Keenan Dorn began his solo music career in the fall of 2016. He was writing music for a personal project. He's been playing with local bands for a while at this point in his life, but he hadn't been working on his own music.
Dorn's musical adventure begins with his high school jam band, Jargon. He usually accompanied the singer/songwriter. Then, he began joining other projects as the lead guitar. Some of the bands he's been involved with are The Sunday Bump, Doink!, Feral Swine, Sonic Bent, Buffalo Romeo, and Satori Bob.
Once Keenan Dorn started jazz school at the University of Oregon, he was getting gigs through his folk music. He also got his first acoustic guitar around this time.
"I was really getting into the 'dad band' bar scene! I played with Sonic Bent, a jam rock band with some of the dads of my friends from high school. *laughs*" -Keenan Dorn
"The groove sessions at Luckey's Club have given me many opportunities to showcase my talent and meet other musicians!" -Keenan Dorn
"I think it was 2016 when I finally got my first capo...even with all the stigma attached. *laughs*"
This was when Keenan started perfecting his own folk music. He discovered open c tuning, which he claimed was a catalyst for his musical career!
"Composition offers a realm of possibilities."
During Keenan's senior year of college, he was given two options: have a final recital or record an album. He chose the latter. He has a minor in music production, so he said it just made the most sense to him. He recorded the folk album featuring harmonica with a light pop aesthetic by himself. It took six months to record the album. He decided to make it about what it was like for him to grow up in the Pacific Northwest and Eugene, Oregon, specifically.
Dorn's writing style for "In This Place" was inspired by Sufjan Stevens. Stevens writes about geographic locations by paying homage to that area. Dorn explains he was "letting [his] senior year feels out through [his] album." He released "In This Place" on May 30th, 2017.
"Places often make us who we are, and with this music, I wanted to remind ourselves that those places stick with us wherever we go and are shared with whoever we may meet." -Keenan Dorn about his album, "In This Place."
"The Eugene music scene has helped shape me into the musician I am. I'm learning to work with diverse people and genres. I even am going on tour with the Mondegreens this summer!" -Keenan Dorn
