Keith Kniles - Born in Chicago, Keith was born to be a musician. His father played guitar and sang doo-wop tunes with his friends in the streets. He was too shy to perform in public, but always encouraged his gifted son to show off his talent. His mother was also a singer and a classically trained pianist. Like her husband, she didn’t like to perform for others either and kept her talent hidden from friends, stating that if they knew she could play, they would ask her to. He wasn’t aware that she could play the piano till shortly before her death. When Keith was 6 years old, he saw B.B. King on the Ed Sullivan show. He was transfixed. He asked his father to get him a guitar and his father scoffed, “If I spend the money on a guitar for you, you will get tired of it and it will be in the corner collecting dust in two weeks.” After 3 years of begging and pleading, he finally bought his son a guitar.. Keith began singing in taverns around the south side of Chicago when he was 9. When he was a sophomore in high school, he wrote his first musical score on the back of a music composition sheet.

While in high school, he began to study music under the tutelage of Timothy Lord Galloway who had performed with the Morris Ellis Band. The Band was a 12 piece jazz band that accompanied greats such as Diana Ross and the Staple Singers. As a drum major, Kniles was recognized in the 1980 Who’s Who in Music. He also studied with James Mack where he learned to play the violin and the piano and became interested in modern jazz composition. After winning a local talent show, some recruiters from Motown wanted to sign him into a record deal, but his mother tore up the contract because he was too young and inexperienced. At a party one night, he realized just how right his mother really was. Everyone at the party was involved in the music business and they were all celebrating the sex, drugs and rock and roll lifestyle. It was all too much for young Kniles who then decided to turn his attention towards gospel music. He said he needed to be spiritually and morally trained before he could deal with the music industry. Keith has a myriad of musical influences including B.B. King, Ray Charles, the Jacksons, Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman, Heatwave, the Brothers Johnson, John Coltrane, the Stylistics and Marvin Gaye. He also loves rock and roll and some of his favorites include Chicago, Toto, Ted Nugent, and Peter Frampton. Sylvester Harper, son of the legendary Ethel Halloway introduced him to some more technical trends in music. He began working with programs such as MIDI, EMagic, Notator, ProTools and Reasons attempting to bring it all a more human feel.

The first cd, called Reflections, started out with a highly recognized single, “You Are My People,: but his investor pulled out, leaving him high and dry. Undeterred, Kniles went right back retooling Reflections. He spent most of 2006 making sure the cd met his high standards before he released it. Kniles likes to write love songs in the style of another of his favorites, the late Luther Vandross. He says he wants people to enjoy his music, but he wants them to think too.”Music should be soothing and should not overpower the message; he says. “I want to give them a calm still voice. Jesus spoke in a calm voice, so why shouldn’t I sing in one? There will be no shouting and screaming in my music.” Keith has two cds in production now, one called “I Don’t Need a Reason” which will be all love ballads. The second one is “Restoration”, his second cd of inspirational music.Keith works for the State of Illinois as a guard for the State Police Protective Services. He will be performing in the greater Chicago area so check back frequently for updates.