METEORITES
Chicago songwriter Charlie Keel’s latest project, METEORITES, found him working with local producer and multi-instrumentalist, John Szymanski (Jon Langford’s Four Lost Souls, My My My) and drummer, Jared Karns (Hidden Hospitals, Kiss Kiss) during the tumultuous months of 2020.
Charlie’s roots extend back to the fertile Lawrence, Kansas music scene of the early 90’s. David Fricke of Rolling Stone called the sound of Charlie’s first band, Mountain Clyde, “prairie metal grit.” Capitol Records Perry Watts-Russell (Radiohead, Everclear) signed Mountain Clyde to a short-lived contract but they struggled to find a grunge hit for the label’s repertoire.
Amidst a disintegrating record deal, quirky New York music attorney Stuart Weinstein (Human Waste Project, Bedhead) suggested Charlie’s new band, Dorothy, record with Ross Robinson (Korn, At the Drive-In). As Charlie remembers, “the Godfather of Nu Metal liked our songs because he could play them for his mom. In the context of Korn and Amen, the sincere compliment was an appropriate way to categorize us. It was a privilege to be one of the bands to work with Ross at Indigo Ranch even though we never quite fit into the world he was creating.”
Charlie eventually met producer J. Hall (Story of the Year, Mat Kearney) on Grant Fitch’s (Paw, Palomar) front porch. This meeting opened the door to the next 20 years of recording and two full-length albums, The Skyscraper and Life Inside the Mine.
“That crazy time in the early 90’s gave me some clarity about who I wanted to be. I really just wanted to be a songwriter. Losing the record deal forced me to define myself and that’s where the magic is for me. That and the bond you create with other musicians when you make a record together. They’re both everlasting.”
“I’ve loved Dylan’ Blood on the Tracks since I was a kid, and throughout my life I have used those lyrics to guide myself along. One line in particular always stands out to me. It’s the one where Dylan is referencing his divorce. He says, ‘The only thing I knew how to do was keep on keeping on.’”
“That’s what I did.”