Keith Sykes (born October 24, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. More than 100 of Sykes' songs have been recorded by John Prine, Rosanne Cash, The Judds, Jerry Jeff Walker, and George Thorogood, though he may be best known for co-writing "Volcano", the title track of Jimmy Buffett's 1979 album.
Sykes has released at least fifteen albums, including I'm Not Strange, I'm Just Like You and It Don't Hurt to Flirt, and made his television debut performing "B.I.G.T.I.M.E" as a musical guest on Saturday Night Live in 1980. Sykes owns and operates his recording studio, The Woodshed, as well as a production company and several publishing companies. The RIAA has certified recordings of his songs have sold more than 25 million copies worldwide.
Career
1960s–1970s and Jimmy Buffett
After hitchhiking to the Newport Folk Festival in 1967, Sykes saw Arlo Guthrie perform "Alice's Restaurant Massacree" and was inspired to pursue music as a full-time career. He got his first job performing at a Holiday Inn in downtown Charleston, South Carolina after auditioning with "Alice's Restaurant Massacre". Sykes continued to perform at Holiday Inns until August 1968, when he learned of the College Coffee House Circuit in New York City. He auditioned for it, was accepted, and moved to New York. He toured colleges and coffeehouses across the U.S., playing about 75 dates a year. In New York Sykes met and befriended songwriters Jerry Jeff Walker, Emmylou Harris, John Prine, Kris Kristofferson, Gary White, and Loudon Wainwright III. Sykes signed with Vanguard Records, which would release his first two albums, his debut self-titled album in 1970, and his second album 1-2-3 in 1972.
Occasionally visiting his management's office in Coconut Grove, Florida, Sykes traveled from Coconut Grove to Key West in 1972 where he met and developed a friendship and career with singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett. Buffett would record two songs from Sykes' third album The Way That I Feel for his 1978 certified-platinum album Son of a Son of a Sailor. In January 1979, Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge asked Sykes to attend an event for UNICEF in NYC. It was there that Jimmy Buffett asked Sykes to join his touring and recording band, The Coral Reefers. Sykes became the utility guitar player in The Coral Reefer Band for Buffett's 1979 tours, which included the Volcano Tour.[6]
1980s and Saturday Night Live
After recording the Volcano album in Montserrat, Sykes recorded I'm Not Strange, I'm Just Like You, his third studio album, which was released by the independent label Memphis Records. After the album became a hit locally in 1980, Tom Petty's Backstreet Records released it and it spent 11 weeks on the Billboard charts.[7] Recorded at Ardent Studios in Memphis, I'm Not Strange includes "B.I.G.T.I.M.E.," which Sykes performed as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live and was recorded by George Thorogood.
In 1982 Backstreet Records released It Don't Hurt To Flirt, which featured the single "In Between Lies". The single did not hit and Sykes left the label. Sykes went on to record two more albums on his own independent label Memphis Records, Play X Play (1983) and Fun Rockin' (1984).
Sykes stopped touring in 1986 in order to focus on writing, publishing and producing. During this time, Sykes signed Memphis songwriter John Kilzer to his publishing company Keith Sykes Music, and was the driving force behind Kilzer's deal with Geffen Records. Sykes is also credited with the discovery of renowned singer-songwriter Todd Snider. After receiving a cassette tape from the young, then-unknown Snider in the mail, Sykes invited him to Memphis and became solely responsible for landing Snider his first recording contract on Margaritaville Records.
1990s and Beale Street Songwriters Series
With the release of It's About Time, 1992 saw Sykes' first solo album in close to a decade and what would become known as a "songwriter's record." The album was released on John Prine's independent record label Oh Boy Records and led to another year on the road, during which Sykes played Mountain Stage, Nashville Now and many shows with John Prine.
In the fall of 1993, Sykes made a deal with the renowned publisher Carlin International and built The Woodshed Recording Studio. He recorded all his publishing company's demos there, plus numerous indy albums and tracks.