California music accessories brand Gruv Gear is proud to feature Guitarist Keith Merrow. Keith is part of a family of prominent world-class musicians that heartily endorse Gruv Gear products.
Keith Merrow is a studio guitar player, songwriter, producer, engineer, gear demonstrator, student and teacher. Keith hails from Portland, Oregon- USA. His style of guitar playing is a unique blend of traditional metal with a dash of obscurity. Keith has a sound that is original and heartfelt while remaining utterly brutal and true to his traditional metal roots.
Keith’s music hobby quickly (and unexpectedly) became promising career in the music industry after he began sharing his music on the internet. Keith, a once reclusive hobbyist, was convinced by his close friends and family to share his music with the world. Through YouTube and social media outlets, his music has now been heard by millions of people since 2008.
In May of 2009, he released a self-produced EP titled “Lonestar Transcend”. This EP was a compilation of songs that were first heard on Keith’s YouTube page back in 2008. His early fans had begun asking for downloads of the songs he was playing on YouTube. These were simple songs that Keith had written in his spare time. Some of them dated back as far as 1999. This EP reflected the true bedroom/hobby player with its low production value and raw sound. Keith discontinued the release of this album a few years ago claiming “I never took those songs seriously, and I don’t believe the listener should either.”
Six months later, in November of 2009, came Keith Merrow’s “The Arrival”. This 10 song album has an epic and thought-provoking sound to it that he hopes will take you on a musical journey. The intense and often thematic songs on this album are punishing and brutally beautiful. Unlike the previous EP, The Arrival marks Keith’s first album that he has written from start to finish, for the sole purpose of releasing a completed album to the public. The song “Pillars of Creation” has been loosely deemed “the 7-string guitar anthem” by his fans on YouTube.
On January 1st of 2011, Keith Released his second full-length instrumental album (under the truncated project name “Merrow”) entitled “Awaken the Stone King”. The album continues in the heavy, groove laden style of Keith’s first two albums, and features a guest guitar solo from Jeff Loomis.
Just a few months later, In October of 2011, Keith released a traditional Death Metal album in collaboration with a good friend and fellow guitarist, Gord Olson. The project is titled "Demisery", and is a tribute to the great Death Metal bands that have influenced Keith and Gord's playing at a young age.
In 2012, Keith released an 8 song EP titled “Retrospecial”. Unlike the previous concept/theme driven albums, Retrospecial is more of a light-hearted, in your face collection of songs that Keith feels are simply “fun songs”. This album pays homage to Keith’s favorite Sci-Fi shows and movies, as well as “Retro” video games, with tracks like “Spice Dealer”, “Top Romulan”, and “Secret Brick Chicken”. He enlisted some of his favorite musician friends to appear on the EP (Jeff Loomis, Ola Englund, Gord Olson).
Throughout these album releases, Keith continued to post videos and gear demos featuring his music on
YouTube. He majored in Multimedia in college, and would often use these videos as college projects. His prolific and thorough demonstrations gained the attention many companies in the music industry, including the largest manufacturer of guitar pickups in the world, Seymour Duncan. In addition to being a busy musician and music industry professional, Keith is currently employed by Seymour Duncan as a tech consultant.
About Gruv Gear:
Gruv Gear exists to bring innovative and well-thought out products to creative professionals and beyond, including career musicians, DJs, photographers, filmmakers, mobile producers and more. The company is on- track not only to become a premium lifestyle accessories brand in the Music/DJ and Photo Industries, which is a small fraction of its potential market, but also expand to a broader range of industries that will increase its global footprint exponentially. To date, Gruv Gear products are sold in 5 continents and shipped directly to adoring fans worldwide.