SMALL SUR
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Small Sur songwriter Bob Keal grew up on a farm outside of Brookings, South Dakota. He spent most of his time outdoors exploring nearby oft-flooded ditches and fields in search of river carp, old liquor bottles, and garter snakes. Although he’s still fond of carp, Keal eventually lost interest in old bottles and grew rather frightened of snakes, so at the age of 19 and on the heels of his father’s death he abandoned his life in the Midwest for the golden shores of California.
Herein lies the soil from which Small Sur rises. Whether paying homage to the pastoral, lucid rhythms of childhood summers in South Dakota or evenings spent with friends on the beaches and cliffs of the Pacifi c, their music is deeply personal – bathed in seas and sunsets, reservoirs and rivers, forests and fi elds. Keal, now 26 and residing in Baltimore, Maryland, has spent the past couple of years teaching kindergarten by day and sharing his songs by night alongside a rotating cast of friends, including current co-conspirators Andy Abelow (Saxophone/Banjo), Scott Dennison (Bass), Julianne Nelson (Vocals), and Austin Stahl (Percussion).