Keith The Hat Guy

Free State Acoustics - Bittersweet symphony

Free State Acoustics cover of Bittersweet Symphony by The Verve recorded live at the Free State Project's clubhouse The SHELL in the Seacoast Region of New Hampshire in October 2024.

See Free State Acoustics tab for info and more videos.

Upcoming live music Events

Juliette & The Hat Guy

Juliette & The Hat Guy is a duo with Juliette focusing on vocals and Keith on acoustic guitar.

Our music includes a wide variety of genres from the 1950s to today, mellow and upbeat. We range from Dolly Parton to Dan Fogelberg, Fleetwood Mac to Four Non Blondes, Gloria Gaynor to Gordon Lightfoot. We cover tunes by Concrete Blonde, Beatles, Eagles, Van Morrison, John Prine, Chris Isaak, and more. All in our interpretations.

We originally formed in 2018, working out our sound, playing out, and recording music videos in the Stuart, Florida area. After a two year hiatus we got together again and played gigs through the winter 2021 season until Snowbird Juliette flew north again for the summer.

2021 Performances

Over winter season 2021 Juliette & The Hat Guy performed on Florida's Treasure Coast at Vine & Barley Stuart, Sneaki Tiki, Club NOTES, Philly Down South Cafe, The Elliott Museum Food Truck Night, and the Stuart waterfront.

More info and videos of Juliette & The Hat Guy

Juliette & The Hat guy Into The Mystic Live

Here we are joined by guests Rick Shryock on violin and Forrest King on lead guitar. Recorded live in 2021 at Club NOTES in Stuart Florida.

Rick and Keith were members of a weekly jam in South Jersey years ago, and happened to move to the same town 1000 miles away.

Keith is a sailor and included his own sailing photography. A fair guess is that Van Morrison wrote this song while on a broad reach at sea 🤠

Taking Turns

Taking Turns is a duo/trio with Keith The Hat Guy on guitar or bass and occasional vocals, singers taking turns on lead vocals, with featured guests sitting in for a few songs or a set.

We take turns.

Taking Turns at O Gourmet French Bistro

Taking Turns performed every Wednesday and Friday at the O Bistro in downtown Stuart for the winter 2019 season, with Takis on lead vocals and Keith on guitar and occasional vocals. We also played at Sneaki Tiki, Chubbies PSL, Maria's Cafe, and NOTES Music Room, primarily with Takis and Keith, and with featured guest lead singers and guitarists at some gigs.

More about Taking Turns

Taking Turns - Give Me One Reason

Video based on a studio recording, playing Tracy Chapman's tune.

Takis on vocals, Keith on rhythm guitar and bass, Forrest King on lead guitar.

Do it!

Open Mic with The Hat Guy

Open Mic With The Hat Guy features multiple guitarists and singers in solo, duo, and trio arrangements, often closing with a few tunes in a group jam. All musicians are welcome. I enjoy setting up and mixing each musician to sound as best as possible, putting on my audio engineering hat as the sound guy.

More info and videos for Open Mic With The Hat Guy

Video: Open mic with the hat guy #4

A 5 minute compilation video of performers at Open Mic with The Sea Dog (The Hat Guy in pirate disguise), Halloween Week, 2019.

Keith The Hat Guy Music

"The life I love is making music with my friends, and I can't wait to get on the road again!"

- Willie Nelson

I started on the piano as a teen, taking lessons and a college class, then switched to guitar at age 19 - initially electric then moving primarily to acoustic. I switched to bass for a decade, then to mandolin for a decade. Over the years I played in five Philadelphia area bands ranging from the all original Pink-Floyd inspired "Silent Time", to the original hard rock band Fear of Grace, to the bluegrass cover band Breakneck Road. Pic on the right from back in the day is Silent Time on stage at Dobbs on South Street in Philly - I still have the Gibson L6 today but not that great hat.

In 2018 I returned to the love of acoustic guitar and my 30 year old mahogany Takamine, playing out and hosting open mic. This lead to forming the duo Juliette & The Hat Guy in 2018, followed by Taking Turns in 2019, playing gigs on Florida's Treasure Coast for winter seasons 2018 - 2021.

In between I played bass with guitarist/singer Forrest King in the duo Roadkill, guitar with vocalist/guitarist Nate Lowe, and sat in playing bass with several other Treasure Coast performers.

In 2023 the fun and awesome new band Free State Acoustics formed, my current music focus. We played a bunch of shows through summer/fall 2024, recorded and released music videos. Where this project will go is wide open and 2025 is shaping up to be an amazing music summer!

The Future

Where is Free State Acoustics and The Hat Guy music videos going in the future?

I don’t know, but it is sure to be both fun and interesting.

Please Keep in Touch

More live and recorded music to come. Please use the contact form below for information, to get on the mailing list, and book gigs.

The Plan

As David Bowie said, “I don't know where I'm going from here, but I promise it won't be boring.”

Keith The Hat Guy Events

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Keith The hat guy

Keith The hat guy

Music

Free State Acoustics - Bittersweet symphony

Upcoming live music Events