TOUR DATES 2005

The Keith Emerson Band is planning a tour for late 2005. Current plans call for tour dates in Japan (October 2005) and moving on to Europe and the UK (November & December 2005).

Click here for 2005 Tour Date details!

The current lineup of the Keith Emerson Band has been in place since 2002, when keyboard legend Keith Emerson was faced with:

• Performing his newest compositions;

• Reassembling his original group, The Nice, for a much anticipated Reunion Tour;

• Developing a new band of musical virtuosos capable of performing his ongoing work and interpretations of the classics he created from all aspects of this career. That band will also work with Keith on new musical collaborations, sure to become fan favorites and musical classics.

Keith Emerson likes to relate the story of how he met guitarist Dave Kilminster, who assembled the nucleus of the lineup and provided the guitar work for both the Nice lineup and the ongoing band.

Dave was playing with Qango, a highly esteemed group featuring a lineup that included drummer Carl Palmer, famous for his work with Emerson during the Emerson, Lake and Palmer days. Emerson crashed a Qango show, slipping into the green room to surprise his old friends Palmer and John Wetton. Later, Keith came on stage for the encore, delighting both the band and the audience with his unexpected appearance.

Kilminster, exhilarated by the show and the unanticipated opportunity to play with 'one of his heroes,' contacted Emerson after the latter's return home to California, casually suggesting that the gig had been so much fun, they might 'do it again.' In the meantime, Dave recruited bass player Phil Williams and drummer Pete Riley and started to 'work out' on ELP material.

When he next arrived in London, Keith, piqued by curiosity, went into a rehearsal studio to work with the band assembled by Dave. Emerson felt that they were a good match for his music.

The Keith Emerson Band radiates the energy and enthusiasm sparked by the competitive techniques of Keith Emerson and Dave Kilminster. Around the world, audiences who have seen them play are passionate about the music and the players, as are critics.

The tremendous reception the Keith Emerson Band received on a short three-date tour in May, 2004 prompted the band to join the Scorpions and Tesla for a more complete North American tour, beginning on the US West Coast October 21st. This leg of the tour encompasses the West Coast, Southwest and Midwest. The band promises to return in February, 2005 so that East Coast audiences have the opportunity to share the dynamic experience and extraordinary music of the Keith Emerson Band live.

About Keith Emerson, Dave Kilminster, Phil Williams, and Pete Riley

Keith Emerson

Hailed as a keyboard legend, Keith Emerson has been one of the most important figures to emerge from the thriving UK rock scene of the 1960's and 70's. He is known as one of the most prominent leaders in the progressive rock movement, fusing rock 'n' roll with a myriad of musical styles, such as classical, jazz and world music. A modern wizard of electronic and acoustic keyboards, most notably the organ and synthesizer, he has set a standard by which others are judged. With both "The Nice" and "Emerson, Lake & Palmer," Emerson has written and recorded some of rock's most adventurous music and brought it to the masses with unmatched virtuosity and skillful showmanship.

Since 2002, he has toured with what he calls 'the supremely talented young mavericks' who have helped him provide fresh interpretations of his classic work from the Nice, ELP, and his solo career. An album of the 2002 tour featuring the current band, Vivacitas, has been released and is available for sale at Amazon.com, the Keith Emerson website, and other retailers. While the album provides a unique perspective on the many aspects of Emerson's music, Keith cautions that it doesn't represent the work that he plans with the current Keith Emerson Band lineup in the future, since it was recorded very early in their association together.

Emerson has also recently released Pictures of an Exhibitionist, the insightful, amusing and irreverent autobiography that chronicles his life as one of the foremost rock stars in the world. The book will also be available to fans during the tour. You can learn more about Keith Emerson at http://www.keithemerson.com/

SHOWCASING DAVE KILMINSTER

The Keith Emerson Band showcases the manic talents of Dave Kilminster, the highly regarded UK guitarist whose radical technique and mesmerizing sounds have been featured alongside rock luminaries John Wetton, Carl Palmer and Ken Hensley on international tour and on recordings. A respected studio musician and compelling stage presence, Kilminster joins the current tour fresh off the recording of his second solo album, Scarlet, and the filming of his series, Killer Guitar, featured on the Musicians' M-Channel, a satellite station received around the world. Just in time for this tour, Dave has remixed and remastered his acoustic album, Playing with Fire. A promotional CD which features two tracks from Scarlet [including the much requested Just Crazy] and Aragon from Playing with Fire, will be available to fans. Scarlet also features Keith Emerson band members Phil Williams and Pete Riley. Dave is also slated to play on bass player Phil Williams self-titled solo CD, which Phil describes as a mix of 'bass and humor.'

Dave is an integral part of Vivacitas, providing 'the musical thread' that provides musical continuity, along with Emerson, between the music of the Nice and the Keith Emerson Band. Emerson compliments Dave's playing in the press: 'Dave is a marvelous guitarist,' Keith told one journalist, indicating that Kilminster challenges him musically. 'He'll speed up Hoedown by a third and I'll think What? Okay! We'll go there."

Dave is also a featured instructor at the Academy of Contemporary Music in the UK.

For interviews and press appearances for Dave Kilminster, contact DaveKTourInfo@aol.com

 Dave's website is: http://www.davekilminster.com/

PROVIDING RHYTHM

The rhythms of respected drummer and teacher Pete Riley and bass player Phil Williams, who has toured extensively with performers as diverse as Kim Wilde and Rick Wakeman, energize the band onstage.

Keith Emerson on his drummer and bass player: 'Pete is a solid, reliable technical, brilliant soloist in his own right only to be matched by Phil who is a contortionist.'

ABOUT PETE RILEY

Pete is a talented drummer whose eclectic background includes jazz and rock and collaborations with artists as different as Motorhead, Republica, and Jan Cyrka. He has also worked with Mornington Locker, Jean Tousant, Joe Hubbard, Derek Nash and Pete Jacobson. He, like Dave Kilminster, toured with ex-Uriah Heepster Ken Hensley and is a colleague of Dave's at the Academy of Contemporary Music in Guilford, where he teaches drums.

Pete has written for Rhythm Magazine and Modern Drummer and has published his own drum book, 'Double Trouble.' Most recently, he is heard on Dave Kilminster's solo release, Scarlet and on Vivacitas, the recently released album from the Keith Emerson Band Glasgow show. He has been enlisted by bass player Phil Williams to work on Phil's self-titled solo album as well.

Pete endorses Premier Drums, Zildjian Cymbals, Vic Firth Sticks, and Remo Heads.

Find out more about Pete Riley at his website: http://www.peteriley.net/

ABOUT PHIL WILLIAMS

Phil Williams has spent twenty years collaborating live and in session work with a diverse group of artists, including Tony Hadley, Spandau Ballet, Kim Wilde, Roger Daltrey and Rick Wakeman. He has served as a corporate musical consultant for Sony International's corporate events. His experience spans session work and composition for soundtracks, advertising, television and radio and he has served as a consultant for Yamaha and writer for a range of music publications. Phil plays on Dave Kilminster's new solo release, Scarlet as well as on Vivacitas, the album featuring the Keith Emerson Band and the Nice in their Glasgow 2002 performance.

Phil is proud to announce the release of his own solo album, simply entitled, Phil Williams, which will be officially released sometime in 2005. North American fans will have the opportunity to hear five tracks from the upcoming CD, which mixes 'bass with a large chunk of humor' and enlists fellow Keith Emerson Band members Dave Kilminster and Pete Riley. On tour, Dave Kilminster notes, the band is kept going by Phil's sense of humor, making him 'a great person to tour with, as well as a great guy and a great musician.'

Websites:

• http://www.keithemerson.com - for information on Keith Emerson (you're already here!)

• http://www.davekilminster.com - Dave Kilminster's official website

• http://www.peteriley.net -  the website of drummer Pete Riley

• Faint Signs of Intelligence for more on bass player Phil Williams

TOUR DATES 2004

The Keith Emerson Band played in North America, beginning in late October 2004 and finishing up the first leg of the tour in December. That leg of the tour included the Pacific Northwest, the West Coast, Midwest and Southwest.

Click here for 2004 Tour Date details!