By Briana Rupel
Beacon Correspondent
It seems music has been a constant in Keenan Cooper’s life. The native of Cadillac, Michigan, started piano lessons at a young age, played percussion in middle school and then went on to join the band in high school. And like many musicians, his parents played a huge role in guiding his musical influences.
“I got to see Buddy Guy,” Cooper said, “and I remember seeing B.B. King live. I don’t quite remember all of it, because I was young, but it was a cool experience.”
After high school, Cooper made his way north to attend Northern Michigan University and coached the Marquette Senior High School ski team for a bit. But music was always a no-brainer.
“I played in the jazz band at Northern for a year, and the jazz ensemble for two years up there,” he said. “It’s so much fun.”
From there, Cooper started branching out into the public.
“I started playing more music out — bars, local festivals, stuff like that,” he said.
The area he grew up in also influenced Cooper’s musical preferences.
“I draw a lot of influence from my experiences growing up around the Hoxeyville area with that crowd, like the Earthwork Music Collective,” he said. “I’ve been fortunate to help out at Hoxeyville Music Fest, and I know the festival organizers quite well. So I’ve gotten to see a lot of awesome people there.”
Though he continues to play bass in a couple of different bands in between his full-time work at a nonprofit involved in stream restoration, Cooper’s Grand Marais debut will be a solo acoustic performance.
“I’ve not been around for any live music up there, but I’m excited to be a part of it,” he said. “It seems like it’s a great community up there.”
Cooper’s acoustic style leans toward country/Americana — but listeners should not expect Top 40.
“It’s more like John Prine, Townes Van Zandt and up to Tyler Childers, Sturgill Simpson,” he said. “So I hang around that style a lot more than traditional pop country.”
Cooper writes original music as well, but he pulls those songs out only when he gets a feel for it.
“Sometimes playing solo acoustic, you have those times where … people aren’t listening all that intently,” he said. “And so it’s easier to just play the covers because people recognize them — gets more people involved.
“But sometimes if the crowd’s not that engaged … I’ll bring them out and just see if it catches anybody’s ear.”
Cooper will perform at 7 p.m. Friday, July 3, at the Woodland Park Pavilion in Grand Marais.