The advantage that Zoe Keating has over your band, be it present, fictional or future, is just that: Zoe Keating.

Independent in a way few others are talented enough to even attempt, this one-woman musician brings a completely new definition to the words self reliant. Packing of a cello and a handful of loop pedals, Keating manages to create a rhythm section, bridges, verses and choruses, bass and lead riffs, and a whole life of music.

I first experienced Keating a few years back as the opening act for Imogen Heap at The Bottleneck in Lawrence, Kansas. The memory of her set then prompted me to make sure to catch her in Austin. When I found out she was playing one time, at the Central Presbyterian Church, I shunned Dawes and several other listed bands to make my way to her stage. That intimate setting is simply nonexchangeable.

Keating herself is pretty nonrefundable as well. Classically trained from the age of eight, she is no hack. She’s found herself on the charts of both the classical and electronica sections of itunes, while managing to sell in upward of 30,000 albums. In addition to Heap, she’s worked with the likes of Amanda Palmer and traveled with the group Rasputina, whom she was a member of from 2002-2006. Just because you haven’t heard of her, doesn’t mean she’s not a road tested genius. She’s not that simple.

Her music is also actually quite complex. Each loop adds a layer, which build a chorus. As time passes, the movements build into full orchestrations that filled the steeples of the church in a way that those passing by might assume 50 people were playing.

But no, it was one girl. One extremely talented girl named Zoe whom you should check out.

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