John Keane is an American record producer based in Athens, Georgia, who has worked extensively with R.E.M., Indigo Girls and Widespread Panic. He owns and operates John Keane Studios in Athens, which opened in 1981.[1]
Keane began playing guitar at age 8 and developed an interest in recording music after receiving a cassette recorder on his 12th birthday. In a 2005 interview he recalled: "Later I got another one and figured out how to overdub by bouncing tracks from one machine to the other while playing along. I'd do stuff like play both lead guitar parts to Allman Brothers songs, and layer vocal harmonies. When I got a four-track, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven."[2]
He began playing with local band Phil and the Blanks in 1981 and in 1986 left the band to start Strawberry Flats as "a fun cover band", playing songs by Cream, Led Zeppelin and The Beatles.[2]
His production and performance credits include Green (1988), Out of Time (1991), Automatic for the People (1992), New Adventures in Hi-Fi (1996), Up (1998) and Reveal (2001) by R.E.M., Love Among the Ruins (album) (1997) by 10,000 Maniacs, Lay It Down by Cowboy Junkies, Horsebreaker Star by Grant McLennan, Private Stock by The Grapes and Flyer by Nanci Griffith.[3]