Keith Cary is a musician, instrument builder and repairman living in Winters, California. He builds both traditional stringed instruments, like mandolins and minstrel-age banjos, and more experimental instruments, like resonator mandolins made from bedpans, tin can fiddles and roasting pan lutes. He repairs a wide variety of instruments, including acoustic and electric guitars, violin family instruments and bows, steel guitars, and strange antique constructions. He specializes in string bass repairs. Lately he's been dabbling with Hammond organs and Leslie speakers.

    As a musician he appreciates and plays a wide variety of music and instruments. From a young age he has listened to both jazz and folk music. He regularly plays string bass, mandolin, clawhammer banjo, cello, guitar, fiddle, harmonica, Hammond organ and various eccentric instruments of his own making. He's played classical music, old and new jazz, old-time string bands, Hawaiian, rock and roll, free-form improvization, and lately, Hank Williams karaoke.

    He has recorded or performed with John Tchicai, Jolie Holland, Robert Crumb, Robert Armstrong (and the other Cheap Suit Serenaders), John Vanderslice, Barry Melton, Vatrina King, Linda Book, The Joy Buzzards (with Bill Scholer and Bob Armstrong), The Loose Acoustic Trio, The Mad Cow String Band and The Alkali Flats, among others.

    He and some of his instruments can be heard on The Joy Buzzards, available at CDBaby,  and on Jolie Holland's Escondida and Springtime Can Kill You.
    He has built oddball custom instruments or done repairs for Joe Craven, Elaine Buckholtz, Bob Armstrong, Jimmy Bordsdorf, Charles Baty (of Little Charlie and the Nightcats) and a lot of other people who he's forgetting right now.


    Keith also does instrument building workshops for children and families. For more about kids' workshops check out the Education page. He taught music to kindergarteners at John Clayton Kinder School in Winters for many years and now teaches at the Dixon Montesorri Charter School.
    He can be reached at 530-795-3173 or at kcary@dcn.org  or kcary@eccentric.org
Keith checks the first a lot more often, but the second is easier to remember. Four examples of recent projects or gigs can be heard at http://www.myspace.com/keithcary