KEITH GOODWIN

Vocals, Guitar, Keys

Keith Michael Goodwin has been falling in love since he was a little kid: with music, writing songs, guitar, traveling and his newly-wed, super-hot wife Jenny Ridge (since the sixth grade when they met). Raised in a Philadelphia suburb called Langhorne as the middle of three brothers, Keith became fascinated by seeing his dad sing four-part harmonies with friends along to Neil Young, Simon + Garfunkel, and the Beatles; it made him want to learn to sing. He wrote his first song ‘Cody’ at the age of 12 when a friend’s mother passed away.

Enamored by punk rock and mid-nineties pop culture, Keith learned to play guitar at eleven years-old, and started his first rock ‘n roll band in eighth grade, Days Away. In high school Keith indulged in a garden variety of adolescent distractions like bleaching his hair and making friends with the local gang, but his music obsession stuck. In his later high school years, Keith met Tim Arnold and Anthony Green and the three became fast friends over conversations about Buddhism, psychedelics, and Bukowski. It was at this time they began to play music together. Soon bored of being limited to angsty, noisy rock, Keith started to study the art of writing pop music by exploring eclectic influences (Harry Nilsson, Dr Dre, Bob Marley and the Wailers, Zap Mama, Paul McCartney, Paul Simon). Keith moved to Southern California with Days Away a year after he graduated high school. Their first EP The Feel Of It sold 5,000 copies and Keith heard a song of his own creation on the radio for the first time at the age of 18. Two years later, a subsidiary of Atlantic Records called Lava Records signed Days Away; being on a major label allowed Keith to record with vetted pop-producer Neal Avron , on Days Away’s first LP Mapping An Invisible World (eventually released by Fueled by Ramen). After ten years and countless reincarnations, Days Away disbanded. Good Old War came into being when Keith decided to use a tour Days Away had already booked with Anthony Green as a stepping stone to a fresh musical project. While postulating on how to create a new band relatively quickly, Keith thought of Dan Schwartz’s (Unlikely Cowboy) impressive acoustic guitar skills and Tim Arnold (Days Away) for his ability to do just about anything. The trifecta developed their sound while touring with Green, rearranging former songs and writing new material on the road. Anthony took a liking to the project and asked Good Old War to record as his backing band for his debut solo album Avalon. In 2008, Good Old War was officially signed to Sargent House and Keith put off getting a normal job indefinitely (again). Keith Goodwin was married to Jennifer Joy Ridge on August 14th 2009 by Reverend Timothy John Arnold (Rose Ministries Non-Denominational Church), who made the many loved ones in attendance, laugh, cry, and thank goodness for a much-deserved happy ending. Keith lives in his hometown and hopes to write pop music that relates to as many people as possible, until he rides gently into the sunset with the family he always wanted. The End (so far).

MEDITATIONS ON POP MUSIC: When I’m on stage and I have the opportunity to be in control of something, i want to make the people around me happy. When I play music, it’s not just about me or the people onstage with me, it’s about everybody. – Keith Goodwin