DAVE KEENER

Hi, thanks for visiting. I’m a singer-songwriter and the host of Songwriter Deathmatch. I play regularly all over New York City and upstate New York. Be a dear and sign the email list for shows and new music.

shows

Friday, April 12th, 2024 6:30 PM — Free Music Fridays Livestream

Presented by the American Folk Art Museum. This show is streamed live on Facebook and hosted by Lara Ewen.

BIO

It all started when I was 14 . . .

I borrowed a guitar from my aunt. Then I found an elderly big band guitarist who lived near us in Queens to teach me how to play. Listening to the song structures of the British Invasion and Doo-Wop taught me a lot, too. Pretty soon, a pal and I were playing in what we called “the city”, passing through places like Folk City, the Knitting Factory, the Lizard’s Tail and CBGB.

I've recorded four solo albumsPTO, The Easy Way, Slugger and Like An Animal. Instead of always playing full length shows by myself, I thought it would be more fun and draw a larger audience if I shared the stage with other musicians. So, in 2012, I started Songwriter Deathmatch at Freddy’s Bar & Backroom. I share the stage with three great local singer-songwriters of all styles, with each of us playing a bite-sized set. In April of 2018, we adapted the concept to create a Songwriter Deathmatch Internet radio show on Staten Island’s Maker Park Radio.

I’ve pursued the singer-songwriter thing, been half of a musical comedy duo with my brother, studied traditional Irish music, and finally come back to singing and songwriting again.

If you come out to the show or listen to our radio show, please say hi. For more about yours truly, you can check out this episode of the podcast Pals with Bill Wadman.

Dave

 

 

 

 
 

RECORDS

I've included links to my albums on Bandcamp below, but they're on other platforms, too.

 

PTO

2021, 10 tracks.

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Album cover for Dave Keener record, Like An Animal.

LIKE AN ANIMAL

2016, 8 tracks.

Album cover for Dave Keener record, Slugger.

slugger

2013, 12 tracks.

THE EASY WAY

2011, 11 tracks.

THE FAKE BOOK

The Dave Keener Fake Book is a series of music video covers of songs I love.

RADIO ARCHIVE

Catch up on Songwriter Deathmatch Radio here. Hosted by Dave Keener and Karen Dahlstrom, the show features live performances, interviews with local songwriters and tracks by our songwriting heroes. Scroll up for our calendar, and please check out Maker Park Radio and consider a donation.

2021

Episode 29 “Songs with Crowds Because We Miss Live Music.” 1/10/21. Great live tracks plus new releases from Syd Caldera, Bubble and Jade Zabric, Karen live in the booth and sneak peaks at some mixes from Dave’s upcoming album.

Episode 30 “Funny Songs” 3/7/21. Funny songs from the Great American songbook to country to today’s pop. Plus new releases from Damian Quiñones, Syd Caldera, Niall Connolly, Warren Malone and Ruby Landen, Karen live in the booth.

Episode 31 “Spring Fever” 4/11/21. Songs about love, flowers, spring and all that crap. Listening to Dave’s new single, Put Me With The People, and tracks from Dove Speak, St. Lenox, Chris Q. Murphy, The Locksmiths, Dale Novella and others.

Episode 32 “The Duos Show” 5/9/21. Singing duos. Songwriting duos. Singing and songwriting duos. Plus your favoritest duo, Dave & Karen, doing four songs live in the booth.

Episode 33 “Dave’s Album & Lots of Live & Local Stuff” 6/13/21. Lots of live performances and duets from Dave and Karen, some tracks from Dave’s new record and lots of tracks from local singer-songwriters including Syd Caldera, Ruby Landen, Damian Quiñones, Lara Ewen, Natalie Mack, St. Lenox, Jim Knable & The Randy Bandits, The Wild Goats and Jo Kroger.

2020

Episode 19 with Ray Brown 1/12/20

Episode 20 with Jo Kroger 2/9/20

Episode 21 with Tom Keener and The Keener Family St. Patrick’s Day Playlist 3/8/20

Episode 22 with Dave & Karen and “Songs That Cheer Us Up” 4/19/20 (first “stay home” show)

Episode 23 with Chris Q. Murphy and “Songs That Remind Us It’s the Weekend” 5/3/20

Episode 24 with Miwa Gemini and the songs of Barrett/Strong 6/9/20

Episode 25 “Remembering shows that never happened” 8/9/20

Episode 26 with Lara Ewen + Joe Songs & Harris Songs 10/4/20

Episode 27 “Back in the booth!” + Songs to Vote To 11/1/20

Episode 28 “2020 Grammy Noms” + “The Middlemarch Sermon” 12/13/20

2019

Episode 10 with Dave Foster 2/16/19.

Episode 11 with Ed & Greta Tristram 3/30/19.

Episode 12 with Dave & Karen 5/11/19.

Episode 13 with Bob Wright 7/27/19.

Episode 14 with Syd Caldera 8/24/19.

Episode 15 with Mark Humble 9/28/19.

Episode 16 with Serena Jost 10/12/19.

Episode 17 with The Locksmiths’ Robert Bock 10/26/19

Episode 18 with Phoebe Blue 12/15/19


2018

Episode 1 with Dave Foster & Ray Brown 4/14/18.

Episode 2 with Rembert Block & Man Made Hills 6/15/18.

Episode 3 with Mark Humble 7/21/18.

Episode 4 with Lara Ewen 8/18/18.

Episode 5 with Arjay Smith AKA Jus Beyond 9/15/18.

Episode 6 with Damian Quiñones 10/13/18.

Episode 7 with May Cheung 11/24/18.

Episode 8 with Dave & Karen 12/5/18.

Episode 9 with Lusterlit 1/19/18.



 

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