Paris Keeling is the culmination of five music industry veterans seasoned in the rock genre: Marty Paris, Kelly Keeling, Rick Van Benschoten, Matt Goeke, and Gintas Janusonis.
The new album "End of Ride Revisited" features rock royalty special guests George Lynch, Don Dokken, Carmine Appice, Al Pitrelli, Erik Norlander, Shane Gaalaas, among others. With comparisons to The Eagles, Train, The Beatles, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, this is a rock music lover's dream!
Kelly Keeling
Kelly Keeling, co-founder of Paris Keeling and the band's lead vocalist, commenced his career in music over 25 years ago at the age of 14. In 1990, he joined the rock band Baton Rouge as a vocalist and guitar player, and shortly thereafter the band was signed by Atlantic Records. Their album Shake Your Soul was released followed by Lights Out on the Playground a year later. That same year, Kelly was involved with his first platinum album, Alice Cooper’s Hey Stoopid, co-writing the song "Snakebite". In addition to Alice Cooper, Kelly has recorded, performed and/or toured with such distinguished musicians as Roger Daltrey, Don Dokken, George Lynch, Yngwie Malmsteen, Carmine Appice, Vinny Appice, Tony Franklin, Denny Laine, John Norum, Erik Norlander, Stuart Smith, and Michael Schenker. In 2005, Kelly released his first solo album Giving Sight to the Eye. He also contributed to the Michael Schenker Group’s 25th anniversary CD Tales Of Rock & Roll and performed as lead vocalist on the debut Screamin' Lords CD Long Live Me. Kelly also toured with Trans-Siberian Orchestra in 2006 and 2007 as a lead vocalist. Since that time, he has been writing, recording and touring with the experimental band O'2L (featuring Al Pitrelli and Jane Mangini), Blue Wheatgrass Massacre, Paris Keeling, and his own solo band.
Marty Paris
Marty Paris, co-founder of Paris Keeling and featured guitarist, is best known for creating the Skulls Project - a collaboration of independent musicians in Hoboken, New Jersey. Their last project First Rites, was released in 2005 and several of the tracks on Paris Keeling's End of Ride Revisited including "Color Blind" and "Tears of Heaven" have their roots in that project. He also was a member of the band Pamlico Sounds dating back to the 80’s. Not only was Marty instrumental in creating Paris Keeling and in his roles as Executive Producer and writer/co-writer of 8 tracks, but much of End of Ride Revisited comes from his vision. Most of the album was recorded at Marty’s Studio 55 in North Carolina.
Rick Van Benschoten
Rick Van Benschoten, Paris Keeling’s bass player, is a native New Yorker and platinum award-winning engineer and Emmy-nominated sound designer who has worked with such notable performers as Madonna, Amy Grant, Celine Dion and Aaron Neville. He is also known for his work as bassist and composer with legendary New York etherkore band Acts Magdalena. In his teens, he studied with fretless bass pioneer Percy Jones, known for his numerous recordings with Brian Eno and Phil Collins. Rick's work is heard daily on ABC-TV, and he is an adjunct professor at New York University where he teaches audio engineering and music production with Pro Tools. He is responsible for most of the final mixes and mastering on End of Ride.
Matt Goeke
Cellist Matthew Goeke performs as soloist, chamber musician and orchestral player in a broad range of musical styles. He is a member of the Stamford Symphony, Musica Sacra, the Cross Town Ensemble, SEM Ensemble, North/South Consonance, and the Kitchen House Blend. He is the cellist in the award-winning trio Eight Strings and a Whistle, which performed its New York debut at Merkin Hall in May, 2003, as winners of the Artists' International Award. He also performs and records with the bands Church of Betty, GIANTfingers, and Voltaire. Matt also performed the Boccherini Concerto with the Centre Symphony in New York City.
Gintas Janusonis
Gintas Janusonis, the band’s drummer, started playing when he was 5 years old, and made his Carnegie Hall debut at the age of 15 with the Greater Milwaukee Youth Wind Ensemble. He studied percussion and composition, on full scholarship at Northern Illinois University, and Berklee College of Music in Boston. Since moving to New York 10 years ago to further his professional career, Gintas has performed and/or recorded with Carlos Santana, Erykah Badu, Ursula Rucker, Reggie Washington, Fareed Haque, and Tony Bennett. He has also performed on The Tonight Show w/Jay Leno, MTV, the Rosie O’Donnell Show, and The View. Gintas has also received a gold record for his performance on the Ultra Nate single “Free”, from the album “Situation Critical”. In May of 2002, Gintas toured worldwide with Grammy-nominated Columbia/Sony recording artist Angelique Kidjo, including opening for Santana on the entire Summer 2003 Shaman Tour. And since March of 2003 Gintas has been touring with Lava/Atlantic recording artist Louque, while continuing to play and record with many other artists and bands.
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