KEEVA is
Chris Whetstone, vocals, guitar, mandolin, banjo
Dan Chan, accordian, whistle, keyboard
Lisa Lawson, violin, vocals, harp
Michael Lawson, cello
Steven Coughran, drum set, vocals, guitar

Keeva is a Celtic-influence band which has been around in many permutations since the 1990s.  Chris Whetstone and Dan Chan were the founders and have played with the band all along--our current ensemble first played together from 1998-2001.  We had so much fun that with babies bigger and houses remodeled we got back together in 2010 and are continually excited with the music we make together.

Keeva has a huge repertoire of Celtic and American dance tunes, as well as popular songs we've arranged for our ensemble.  We can perform for events and dances as well as for concerts.


Chris

Chris Whetstone started playing guitar at about 18 with Neil Young songs and Stones and all that 70's stuff. Singing was the next attempt, and after
20 years now, he feels some connection with the notes coming from his throat. He took a few lessons in piano, violin and voice, and he should
have taken guitar. Nonetheless, with the odd book and summer inspiration, his guitar work progressed at a steadily slow pace to the point now that he
usually knows if he is not in the groove.

Whetstone ended up playing a lot of Irish music because he lived in Dublin, Ireland for over a year and loved to hear that stuff on the streets and in the pubs. In fact, he likes all sorts of acoustic music, classical too, but prefers the authentic acoustic variety. The new version of Keeva is quite satisfying in this regard because of the great musicians involved that are pretty good about proposing ideas and keeping in the groove.


Lisa

Lisa Marie Lawson is a native of Portland, Oregon, where she grew up playing viola and singing in church with her mother, a church pianist, and her two
sisters. As the violist she was usually called upon to improvise harmonies, which she continues to do with ease as an adult. She has always loved to
sing and participated in choir and in musicals in high school. Lisa has been a professional violinist/violist for many years. After studying music
performance at Peabody Conservatory and at the University of Southern California, she began performing and teaching in Sacramento in 1994. Lisa
fell in love with Celtic music and first performed with Keeva from 1998 to 2001. She and her husband Michael and their two boys, Cameron and Liam,
live in a strawbale passive solar home on five acres in the country. Lisa enjoys gardening, yoga, and spending time with her family. She is the music
director and leader of Sacramento Baroque Soloists.

Michael

A native Sacramentan, Michael Lawson has developed a unique presence as a cellist, specializing in the improvisational styles of Celtic, jazz, and
Baroque music. His influences include many 60's and 70's rock bands including It's a Beautiful Day, Moody Blues, and Styx. He was especially
inspired by Mark Summer of Turtle Island String Quartet. Michael participated in the Aspen Music Festival in 1990 and 1991, where he met his
wife Lisa. Together they have created several concert series including Music at the White Bird Gallery and Sacramento Baroque Soloists, in which he
currently performs as continuo cellist. Michael teaches a large studio of cellists of all ages. Michael built the Lawson's strawbale house and enjoys
sailing and waterskiing.


Dan

Growing up in Sacramento, there was always a piano in the house for Dan to plunk on. He performed little recitals of his simple yet original tunes for
his family. He took a few years of piano lessons at age ten and then played trombone in his Junior High school orchestra. However the keyboard was and
is Dan's instrument of choice. In High School he played organ in a variety of garage bands doing "Doors" and "Steppenwolf" covers at the school
dances. As the years went by, Dan increasingly developed his skill at the keyboard. In the early 80's he found Irish music and took up the concertina and tin
whistle. He bought a button accordion and gave that a go, but it wasn't until a friend gave Dan his mother's old piano accordion that the
combination of his keyboard skills and new found love of Irish music coalesced. He mastered the ornaments and lilt in the music and steadily
built up his speed and repertoire of dance tunes. Soon he found other musicians to play with and joined a succession of Celtic Bands, amongst them
"The Wednesday Night String Band", "Calliope", "The Banshees", "Rant & Reel", and finally "Keeva", of which he was a founding member.
Dan's solid tin whistle playing and energetic accordion add great dimension to Keeva's music. Whether playing a driving Reel or crafting stark beauty
into an Irish air, Dan plays with emotion. His phrasing and dynamics compliment the Celtic groove for which Keeva is known.

Steven

Steven Coughran has his parents to thank for his varied musical tastes. There was the Classical music playing as he went off to sleep, and the
singing accompanied by the family guitar during and then long after the folk music wave of the late 1950's and early 1960's. Steven also has fond
memories of his father dressing for his Highland Pipe Band and the kids watching Dad parade past them as they sat on the hood of Grandma's parked
car on a Saturday morning. Steven's interest in folk music has never waned, and continues to sing and play guitar. By the age of 10 or so, he began
playing his father's drums, and had started on his journey in the appreciation all things percussive. Aside from playing Jazz and Rock & Roll
on the drumset, Steven had picked up the French horn, in the hopes of putting some distance between himself and the other drummers in school band
(the drum section seemed to forever be suffering some disciplinary action or other). So, it was that he set about a classical education in horn. Steven
holds a Masters in horn from CSUS, where he was a George Liberace Scholar and graduated Pi Kappa Lambda. As a hornist, he has played with Capital
Chamber Players, California Wind Orchestra, Sierra Nevada Winds, Golden State Brass, Apollo Orchestra, and Sacramento Symphony. As a drummer and
vocalist, Steven's most favorite touring or recording experiences include Colm Keenan, Neo Geo, Texas Midgets, Fool Killers, Avalon Swing, and of
course, Keeva. Steven enjoys playing Balinese music with the group, Gamelan Dharma Santi, and has also music directed two critically acclaimed
productions for River Stage, "An American Clock" and "Urinetown." Steven is on the faculty at Cosumnes River College, where he teaches
ethnomusicology and instrumental performance. When he is not working with music, Steven enjoys time on his wooden sailboat, a 1949 Nordic Folkboat
built in Denmark.