The Warren Keats Website

The Story Of The Victorian Country Music Dynasty Begins In The Early Thirties

 When Young Les Keats Entranced By The Sounds Of "Tex Morton" "Jimmie Rodgers" &

 "Vernon Dalheart" And Later On Developing A Lifelong Admiration For The Music Of

 "Hank Snow" Decided It Was His Turn To Sing.

Les Found Himself A Guitar A Hat And The First Of A Lifetime Of Audiences

 He Also Found Himself A Cute Little Girl Way Back In The Hills Of Tasmania

 In A Little Town Called Scottsdale Named Kathleen Joy Boden

 Her Father Had Planned To Marry Her Off To The Son Of The Local Mill Owner

 Where He Was Employed As A Sawmiller He Didnt Take Too Kindly To Young Les But

 The Guitar Pickin Country Singin Cowboy Soon Had Himself A Brand New Bride

 A Son Was Born In July 1947 Garry David Keats Followed By Brother Kerran Geoffrey Keats In Dec 1948
The 40's & 50's Saw Les & Joy Keats Rise To Become Nationally Known
Radio Stars For Their Radio Show On 7LA

 Some Shows Were Recorded On The First Wire Recorder Ever Used In Tasmania
Sadly The Family Does Not Have Any Copies Of These Original Radio Shows
Although We Do Have A Very Poor Transcription Platter Of One Show
Which Time Has Rendered Almost Unplayable

Moving To Melbourne In The Early 50's Les Rose To Fame
With A Version Of The Slim Dusty Hit "A Pub With No Beer".
Backed With His Own Original Composition "A Pub With More Beer"
This Single On The Now Defunct Planet Label (If You're On Planet You're Out Of This World)
Featuring Melbourne Radio Stars The Trailblazers
Soon Had Les Regularly Featuring As One Of The Bands Lead Singers
Along With Other Melbourne Country Music Luminaries
"The Hawking Bros" "Elsie Darling" "George Mack" "Jack Johnson" "Stan Green" & Many Others.

 Before Too Long The Husband And Wife Team Added A Promising Young Singer Guitarist To Their Ranks.
Young Merv Lowry Was A Yarrawonga Boy With A Smooth Voice
And A Heavily Influenced American Guitar Style.
The Blend Of These Three Voices Soon Had The Gigs Pouring In.
With A Brand New Name "The Dakotas"
With The Addition Of Drummer Michael (Mick) Baines
 & The Young Soon To Be Legendary Melbourne Steel Man Johnny Rodgers
Les's Ideas For The Direction Of His Sort Of Country Music
Came One Step Closer To That Of His Idol "Hank Snow"
This New Band Underwent A Name Change To "The Country Styles"
As Son Warren Born In October 1961 Recalls
"Dad Couldnt Pick Like Hank Snow But He Sure Could Sing Like Him
The Picking Fell To Merv Lowry Who To This Day Is The Only Aussie Guitar Player
Ive Heard Who Could Make Ya Think Hank Was In The Room.
With Johnny Rogers Playin Steel Merv And Dad And My Mum In Harmony
It Was As Close To The Record As I Ever Heard
In Fact When I Eventually Did Get To See Hank Live At Festival Hall at About 9 Years Of Age
I Remember Thinking My Dad Sounds More Like Hank Snow Than This Feller Does.
All In All They Were A Very Good Band."
Before Long Australian Boxing Champion Lionel Rose Selected The Country Styles
As His Backing Band For Live Appearances Which Added Steadily To An Already Heavy Workload

As Time Went By Merv Moved On To Front His Own Very Succesful Band
"The Country Ramblers Which Over Its 30 Years Of Work
Featured Both Kerran And Warren As Lead Guitarists
As Well As Many Other Melbourne Musicians
Melbourne Singer And Guitarist Ray Moore Joined The Country Styles Replacing Merv

 The Country Styles As The Band Now Became Known
Began To Show A Little More Of Joy's Influence
With More Than A Couple Of Buck Owens Songs Entering The Repertoire
Joy's Uptempo Almost Rockabilly Tastes Subtly Foreshadowing
The Heavier Changes That Were To Come In Country Music Scene.
With A New Lineup Featuring Again Johnny Rogers And His Steel
Along With Son Kerran On Bass Guitar And Vocals
This Second Incarnation Of The Country Styles Continued On Succesfully For Several Years

When The Country Styles Eventually Folded Les And Joy Continued On
In The First Of Many Lineups Featuring The Name The Keats Family
 Featuring Son Garry On Lead Guitar Kerran On Dobro
And The Occasional Appearance Of Youngest Son Warren
This Band Continued On Its Merry Way For Several More Years
Being A Regular Fixture On The Country Music Festival Circuit And Holders Of Many Long Time Residencies

Throughout The 80's & 90's The Keats Family Band Came Together
For Special Appearances
With Les And Joy Continuing To Work As The Les And Joy Keats Band
They Held Down Several Long Standing Residencies
At Many Melbourne Hotels One In Particular At The Commercial Hotel In Northcote
For 14 Years A Record Equalled By Very Few

After A 60 Year Career Dad Called It A Day In About 98

 Handing The Reins Of The Family Band To Youngest Son Warren

 The Keats Family Mark 2 Gigged On For Another 5 years

 It Would Be Remiss Of Me To Not Mention My Mother Joy Keats
Who As You Can See By The Photos Above Was Equally At Home
In A 3 Peice Country Rock Band Playing Thru A 600 Watt 3 x 15
Biamped Yamaha JBL Rig And Kicking Large Ass Playin Boogie's
As She Was In 1940 With Her Acoustic Guitar Yodelling With Dad.
Its A Long Way From Listening To Shirley Thoms Records And Admiring
Jean Sheppard And Yodelling With My Dad To Playing Rock And Roll
And Crunchy Boogie.
She Came To Fill In On Bass For Me For Six Months
And Stayed for 4 Years
Her Innings In The Melbourne Music Industry Started In 1951
& She Did Her Last Gig With Me In 2001 50 Years And A Whole Lot Of Gigs.

 The Story My Father Started In The 1930's
Continues Today With A New Generation Of Keats's
My Eldest Daughter Michelle Granddaughter Of Les Keats 
Made Her Debut With The Family Band In 2002

November 1961 Outside Bell St Flats A Proud Father And His Son Warren