself more as a musician, Billy re-invented himself and  started singing. He started a classic rock cover band and began playing  the greater L.A. area and soon found himself playing Vegas every other  weekend.  He was having a great time as well as strengthening his  singing voice and writing skills. Billy began writing songs with various  musicians which led him to: his well received debut single, "7 O’clock," with his new band, Burnin’, on Bell Bottom Records. Catch Burnin’s current release, "Drownin’ My Misery," available now on iTunes,  Spotify and Amazon.

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